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Formula 1 South Africa Promoter Blocks F1 Kyalami Return
Kyalami last hosted the last South African GP back in 1993

F1’s Near Return to South Africa Thwarted

27/01/2024

Jody Scheckter reveals details on Formula 1’s almost successful return to South Africa last year. Negotiations with Kyalami faltered due to the promoter’s demands, leading to the abandonment of the project.

Scheckter is convinced that Formula 1 could have made its return to South Africa last year, as negotiations with Kyalami were progressing well. The South African had information on the progress of the negotiations, which were ultimately abandoned.

“I think it could have been done last year,” Scheckter revealed. “My nephew spent three years talking to the government, setting everything up, and they were going to organize it at Kyalami.”

But the 1979 world champion reveals that it was the greed of the Kyalami promoter that scared off the government, canceling a project that seemed to be solidifying.

“Formula 1 came there, on the verge of signing, but the guy from Kyalami said, ‘No, I want this much money and I want to do this and that’ and the government, from what I understand, saw the friction between the two and withdrew from the project. It was very close.”

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