F1 Fanatic

Yes, absolutely, especially in South Africa. In the past we had the race in Kyalami, and the World cup was hosted there with success.

It would be great to have a ‘real’ World Championship with all the continents represented on the calender. South Africa would be the usual suspect, but how about Morocco? The WTCC has been racing there for a couple of years now at the Marakech street circuit. So not necessarily at that particular circuit, but maybe a nice little track elsewhere in Morocco?

But on the other hand: if we do go racing in Africa, how can we prevent that from becoming another Turkey or China? I think the major flaw in these projects is that they become to big: Turkey, China, India, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi all set up these enormous complexes that look spectacularly good, but it lacks something special. Though they did manage to do that in for instance Hungary: the country doesn’t really have race history, but they built a nice little track there that the audience could really enjoy, and it works. If F1 does go to Africa, they should really pay some attention to these aspects.

Yes, two races, one in Morocco, one in South Africa to cover as much of the continent as possible. Plus, these two, though these two countries are not rich, they are more plausible than places like Libya, the Congo and Ethiopia!

The only other place

There are 5 African countries with a significant population (say >20 million) and a >= medium HDI. Those are: Algeria, Egypt, South Africa, Morocco and Ghana.

Of those 5, South Africa and Ghana are the least failed states, according to the index (before and after the Arabian spring). They actually score better than India and China, which both had a GP without too much controversy, so I don’t see how it can’t be done.

On top of that, South Africa has F1 pedigree. Unfortunately, the short and fast Kyalami (which would have been unique) is no more, because it had to make way for housing. The new Kyalami is still pretty interesting to drive on, but not really suitable for overtaking and in a very poor state, with no room for improvements.

Now, the South Africans could build a new track, it only costs as much as two World Cup stadiums, OR — and this option bears my preference — they could build new facilities around the Prince George Circuit in East London. The place has F1 history and a mighty impressive backdrop with the Indian Ocean. It’s short (3.9 km) and very fast, which would make it stand out immensely. The only problem is that I doubt the FIA would be happy with 40 second or less lap times.

Either way, I think South Africa should definitely get a Grand Prix in the near future. My only concern is that it will be either yet another sterile Tilkedome or yet another street circuit. Egypt could be suitable as well, but the country will need several years to stabilize and another couple of years to make plans and then another couple of years to put those plans into action.

I think Egypt is a better candidate than Morocco. Egypt has an actual tourism industry, so I don’t think it would have much of a problem attracting visitors from Europe in particular. The country just needs to stabilise itself first, but Mohammed Morsi has managed to establish himself as President, so that’s a good sign. He might have close connections to the Muslim Brotherhood, who are very conservative, but hosting a race might show Egypt’s willingness to keep working with the west and bring more stability to the region (since Morsi’s election hasn’t gone over too well in Israel). It’s a question of finding a venue. Maybe a street circuit, to keep costs down – a proper street circuit, like Monaco or Singapore, mind you. Somewhere in Alexandria, maybe.

Gizeh isn’t really an option. There’s no space; the city of Cairo is hard up against it. As for the Red Sea resorts, they’re too isolated. Alexandria makes the most sense.

Morocco famously has some great roads. Here’s an example in Fes: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5556323