There is a bit of Kyalami in every South African

Toby Venter‚ CEO of Porsche SA‚ and Business Day’s motor news editor Mark Smyth on the purchase of the Kyalami Race Track.

BUSINESS DAY TV: Today’s race for the iconic Kyalami circuit got off to a flying start with Porsche South Africa claiming the checkered flag in under two minutes after offering up R205m.

Now after months of speculation over whether the 72ha property will be turned into yet another mall or block of flats‚ it seems motoring enthusiasts… can pop up the bubbly as Porsche says it will remain a race track.

Joining us in the studio now is Porsche SA’s CEO Toby Venter… he joins us on the line‚ and then in studio is Business Day’s motor news editor Mark Smyth who covered the auction.

Mark‚ let’s perhaps start off with you in studio… R205m with the opening bid set at R200m and some having perceived that to be a reserve price to start off with. When I saw the final figure… and I’m not in anybody’s imagination involved in auction processes… I thought that couldn’t have been too exciting or too long drawn a process?

MARK SMYTH: Yes it was surprising because High Street Auctions had a whole packed catalogue for the day. Kyalami was lot number 25‚ and that gave‚ certainly the motor sport enthusiasts and media that were there plenty of time to stir up more and more rumours. A Chinese bidder perhaps‚ that wanted to build a highway through the track‚ to get to Leeuwkop land… if they ever do sell that. All sorts of things… Bernie Ecclestone‚ Formula One supremo… that maybe he was bailing out… Nigel Mansell was rumoured to be involved and then the owner of the Sahara Force India Formula One team… apparently the rumour was that there was a chap in there somewhere who was bidding for him… so the rumour mill went absolutely ballistic but as I suppose it would do with lots of people… the speculation has literally been going on for years.

BDTV: Well Porsche SA prevailed and we’ve got Toby Venter on the line from Porsche SA… Toby thanks very much for joining us… you must be pretty chuffed… so how do you feel to be the owner of a race track?

… I think we’ve just lost that connection to Toby Venter‚ so let’s bring it back to Mark…

Mark the fact that Porsche prevailed and is now the owner of the race track‚ petrol heads country wide will be very pleased about this‚ do you have any sense of what their plans are for Kyalami?

MS: Yes I’ve actually spoken to Toby… Toby is down in Cape Town at the moment on the launch of the new Porsche Macan‚ so I’ve managed to catch a few words with him during the day. He is a hugely passionate driver and motor sport enthusiast so catching him… he doesn’t like to let anybody else drive… he’s been driving the routes on the launch today himself‚ so catching him between routes… but… when I spoke to him it was almost kind of a bit of a… “I bought a race track! What do I…”

BDTV: What do I do now?

MS: I dread to think what he’s going to think tomorrow morning when he wakes up and goes… “I’ve still bought a race track!”

BDTV: We’ve got him on the line now so let’s bring him into the conversation at this point… Toby‚ you’ve clearly seen the value‚ how are you feeling a few hours later?

TOBY VENTER: Yes‚ a wonderful feeling and more importantly it feels very special to have saved the track for motor sport and motor racing and motor people in South Africa… maybe there’s a bit of Kyalami in every single South African.

BDTV: Toby what are your plans for Kyalami‚ do you have any yet are you still getting over the daze of actually being the new owner?

TV: Once we take that transfer we will continue using the track for motor racing obviously… motor vehicle membership of all makes‚ driver training and various other motor-related activities.

BDTV: Is there an appetite‚ would you say‚ that there’s a strong demand for motor racing in South Africa?

TV: There should be… motor racing is part of the culture of South Africa and the track is actually a national heritage‚ a national treasure.

BDTV: That should be Mark‚ what’s your sense of the motoring environment here in South Africa and just how much international pull or weight we carry?

MS: Yes‚ certainly the heritage of Kyalami is beyond any doubt whatsoever… hosting Formula One‚ MotoGP‚ World Superbikes‚ and the passion for motor sport is still very much here in South Africa.

Obviously it’s not the cheapest form of sport in the world… actually I wonder what is… and some series are doing better than others‚ in terms of things like historic racing and things like that. But the passion is very much there and the car manufacturers‚ they use it for car launches… both local and international.

BDTV: To make it profitable though and sustainable‚ some revamping of sorts will have to be done.

MS: Yes Toby’s going to have to put quite a lot of additional money in there which I think he is well aware of‚ to refurbish it. It’s basically… since Toby was involved in negotiations for the track about 10 years ago‚ since then it’s… degraded quite substantially and it’s got to be brought up to speed.

BDTV: Toby can you tell us… how much you have earmarked to spend on getting Kyalami to the standard that you’d like it to be?

TV: We don’t have a figure in mind yet‚ but the track is in need of upgrading. The actual circuit has not been maintained for some time‚ and it will take some time before we can get it up to standard. But‚ we’ll take baby steps and get it better systematically.

BDTV: Mark do you think it is viable because obviously to have got to the point where it had to be auctioned off clearly the previous owners couldn’t make a go of it but you think Toby can?

MS: Yes… of course there were lots of issues with the management team behind Kyalami‚ the Theodossios’… in terms of the liquidation of lots of things they were involved with‚ but the passion is there and it’s partly an emotional decision‚ which you can hear from what Toby has to say‚ but he’s a very shrewd businessman and Porsche SA is one of the biggest operations in the world for the brand.

And‚ as Toby said‚ it’s not about just creating something that has a Porsche name on it‚ it’s about creating an environment where all people can go‚ all marks. On Saturday the Southern Equatorial Ferrari Owners Club had 165 Ferraris on the track‚ and they will be welcomed back as well‚ so I think it’s exciting for everybody.

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