FORCE revives South African winter Formula One series

Classic Grand Prix cars are to return to South Africa this winter following the confirmation of a two-event ‘Springbok Series’ to be run by the FORCE organisation.

The brace of races are to be held on consecutive weekends at the new Gosforth Park circuit — soon to be renamed WesBank Raceway — and at Kyalami, starting on November 16.

This will bring back the spectacle of 3-litre grand prix racing machinery to a country which staged a domestic F1 series from 1962 to ’75 that made stars of drivers such as John Love and Dave Charlton.

Series organiser David McLaughlin said: “Gosforth Park is built around an existing horse track, so it already has an infrastructure of an extremely high standard. We expect a good grid.”

The series is open to pre-ground effect F1 cars, while entries will also be accepted from F5000 and 1600cc F2 cars from the 1967-’71 period.

Sadly, no F1 cars are expected to appear in the colours made famous in the South African series, as most have been put back to their original world championship liveries.