Zwartkops Raceway - The Global Touring Car Africa race series is rearing to add some serious excitement and spectacle to the local racing scene from the second half of next year.
The first prototype race car for the series was revealed in Gauteng on Wednesday and don't let its Ford Focus body mislead you - this one is modelled on an Australian V8 Supercar racer, albeit downsized.
GTC V8 is billed as an affordable, serious race series that's also internationally relevant. To save costs and highlight driver talent, all cars on the grid will share the same frame and running gear, but will use different manufacturers' bodies.
Beneath these surfaces you'll find a sturdy tubular space frame chassis and a 373kW V8 engine mated to a six-speed transaxle sequential gearbox. The cars will also have a 'push to pass' feature that adds another 37kW momentarily.
The prototype you see here was designed and built in Australia by one of the world's leading touring car designers, Paul Ceprnich of Pace Innovations.
GTC's Gary Formato (who is also a well seasoned circuit racer) explains that it's a fairly simple design that's also packed with the latest reliable but affordable technology.
It is envisioned that the race cars will be built in South Africa and GTC's executive director, Mark Woolley, believes that the series will eventually expand globally:
"The GTC concept, is a global franchise idea where we have packaged our GTC Car together with all the rules, regulations, promoters manuals etcetera, so that interested parties in emerging motorsport markets around the world can very easily own and run a globally relevant but affordable touring car series."
The racing is set to get underway during the second half of 2014, with the race calendar due to be announced around midyear. Races in other African countries are planned from 2016 onwards.
So far the series has already confirmed 12 cars for the grid, from six different teams, and there are plans afoot to expand the build capacity to satisfy demand.