Last year Top Gear's festival held at the Kyalami race track came under fire with many fans complaining, through our forums and other media, about everything from the main show being too short, a lack of shelter from the rain, long park-and-ride queues, poor sign posting and so on.
STADIUM OF SPEED
We wondered whether they would return to Joburg this year and in the interim it's been agreed that the show will actually be held in Durban this June. Now there's a new debate with the official confirmation that the province will be footing a huge bill.
According to The Mercury, the show will see the three Top Gear presenters, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May (not forgetting their new Stig) entertaining crowds at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban.
And because we could hardly imagine their automotive blitz taking place on grass (though that might work well for the car soccer) the plan includes the construction of a temporary stunt circuit and skid pan.
RATE PAYERS FOOTING BILL
Add all the costs together, which include numerous safety measures to garner approval from Motorsport South Africa, and the price tag of hosting the event for the next three years creeps up to R31-million.
KZN's rate payers will be paying for almost half of this bill, with the balance to be covered by the province.
The DA, while having no objection to the hosting of the event, says that the approval process war flawed because the provincial government signed on the dotted line and published the construction tender before any consultation at council level.
Municipal legal services head Nokhana Moerane responded by saying that the council had (last year) resolved that the executive committee had the authority to finalise matters such as these.
HOW ABOUT A REAL TRACK?
Yet the motorheads among us will almost certainly agree most with Minority Front councillor Partick Pillay, who suggested that the city should look at investing in its own permanent race track. Seems like a no-brainer, providing it has adequate shelter…
Source: The Mercury