Johannesburg — The road that leads to Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit — the M39 Allandale Road — is undergoing major upgrades as it is modified from a single motorway to a dual carriageway.
Earth has been moved, the ground flattened and the preliminary shape and size decided; so much so, that it has taken aboard certain definitions of what a road is.
Kyalami, if it is to obtain its Grade 1 license, which will make it eligible to host both Grand Prix of a Formula One and MotoGP kind, will not require such huge efforts — that has been the official line from the track's owners.
On Wednesday, that position was reinforced by South Africa’s very own MotoGP export and race winner, Brad Binder. The Red Bull KTM driver is in the country on sabbatical during the mid-season break, but made his way to Kyalami to set a benchmark lap on his RC16.
“For me, clearly,” said Binder of the Kyalami circuit, “the facilities they have in the pits — the space and everything — is more than capable than most tracks that have MotoGP.
“The only thing they will have to work on a little bit, is the run-off areas at some corners. That is something that all the riders; and obviously the FIM and FIA; have been working on in the past few years.
“Most tracks now have more run-off areas, purely because the speed of MotoGP is getting faster and faster. It is necessary to have that run-off for safety purposes.”
“There are a couple corners here that will need a little more run-off,” Binder continued.
“Maybe at the bottom of the Mineshaft (Turn 12), purely because it is such a high-speed corner. A little bit more run-off in Turn 2 (Crowthorne) but if you look (at the venue), there is space (to make those modifications).
“I get the feeling that we will be coming back here, because they are modifications to the circuit that can be done with ease.”
Speculation has been rife these past months that F1 will be returning to the country in 2023 after a three decade absence. Those rumours intensified this week after social media “insiders” insisted that a commercial deal had been reached. Officially, however, “there is no contract in place with Kyalami,” the owners of the track revealed in a statement on Tuesday.
Although no word has been uttered regarding a MotoGP event being hosted at the track, it nevertheless remains an ambition of Binder to one day race Kyalami in the elite category.
“It would be amazing to have a home Grand Prix here,” said the 26-year-old.
“It is something that I really look forward to and it is something that I believe will happen in the future. This track is amazing … As a child I used to race 50cc here.”
At the beginning of the season, Binder believed that KTM would have the pace to compete for podiums every race weekend. Despite an opening-season podium in Qatar, that challenge has not materialised.
Binder, however, remains sixth in the world rider’s championship. Moreover, in the 11 races so far this season, he has failed to finish outside the top 10 on only two occasions.
Despite not being amongst the front-runners, Binder remained positive that the formula for success will be solved in the near future.
Said Binder: Coming into this season, we started with a completely different base.
“The hardware of the bike is really similar but we ended up making the bike work in a completely different way by changing the height, the length, the general weight distribution. We managed to unlock other areas; and with that we found some new positives but also some big negatives.
“The goal from here is to really keep those positives and apply them to our new … The guys are working so hard and we have found improvements already. Even at the last test, even if it is not positive, it can give you a direction.”
The results for the “SuperLap” will be revealed in August, with Binder and Co hoping the benchmark for the 4.5km track on a MotoGP bike will be set around 1.48 minutes.
It is possible that Kyalami will know its fate regarding its inclusion in the F1 calendar from next year. Perhaps MotoGP will follow soon afterwards.
IOL Sport