The East London Grand Prix circuit was up for re-inspection on October 25 after it was declared unsafe to host the Ford and Friends festival scheduled for October 1. The inspection found that the track had sufficiently made most of the changes required and that racing can re-commence form November 12.
The inspection was conducted by the national safety officer for circuits in SA, accompanied by clerk of the course Eric Schultz and six representatives from Border Motorsport. The committee walked around the circuit and reviewed all the changes made.
Ford and Friends was set to provide both the track and the local economy with a much-needed financial boost. Track manager Andrew Karshagen said out- of-town racers brought six to eight more people with them in need of accommodation, recreation and food, allowing local businesses to benefit from racing festivals.
The inspection was scheduled for October 18 but rain delayed this process.
The initial inspection conducted by Motorsport SA and Border Motor Sport Club on September 22 revealed a number of concerns relating to the tyre wall specifications, drain covers and inadequate power supply, among others.
Karshagen said the tyre wall did not adhere to FIH safety specifications as a 100m wall needed to be erected. The ongoing theft of the wires that bind the tyres, and the tyres themselves, has posed a challenge to adhering with the MSA specifications for the wall. The track has been given until December 31 to repack the entire wall.
The drain covers, deemed unsafe as they are made from concrete, must be recovered with steel.
Storm damage in August caused electrical cables to hang low over the track and resulted in damage to some of the pits, which were condemned as a result.
Earlier in September, the transformer at the track was stolen and the municipality has not replaced it yet.
Broken sewerage infrastructure on the roads between Potters Pass and Rifle Range has caused sewerage leaks on the circuit and this makes the outside grass slippery, presenting a danger to racers.
“Can you imagine a racer falling off his bike in the sewerage and medics trying to move him safely given how slippery the ground becomes. It presents health risks to the racer,” Karshagen said.
To combat this, French drains have now been erected at the track although the sewerage remains unattended as it flows all the way from the race track down the road to the West Bank Golf course.
Karshagen said the only way to ensure the security of the track’s infrastructure was to erect a fence round it. But this will be difficult given its status as a municipal road.
