Surf Wiki
Save to docs
geography/south-africa

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Phakisa Freeway

Motor racing circuit in South Africa

Summary

Motor racing circuit in South Africa

FieldValue
namePhakisa Freeway
locationOdendaalsrus, Free State, South Africa
coordinates
image[[File:Phakisa Freeway - Road course.svgclass=skin-invert250pxGrand Prix Circuit (1999–present)]]
image_captionGrand Prix Circuit (1999–present)
track_map[[File:Phakisa Freeway - Speedway.svgclass=skin-invert250pxSpeedway (1999–present)]]
track_map_captionSpeedway (1999–present)
capacity60,000
broke_ground
opened1970
Re-opened:
closed1997
former_namesGoldfields Raceway (1970–1997)
eventsFormer:
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
South African motorcycle Grand Prix (1999–2004)
Free State 500 (2010)
South African Formula One Championship (1971–1975)
South African Springbok Championship Series (1971–1972)
layoutGrand Prix Circuit (1999–present)
length_km4.242
length_mi2.636
turns14
record_time1:33.208
record_driverITA Max Biaggi
record_carHonda RC211V
record_year2004
record_classMotoGP
layout2Speedway (1999–present)
length2_km2.414
length2_mi1.500
turns24
banking23 – 12º
layout3Short Circuit (1999–present)
length3_km3.199
length3_mi1.988
turns310
layout4Goldfields Raceway (1970–1997)
length4_km4.168
length4_mi2.590
turns410
record_time41:23.000
record_driver4RSA Dave Charlton
record_car4McLaren M23
record_year41975
record_class4F1
website

Re-opened: Grand Prix motorcycle racing South African motorcycle Grand Prix (1999–2004) Free State 500 (2010) South African Formula One Championship (1971–1975) South African Springbok Championship Series (1971–1972)

Phakisa Freeway is a motor racing circuit located between Welkom and Odendaalsrus, South Africa. It is one of the few oval speedways outside of the United States and the only one in Africa.

History

Phakisa Freeway was built on the same site as the former Goldfields Raceway, which closed in 1997.

The current track opened in 1999. It consists of a 4.242 km road course and a 1.500 mi oval course. The road course uses the oval's pit lane as its backstraight and crosses the oval's backstretch on two times.

The oval track is similar to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in its 1997 configuration: 12 degree banking in the turns, nine degrees on the tri-oval and three degrees on the back stretch. It was built to attract American oval racing like NASCAR or IndyCar.

Events

From 1999 to 2004, the venue hosted the South African motorcycle Grand Prix of the MotoGP championship.

The Superbike World Championship announced their intention to run at Phakisa Freeway from 2014 onwards. Due to homologation issues the series never raced at the circuit.

Since 2014, Phakisa Freeway has only hosted national events.

The only event held on the oval was the Free State 500 in 2010. The American Speed Association imported stock cars to South Africa for the race. Various drivers from South Africa, Europe and the US competed – including former NASCAR driver Geoff Bodine.

Lap records

As of April 2004, the fastest official race lap records at the Phakisa Freeway are listed as:

CategoryTimeDriverVehicleDatePhakisa Freeway Grand Prix Circuit: 4.242 km (1999–present)Goldfields Raceway: 4.168 km (1970–1997)
MotoGP1:33.208Max BiaggiHonda RC211V2004 South African motorcycle Grand Prix
500cc1:35.508Valentino RossiHonda NSR5002001 South African motorcycle Grand Prix
250cc1:35.593Sebastián PortoAprilia RSV 2502004 South African motorcycle Grand Prix
125cc1:40.711Roberto LocatelliAprilia RS125R2004 South African motorcycle Grand Prix
Formula One1:23.000Dave CharltonMcLaren M231975 Welkom 100
Group 61:30.200John WatsonChevron B191971 Die Volksblad 3 Hours
Group 51:28.000Gerry BirrellChevron B231972 Goldfields 3 Hours

References

References

  1. "Phakisa Freeway in Welkom". World Stadiums.
  2. (10 October 1999). "Phakisa | Welcome to Lejweleputswa District Municipality". Lejweleputswa.co.za.
  3. "Phakisa Freeway - Racing Circuits".
  4. "Phakisa Race Track".
  5. "Events at Phakisa Freeway in 2014".
  6. "Events at Phakisa Freeway in 2015".
  7. "Events at Phakisa Freeway in 2016".
  8. "Events at Phakisa Freeway in 2017".
  9. "Events at Phakisa Freeway in 2018".
  10. "Events at Phakisa Freeway in 2019".
  11. (2018-12-10). "Stock Cars In South Africa: The 2010 Free State 500".
  12. (22 March 1975). "VI Welkom 100".
  13. (11 December 1971). "1971 South African Springbok Die Volksblad 3 hours".
  14. (2 December 1972). "1972 South African Springbok Trophy Goldfields 3 hours".
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

south-african-motorcycle-grand-prix motorsport-venues-in-south-africa grand-prix-motorcycle-circuits matjhabeng-local-municipality
Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Phakisa Freeway — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report