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Article: Grand Prix racing returns to Africa: although Formula One racing has been shunning South Africa, a brand-new and far more exciting event gave motor sports fans in Durban plenty to cheer about. Stephen Williams describes Dubai's Sheik Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum's latest sporting venture.
- Article from:
- African Business
- Article date:
- March 1, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 IC Publications Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Grand prix racing returned to Africa in January when, for the first time since 1985, a grand prix race was run in South Africa. The country was once a fixture on the Formula One (F1) grand prix circuit, until the French government forbade the Ligier and Renault teams from visiting South Africa as part of an anti-apartheid campaign. That final race, boycotted so effectively by the French, was a financial disaster for the F1 organisers, and for over two decades South African fans have been denied top-flight motor racing run on local soil.
But that has now all changed. F1 has yet to make its return to South Africa--although it might be imminent with the proposed ...