Speedweek SA in conjunction with the Northern Cape Tourism Authority will be hosting the inaugural Kalahari Desert Speedweek event at Hakskeenpan in the Northern Cape from 22 – 30 September 2012.
The epic club event will simulate the legendary Bonneville Speedweek hosted in Utah, USA and promises South African motoring enthusiasts the experience of a lifetime. Different classes of vehicles and motorcycles ranging from pre-war classics to modern-day supercars and superbikes will be eligible to participate in the competition, which will be a timed race over a track featuring a 7km straight.
According to Sharron Lewis, CEO of the Northern Cape Tourism Authority, the first Kalahari Desert Speedweek is yet another mega-event that will showcase the enormous potential of South Africa’s largest province to host extreme and adventure sport events. “The province has a unique appeal to outdoor enthusiasts and Hakskeenspan is fast becoming world-renowned for its exceptional offerings to motoring enthusiasts and scientists alike. The first edition of the Kalahari Desert Speedweek will share the location of Hakskeenspan with the global BLOODHOUND Project, which will attempt to set a new world land-speed record attempt of 1600km per hours in 2014. Obviously, this will draw the global media spotlight to our province, but it will also be a platform to introduce our infrastructure and technical expertise to a global audience and serve as community upliftment opportunity for this area of the Northern Cape,” mentions Lewis.
The Mier Community Trust Fund has been established with this purpose in mind and local community members will be trained as marshals and scrutineers for Speedweek. It is expected that between 50 and 80 temporary jobs will be created by the event. In addition, Speedweek organisers will also invest in the installation of a reverse osmosis water purifier to kick-start a water bottling project, owned and managed by the fund. A percentage of the net profits generated by the Kalahari Desert Speedweek will also be donated to the trust.
The pan was selected from hundreds of sites internationally by the Bloodhound team due to the available space and lack of gradient. Track clearance crews consisting of volunteers and previously unemployed community members from the Mier district municipality have already been busy with track preparations for the past year.
The Kalahari Desert Speedweek will definitely act as a curtain-raiser for the Bloodhound attempt and facilities such as ablution amenities, water tanks and pipelines as well as camping sites will be put into place for this year’s event.
According to Jan Els from Speedweek SA, this event offers a unique experience for drivers and spectators alike. “This is racing at its most elementary – no huge sponsorships, no fancy corporate entertainment – just the pure adrenaline rush of racing at its finest in an absolutely incredible location. We’ve already had confirmation from some of the most prestigious motoring clubs in the country and even some international entries and believe that the event will only grow from strength to strength,” explains Els.
For more information on the event, visit www.speedweeksa.com or contact organiser Jan Els on 082 668 2811. For Northern Cape information, visit www.experiencenortherncape.com.
More Info: http://speedweeksa.com
Author: Ronelda Visser from Peridot. Originally distributed by MyPR.co.za.
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