The Durban Street Circuit was a temporary

street circuit A street circuit is a motorsport race track, racing circuit composed of temporarily closed-off public roads of a city, town or village, used in motor racing, motor races. Airport Runway, runways and Taxiway, taxiways are also sometimes part of ...

located in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

which was from Durban's North Beach and from Durban's CBD. The circuit and infrastructure was designed by D3 Motorsport Development which also oversaw the construction of the circuit each year. It was used for the

A1 Grand Prix A1 Grand Prix Operations Ltd. operated as A1 Grand Prix (A1GP) was a "single-make" open-wheel auto racing series that ran from 2005 until 2009. It was unique in its field in that competitors solely represented their nation as opposed to themse ...

from

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

. The

race held on this circuit was the first international open-wheel

automobile race Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

held in the country since the

1993 South African Grand Prix The 1993 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami on 14 March 1993. It was the first race of the 1993 Formula One World Championship. The 72-lap race was won by Frenchman Alain Prost, driving a Williams-Renault. ...

History

The 2006 event attracted more than 105,000 spectators. The event was voted the best round of the

2005–06 A1 Grand Prix season The 2005–06 A1 Grand Prix season was the inaugural season for the A1 Grand Prix series. It began on 25 September 2005, and finished on 2 April 2006 after eleven races. Calendar The first A1 Grand Prix season consisted of 11 rounds, all held i ...

. It was also one of the biggest sports events in Durban's history. Rumors claimed that a future

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural ''Grands Prix'') most commonly refers to: * Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition ** List of Formula One Grands Prix, an auto-racing championship *** Monaco Grand Prix, the most prestigious ...

would possibly be raced in the street circuit. However, there are no official sources confirmed that any future

South African Grand Prix The South African Grand Prix was first run as a Grand Prix motor racing handicap race in 1934 at the Prince George Circuit at East London, South Africa, East London, Cape Province. It drew top drivers from Europe including Bernd Rosemeyer, Ri ...

in the

Streets. It was announced on 21 July 2008 that

Kyalami Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit (from ''Khaya lami'', ''My home'' in Zulu language, Zulu) is a motor racing circuit located in Midrand, Gauteng, South Africa, just north of Johannesburg. The circuit has been used for Grand Prix motor racing, Grand ...

would host the

n round of the

2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season The 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season was the fourth and final season of A1 Grand Prix. A1 Team Ireland became the fourth A1GP champions, after a title battle which went down to the final round in Great Britain. Ireland won with 112 points, wit ...

instead of the

street circuit. In 2010 the Durban street circuit was to host a round of the new

FIA GT1 World Championship The FIA GT1 World Championship was a world championship sports car racing series, developed by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation, SRO Group and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), that was held from 2010 to 2012. I ...

. However, following delays in completing alterations to the Durban street circuit due to construction for the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

, the South African round was postponed until 2011. A Spanish event at the brand new

Circuito de Navarra Circuito de Navarra is a motorsport race track that opened in June 2010 near Los Arcos in the Navarre region of Northern Spain. It is a permanent road course that hosted the Superleague Formula series and the FIA GT1 World Championship. Histo ...

was proposed as a replacement for Durban on the calendar, and was confirmed at the

FIA World Motor Sport Council The World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) is a part of the governance structure of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. It has responsibility for all aspects of international motor sport. It meets at least three times a year to decide on r ...

meeting of 24 October.

The circuit

The temporary street circuit incorporated long fast straights along NMR Ave, and Suncoast Boulevard, a slow hairpin on Snell Parade and three challenging chicanes. The street circuit and event infrastructure was designed and project managed by D3 Motorsport Development, famous for the Surfers Paradise street circuit in Australia.

References

{{A1 Grand Prix circuits Motorsport venues in South Africa Defunct motorsport venues A1 Grand Prix circuits Sports venues in Durban 2006 establishments in South Africa 2008 disestablishments in South Africa