Phakisa Freeway is a motor racing circuit located between

Welkom Welkom () is a city in the Free State (province), Free State province of South Africa, located about northeast of Bloemfontein, the provincial capital. Welkom is also known as Circle City, City Within A Garden, Mvela and Matjhabeng. The city' ...

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 road course and a

oval An oval () is a closed curve in a plane which resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in some areas of mathematics (projective geometry, technical drawing, etc.), it is given a more precise definition, which may inc ...

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 Las Vegas Motor Speedway (track complex formerly known as Las Vegas Speedway Park from 1993 to 1996, Las Vegas Speedway in 1992, Las Vegas International Speedway from 1990 to 1992, as the Las Vegas International Speedrome from 1972 to 1990) is a ...

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 The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

IndyCar IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with the Indianapolis ...

Events

From

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, the venue hosted the South African motorcycle Grand Prix of the

MotoGP Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the highest class of motorcycle road racing events held on Road racing, road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held sin ...

championship. The

Superbike World Championship Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette road racing series based on heavily modified production sports motorcycles. The championship was founded in . The Superbike World Champion ...

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 The American Speed Association (ASA) is a sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States formed in 1968. The Association was based in Pendleton, Indiana, Pendleton, Indiana, and later in Daytona Beach, Florida. The ASA sanctioned asphalt a ...

imported

stock cars Stock car racing is a form of Auto racing, automobile racing run on oval track racing, oval tracks and road courses. It originally used Production vehicle, production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifical ...

to South Africa for the race. Various drivers from South Africa,

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and the US competed – including former NASCAR driver

Geoff Bodine Geoffrey Eli Bodine (born April 18, 1949) is an American former motorsport driver and bobsled builder. He raced at the NASCAR Cup Series from 1979 to 2011, earning 18 wins and a best season finish of third in 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series, 1990. ...

Lap records

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

References

External links

Map and circuit information at RacingCircuits.info
{{MotoGP circuits South African motorcycle Grand Prix Motorsport venues in South Africa Grand Prix motorcycle circuits Matjhabeng Local Municipality

History

Events

Lap records

See also

References

External links