| Author | Message | ||
     Roelard Smit |
History of the circuit: Costing £95, 000 to build in 1961, the Westmead Circuit was still hurriedly being constructed when it was announced as being part of the Springbok Series for 1961, and was completed barely a month before the first Natal Grand Prix was to take place. Jim Clark dominated the race itself, winning from Stirling Moss by 32 seconds. Moss had been forced to start at the back of the grid after arriving too late in the country to attend official practice, and despite setting the fastest lap of the race (1min 26.7 sec) never looked like challenging Clark who was able to open up the gap at will (up to 58 sec at one point) before easing off to take the win. The second Natal Grand Prix in 1962 was run in two qualifying heats with a final. The meeting was overshadowed by the death of potentian ace from Rhodesia, Gary Hocking. Vieing for a grid position, he crashed going into Devil's Lead and was killed. In the final, Clark was forced to strat from the back of the grid after retiring from his qualifying race. Up front his Lotus team-mate Trevor Taylor shot into the lead and was never headed, setting the fastest lap of the race at 1minute 24.0 seconds. Clark made it a Lotus 1-2 by coming home in second place almost half a minute behind. Unfortunately the organisers of the Natal Grand Prix had suffered severe financial losses as a result of poor attendance at the 1962 GP and were forced to withdraw from the Springbok Series. Sadly an industrial estate was built on the site of the old track. Whilst some of the roads used in the area follow the route of parts of the track, the only remaining part of the track that is recognisable is the control tower building which now houses Rento-kill offices. Source |
