South Africa could seal a deal with Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone to host a grand prix from 2009, the head of a bidding consortium said.

"We hope to sign a contract with Ecclestone just before the end of the year which will in turn allow us to host the event starting in 2009," a sports investment conference in Cape Town was told by Dave Gant, CEO of the South African F1 Bid Company.

F1 has a South African history dating back to 1962 though the last race was at Kyalami in 1993.

Africa is the only continent that does not host an F1 GP but, if SA succeeds in getting a race, another country might have to fall off the already crowded calendar.

"We have been working on this for about 18 months and each day we get more confident that we are going to pull it off," Gant said.

The initial agreement would last from the 2009 to 2015 with an option to renew, Gant added.

Ecclestone has in the past pushed for a South Africa bid and promised in 2004 to bring it back to SA.

"We are going to South Africa - it's not a question of if, it's only when," Ecclestone said last November. There will be a South African GP, hosted by Cape Town, within five years."

(bron: Motoring.co.za / August 2005)