Cape Town’s Formula 1 Style Racing Experience

Motorsport lovers can enjoy the thrill of a motor racing experience when visiting Cape Town

You get out of your Formula 1 racing car, tuck your helmet under your arm and stride across the racing track. The crowd falls silent and your girlfriend is waiting adoringly next to the track. Soon you will get up on the champagne podium and claim your rightful title as Cape Town’s motor racing champion.

No this is not Top Gear, Monaco or a movie. This is Cape Racing Tours. Tour operator Eugene Levens teamed up with the owners of a set of Reynard F1 single-seater racing cars to offer this Formula 1 style racing experience to tourists visiting South Africa. Visitors are picked up directly from their hotel and taken to either Killarney in Cape Town or Kyalami in Johannesburg, depending on the weather and where they are based.

Racing suits are provided as well as a quick course in Formula 1 racing. Professional circuit racing instructors keep safety top of mind through every step while turning you into a motor racing pro using simulators. Girlfriends and wives can enjoy some go-karting in the meantime and then return to the track later to cheer you on. After a few practice laps around the racing track you get to challenge other drivers to a real race and soon you hear those dream words: “Gentleman, start your engines…”

You roar past the chequered flags, pull in for a pit stop, get your tires changed, refuel and hear your pulse racing almost as fast as your Formula 1 style car. Once you have proven your motorsport expertise you step onto the podium and get sprayed with champagne along with the cheering crowd.

“I grew up watching racing at Killarney,” says Eugene, “I had a neighbour who sold cars and raced them on weekends, I used to go and watch him. Then, I started thinking about these cars and the fact that they are only used on weekends for racing, and I thought that it would be a good idea to give visitors the opportunity to find out what it is like to be a Formula 1 racing driver”.

Half a day needs to be set aside for the Formula 1 style racing experience, which also includes a real South African braai (barbeque) after all the excitement. Advance bookings are recommended, especially since the track can only be booked for groups of ten or more. The only other requirements are that you need to have a valid driver’s license and be over the age of 21.

Cape Racing Tours also offers package holidays to South Africa including accommodation, paragliding, shark diving, lion encounters and Vietnam Huey helicopter flights. All the kind of activities that would have thrill seekers in their African element.

As Eugene likes to say: “Your bragging rights start here”.

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Read more about the real Formula 1 GP coming to Cape Town.

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