As a multi-purpose stadium having hosted cricket, soccer and concerts we are now tackling our next big challenge preparing for the Top Gear Festival. This will see Top Gear put on its first ever live stadium show with a range of racing and stunt cars performing inside the stadium and around the precinct to delight motoring enthusiasts and entertain anybody who loves a great spectacle!
Construction of the racing track has been underway for almost a month, and during this time we have maintained a normal full size football pitch which remains totally unaffected by the construction going on around it. This has allowed us to continue to host regular matches. The stadium always had a wide grass band around the main pitch, which was envisaged to be converted into an athletics track in future.
For Top Gear, the grass within this band around the main playing pitch has been removed and the ground level dropped to accommodate the vehicle track for the show. The track has to be finished by the end of April so it can cure for a month until the end of May, allowing testing, trials and rehearsals before the event which takes place on Saturday and Sunday 16 and 17 June.
The grass that was removed, about 7500 square metres, has been used to improve the fields across the road from the stadium, opposite Kings Park Swimming Pool. These are available for hire by amateur sporting clubs from the stadium’s event management department.
After the festival we will lay artificial turf on top of the track to preserve it for the next two festivals due to come to Durban in 2013 and 2014. In the event of securing another cricket match between the Top Gear festivals, the vehicle track is designed to ensure that grass can be planted over it and grown hydroponically at the same level as the main pitch, ensuring that the field is restored to the size required for cricket match boundaries.
Have you got your tickets yet? Better hurry, they’re selling fast!
10 April 2012 | News
