Durban goes into Top Gear

The Top Gear Festival hosted in Cape Town and Johannesburg in the past four years will look like a "Sunday school picnic" when Durban takes the wheel in June.

The competition between Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May rubbed off on KwaZulu-Natal economic development and tourism MEC Mike Mabuyakhulu yesterday when he announced that the festival would be coming to Durban.

"This festival has attracted a total live audience of about 200000 spectators in South Africa over the past four years.

"Durban will dwarf those figures to make [previous festivals] look like a Sunday school picnic," he said.

After months of negotiating, the festival has been given the green light to take place at the Moses Mabhida stadium, which is surrounded by the festival's first street circuit - a 2km winding playground for Top Gear's invincible driver, the Stig.

"With such a massive space to play with, Top Gear's adrenaline-charged live show will be able to reach new heights, thrilling the audience with FMX bikes, donutting [circling at top acceleration on full wheel lock] and flaming rally cars, exhilarating, hair-raising stunt manoeuvres by the Top GearLive stunt driving team and nonsensical challenges synonymous with Top Gear," Top Gear Live chief operating officer James Cooke-Priest said yesterday.

Besides an expo of the world's finest supercars and of "cars modified beyond belief", petrolheads will also be able to see cars that have featured in the Top Gear TV show.

"Those cars have never before left the UK," Cooke-Priest said.

Clarkson, Hammond, May and a line-up of motorsport legends are expected to provide a "stellar showing" in Durban, he added.

Mabuyakhulu and Cooke-Priest said the economic spin-off for the city is estimated at R35-million a year, while R26-million will be injected into local procurement.

Acknowledging that many Durban ratepayers had labelled the event "a waste of taxpayers' money" because the city is contributing R31-million to the festival, Mabuyakhulu said Top Gear was a phenomenal global brand that would strengthen Durban's mark on the global trade and industry map.

Online ticket sales begin today.