The full story of Kyalami's return to F1 relevance

"Build it, and they shall come." The rejuvenation of Africa's most famous racetrack has plenty more about it than a paraphrased line from Field of Dreams. But Kyalami, a circuit in the doldrums earlier this decade that is now a potential candidate for a return to the Formula 1 calendar, does share one thing with a farmland baseball field Kevin Costner made for ghosts: if something does not exist, then it cannot be used or enjoyed.

It is not stretching the point to credit Kyalami's existence, let alone its return to hosting international motorsport this year, down to one man: Toby Venter, CEO of Porsche South Africa. You may have read about the prospects of a South African F1 race in the last week, and the connection to Venter's business, and considered it a peculiar link. But Venter has been vital to Kyalami's salvation and renovation.

"I worked for Porsche in the UK and was used to having to justify [the] size [of real estate developments]," Porsche South Africa's group property manager Andrew Baldwin - who oversaw Kyalami's development after Venter purchased it at auction for 205million Rand (around £11m in today's money) in 2014 - tells Autosport.

"We ended up building stuff that was too small. That's not Toby. He's a guy who just wants to do it right. If he's got to find ways of finding the money that's what he'll do. In fact, it was a 'build it and they shall come' philosophy: we can build this thing, and things are going to flow from that."

The completion of Kyalami's redevelopment, including an extended start-finish straight, further circuit tweaks and a major overhaul of its facilities, earned it FIA Grade 2 status in 2016 and with it came the right to host basically anything below F1-level events. By the end of '19 it will have re-established itself as an international motorsport venue when the Kyalami 9 Hours is revived as the season finale for the Intercontinental GT Challenge.

'Revival' is Kyalami's buzzword at the moment. With F1 firmly eyeing a return to Africa and the circuit effectively requiring just Tecpro barrier investment and more asphalt run-off to make it to Grade 1 standard, Kyalami's future prospects are unrecognisable to the situation it faced just a few years ago before Venter and his LSM Distributors company took it over.

"I was there for two years as the project got bigger and bigger," says Baldwin. "We're a Porsche business, a Porsche importer in South Africa. Toby's a passionate motorsport guy and so am I. This was an opportunity we had to try to get Kyalami back to standard.

"It was horrible when we bought it. It was run-down, investment had stopped, it was in a hell of a state. It was just tired and run down - probably hadn't been resurfaced for 15 years, [and] all the fencing was rusty.

"But Toby's a brave man. He's an entrepreneurial spirit."

Having saved the circuit from being transformed into a housing estate, Venter's group opted against transforming it into a playground for the Porsche, Lamborghini and Bentley vehicles his business imports. Instead, he gave the green light for the renovation work to go above and beyond simple automotive business interests.

"A corporate wouldn't have done it," Baldwin says. "A corporate would have run away screaming, saying it's not viable. [But] sometimes you get these guys with deep pockets and a desire to do something right. That's what Toby committed to."

There are now advanced road-car proving ground facilities at Kyalami, including an 18,000 square metre driver training area with low-grip asphalt, 'wet condition' irrigation systems and a 1.1km handling circuit.

F1 was never the plan, even though Baldwin admits it was a "dream". That is why Venter's Porsche business committed to investing in other areas of the circuit

But no stone was left unturned in the pursuit of bringing the racetrack back up to standard as well - to the point where the new 2.810-mile circuit was certified by the FIA and, according to Kyalami, hailed by the late Charlie Whiting in his track report as "amazing, and the attention to detail during the total refurbishment is second to none".

Without that work, there is little - probably zero - chance that F1 would be having "very positive conversations" about a race in South Africa, or that the circuit's official position would be to "support all efforts and remain committed to hosting a Formula 1 Grand Prix at Kyalami". In hindsight, it's a very good thing that those in charge of fixing Kyalami "probably got a bit carried away".

"The sheer extent of investment," says Baldwin when asked to explain that comment.

"We decided to extend the track in a couple of places. We wanted to get back to a longer main straight to try to replicate the original Kyalamia little bit - the 1961-1985 Kyalami.

"The joy of the track to me is we've still got a lot of the original, iconic corners from the first track. We've got Sunset, this magnificent late-apex 180-degree corner, Clubhouse, the Esses - so it's back to as it was back in 1961, and I love that kind of stuff. It still has those elements that have endured all this time.

"Then we said we've got to resurface the whole thing, because we can't compromise on safety. Suddenly, instead of just putting in new safety features on the new bits of the racetrack, we replaced the whole thing.

"We've had some fairly major incidents at the track where the safety systems have really done their job. We had a Porsche and a Ferrari collide and the Ferrari went barrel-rolling against the debris fencing down the main straight.

"It's an accident I would never have imagined [could] happened. It was like a testament to what we'd done in terms of the fencing and the fact we'd chosen to put fencing there."

"All our staff are buzzing because Sean [Bratches] has said we're talking about South Africa" Andrew Baldwin

F1 was never the plan, even though Baldwin admits it was a "dream". That is why Venter's business committed to investing in other areas of the circuit. Basing a massive, multi-million pound investment on the potentially spurious notion of reviving a grand prix - one that needs government support to happen and could require an astronomical fee to join the calendar - would be foolish. Especially when there isn't a thriving national motorsport scene to underpin it in South Africa.

"We spent a lot of money on the old pit building that was built in a hurry back in 1992 for the two grands prix that were on the amended circuit," continues Baldwin. "We completely gutted it, made it bigger, and turned it into a proper facility for events and conferences.

"We've got some great spaces so we try to run Kyalami [with] other events and you aren't dependent on motorsport. We've been trying to build the business with lots of events, lots of corporate stuff."

Major national motoring events, music festivals and even a Comic-Con-style show have been part of Kyalami's portfolio so far. In November, though, it will take an important step on its return to relevance on the international motorsport stage. Stephane Ratel's GT series will be a welcome boost for a venue that has not held a major motorsport event in a decade.

So, what about F1? That is the holy grail, after all.

"The basic layout [and] facilities are all great for Formula 1," Baldwin says. "We're ready for that. It's just an extra sum of money to push you over the finish line for Grade 1."

Beyond that, further investment is required - even for November's 9 Hours. "I'd hate to mislead you and suggest everything's there," Baldwin says. "It's not. We have to invest in a proper timing system with loops now, we have to invest in cameras and additional PA and lighting.

"The investment doesn't stop. Everything's on a biblical scale because everything's so bloody big at a racetrack!"

Making it happen will require a lot more that the ongoing investment the circuit is receiving through Venter. They aren't interested in promoting the event themselves. One could consider them more facilitators of South Africa's return to F1, via Kyalami, rather than the driving force.

"All our staff are buzzing because Sean [Bratches] has said 'we're talking about South Africa'," says Baldwin. "We've just had general elections [won by long-time ruling party the African National Congress with a reduced majority], the country's facing all kinds of issues - the question is if there's a desire. You know the model, governments have to have some kind of involvement to make a grand prix happen."

Even for someone of Venter's enthusiasm, that appears outside of one person's control. But whether it's time, money, interest accrued, the effort in underpinning the value of the property with a model that makes it work for Venter's business (and other manufacturers who wish to use the circuit for events), the significance of his role should not be understated. The risk attached to making investment in Kyalami worthwhile was not insignificant. Now it is paying off: the growth of the area between Johannesburg and Pretoria places the multi-purpose, revitalised circuit in a burgeoning city hub.

"I know what the textbook says," Baldwin adds. "You do your masterplan, your budget, [and] it's only when you do those things, you progress. That isn't what happened, to be honest.

"It's the drive of one man, who had the balls to go for it."

If F1 returns to South Africa and Kyalami, the world championship would head back to a new-world circuit with an old-school feel. A homage to the past that is fit for the present and the future.

And if that happens, F1 will have a Porsche, Bentley and Lamborghini dealer to thank for making it an option in the first place.