South Africa's Kyalami racetrack, which hosted Formula One races for almost two decades, will be sold and could be lost to motorsport, auction organisers said on Wednesday.
A minimum price of 200 million rand ($A20.5 million) has been set for the famed circuit on 72 hectares of land in a rapidly developing area north of Johannesburg, said Lance Chalwin-Mitton of the High Street Auction Company.
"If a developer buys it, obviously it will change the nature of Kyalami quite considerably, because there will probably no longer be a track," he said.
Some prospective buyers were, however, looking at the possibility of keeping the track while developing around it, he said.
The fast 4.25km circuit hosted Grand Prix races from 1967-85, when it was axed from the world championship due to the former apartheid regime.
Local hero and former world champion Jody Scheckter won the South African GP there in 1975.
Formula One was revived at Kyalami in 1992 and 1993 in the wake of the release from prison of Nelson Mandela, but the bankruptcy of a sponsor put an end to the program.
Frenchman Alain Prost was the last winner at Kyalami in 1993.
The circuit hosted its last international competition in May 2010 with the sixth race of the World Superbike Championship.
It is being sold because of the liquidation of the company which owned the property.
"It won't be sold under 200 (million), but we are pretty confident it will exceed the reserve price," Chalwin-Mitton said.
The sale will be held on Thursday in Johannesburg.
