Embakasi
Circuit info:
- Circuit length:
- 1.700 miles/2.735 km
- Circuit type:
- Permanent road course
Circuit history:
Embakasi began life in 1967 as part of more ambitious plans for a full International GP circuit, adjacent to the Nairobi Dam at Kibera (by the mid-1980s a sprawling shanty town), to the immediate west of the city centre. While these plans came to nothing because of a lack of funds, the smaller Embakasi circuit did get bult that year.
The circuit was alongside the main Nairobi-Mombasa Highway and immediately adjacent to the boundary of the Nairobi Game Park. Initially the 1.70 miles of track, operated by the Kenya Motor Racing Association, had an oil-bound red-murram soil surface which was quite soon upgraded to a sealed tarmacadam one.
By 1986 this surface had largely broken up and, with a lack of 'proper' racing machinery remaining in serviceable order, was then being used for autocross-type events. By the early '90s, the immediate surrounds, along the Game Park fence, were being swallowed up by poorly-built factories and 'godowns' (warehouses) and the circuit landowners could not resist more-profitable commercial uses.
The Game Park survives, but the encroachment of buildings and humans appears, not surprisingly, to be bringing about a noticeable reduction in the resident animal population.
Information supplied by Bill Colson
