-2.1 C
New York City
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Home Motor Sports African Motorsport to Benefit from Appointment of MSA Chair to FIA

African Motorsport to Benefit from Appointment of MSA Chair to FIA

Motorsport in South Africa and Africa has received a significant boost with the appointment of MSA Chairman Anton Roux to the Senate of the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA).

Roux was nominated by FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem and elected to the Senate on 21 February, almost exactly three years after his election as Chairman of Motorsport South Africa (MSA).

He is one of four new members of the highest authority of the FIA, and he joins notable other businesspeople and motorsport specialists, including Toyota Global President Akio Toyoda, Carlos Slim of Mexico and His Royal Highness Faisal Al Hussein of Jordan.

“It is a singular honour to be elected to the Senate of the FIA. As the only African on the Senate, I fully realise my responsibility to use this position not only to serve global motorsport, but advance the motorsport interests of our continent,” says Roux.

“I have been tasked to bring my knowledge of audit, risk and compliance to bear on the future management of the FIA and have made it known that I will use the opportunity to develop motorsport beyond South Africa’s borders and fight for the inclusion of Africa on the Formula 1 calendar.”

As part of these goals, Roux is personally supporting a new karting series for Africans that will travel across the continent to grow the interest in the sport and identify talented racers for further development.

“In our initial research, we have found clubs and tracks in countries such as Namibia, Kenya and even Madagascar. I firmly believe that this new karting series will help grow our beloved sport of motor racing across the continent,” says Roux.

Anton Roux

Roux is equally passionate about bringing Formula 1 racing to South Africa.

“We have the capabilities to host a Formula 1 race in South Africa.

“Research conducted by Motorsport South Africa as early as the nineties have shown that the income from tourism, VAT and the general marketing of South Africa outstrips the investment in the sport by many multiples. I am confident that we will see the pinnacle of motorsport returning to South Africa soon,” says Roux.

Prior to being elected as MSA Chairperson, Roux was perhaps best known for his roles as Managing Director of Medscheme, where he won the award as CEO of Best Non-listed company in South Africa, and CEO of Aon in Sub Saharan Africa and Israel. He is also a director of companies such as FirstRand Insurance Holdings where he is Chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee.

Roux is also the owner and CEO of RS Autosport, a specialist Porsche and classic vehicle service and restoration centre in Johannesburg.

RS Autosport is renowned for its restoration capabilities, and it currently has Porsche models ranging from 1958 to 2020 that it is servicing, repairing, restoring to showroom or concourse condition or restoring and updating (restomod) for clients as far afield as Hong Kong, Germany and Canada.

Roux will remain Chairman of MSA. He will also support the work of fellow Africans on various MSA councils, such as Rodrigo Rocha of Mozambique (Vice President, World Motorsport Council), Amina Mohamed (Kenya), titular member of the World Motorsport Council, and Dr Greg Mills (SA), member of the FIA Historic Commission.

“We now have a unique opportunity as a continent to advance our interests in the audience of the FIA President and fellow global senate members and I fully commit to doing just that during my term,” says Roux.

©Copyright MOTORING WORLD INTERNATIONAL.
All rights reserved. Materials, photographs, illustrations and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior written permission from Motoring World International

Contact[email protected]

Most Popular

Baltimore Bridge Disaster: Immigrants Died Doing Job ‘Others Do Not Want To Do

They came to the United States for a chance at a better life. They found work filling pot holes on a bridge in the...

Fully Electric Volvo EX30 Named 2024 World Urban Car

Volvo Company on Thursday burst into celebration, as its fully electric EX30, landed a big accolade at the prestigious World Car Awards. Beating a competitive...

Nissan to Compete in All-Electric FIA World Championship until 2030

Nissan has expressed commitment to the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship until at least 2030, reinforcing its Ambition 2030 electrification plans. Running from Season...

2024 Easter Special Patrol: FRSC Deploys 200 Mobile Courts, Over 1000 Vehicles, others

As part of its measures to prevent road crash during the Ester celebration, the Federal Road safety Corps has deployed not less than 200...