Invisible to the public for years, the test track is said to lie within restricted airspace, and was known only to select engineers and carmakers.
Now, updated Google Earth images have blown the cover off what may be South Africa’s most mysterious automotive facility.
Located off the N14 between Pofadder and Kakamas, the secluded test track is used for stress-testing some of the world’s fastest cars.
The track consists of a 17.5km high-speed oval, two arrow-straight 4.5km stretches, and an intricate 5.5km in-track handling course.
Testing some of the world’s top supercars
International engineering firm IngenAix has identified the site as a Daimler hot-climate proving ground. This is a place where extreme temperatures, harsh dust, and open desert conditions push vehicles to their limits.
Over the years, the track has quietly hosted some of the world’s most famous supercars. Among these are the Bugatti Veyron, Rolls-Royce Spectre, Toyota GR Racing Hilux, and Volkswagen ID.3.
To the south of the giant oval sits a smaller, banked oval surrounded by corrugated surface loops designed to torture-test suspension systems.
A cluster of buildings nearby is believed to house engineers and test teams during long-term trials.
Nearby road allows speeds up to 250km/h
The location of the supercar test track is perhaps no accident either.
The stretch of the N14 nearby is the only national road in South Africa where certain government-approved speed tests allow cars to push the speedometer to 250km/h.
Just 30km south of that high-speed zone, the hidden track offers manufacturers a more controlled, more discreet environment.
For years, satellite imagery of the area was blurred or outdated. Only with more recent Google Earth updates did the massive oval suddenly become visible.
Motoring enthusiasts were quick to call it South Africa’s answer to Italy’s Nardo Ring and Germany’s Ehra-Lessien.
While those global circuits span 12km and 18km respectively, South Africa’s desert track comes surprisingly close, rivalling the world’s most elite automotive testing grounds in scale and secrecy.
The mystery deepened further in 2022 when a YouTube creator flew over the region and captured rare aerial footage of the sprawling circuit, confirming long-held rumours about its existence.
