After resident motoring journalist Chad put in a fantastic showing in last year's GR Cup aboard his GR86 racing machine, it's now my turn to take the wheel and represent the AutoTrader brand in the 2024 edition of the championship!
Related: AutoTrader Goes Racing | Episode 10 - the final showdown
A familiar feeling
In 2021, I was allowed to race in the first-ever GR Cup, representing my own personal brand. The vehicle in that year was the mighty GR Yaris, a. car that impressed everyone so much with its reliability and pace! I learned so much during that season and emerged from the experience as a better driver and, in many ways, a stronger person. I feel motivated to win this year's championship after missing the first race and finishing third in the championship back in 2021.
New goals
Having competed before, I now have valuable experience, and aside from the obvious motivation to win, I would like to use my year of racing to better myself physically and mentally. Therefore, I have set the goal of losing 10 kilograms throughout the season, which would take me from 82kg to 72kg.
I hope being lighter will make me slightly faster, and the exercise routine and strict diet will also boost my physical and mental well-being. I will do this all while maintaining my "9-5" office job and hopefully inspire some of those who consume this content to use their respective hobbies to better themselves.
GR Corolla enters the chat
The GR Corolla, a four-wheel drive, turbocharged hatchback, is the vehicle used for this year's championship. The figures are impressive, with 221kW and 370Nm from a 1.6-litre turbocharged three-cylinder engine, which is paired with a six-speed manual gearbox that sends power to all four wheels. This allows for a sub-5.0 second 0-100km/h time and a top speed of 230 km/h.
Since the vehicles we will be racing are production cars, some modifications have been made to ensure they can cope with a demanding racing season. The brand has stipped the interior, fitted a custom exhaust system, bigger brakes from Powerbrake with track specification Ferodo pads, a full roll cage, an OMP racing seat, Dunlop Direzza semi-slick tyres, and lowering springs.
Related: Toyota GR Corolla 1.6T GR-Four Circuit (2023) review - A rally car in your driveway
When does it start?
The first round will take place at Killarney International Circuit in Cape Town from March 15 to 16. We head to the iconic Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit in April from the 11th to the 13th, followed by Zwartkops Raceway on May 17-18. We then head to Aldo Scribante Raceway in Gqeberha for what is sure to be a chilly race in June. The scary East London Grand Prix Circuit will host Round 5 in July. Then we repeat both Killarney for Round 6 in September and finish the season in October at Zwartkops Raceway near Pretoria.
Who am I up against?
I will be racing against seasoned journalists such as Bernie Hellberg from Driven, Hannes Visser of La't Wiel fame, Alex Shahini representing CAR, Jaco van der Merwe from Citizen and Kumbi Mtshakazi from Kumbi-M on Cars.
A word from Toyota
"The GR Cup has proven highly popular with the drivers and the fans," says Toyota SA Motor's Glenn Crompton, Vice-President of Marketing. "This year, the series promises to be more exciting than ever, thanks in part to the powerful new GR Corolla, which the media representatives will use."
