AutoTrader may be best known for connecting buyers and sellers of motor vehicles but there are a bunch of enthusiastic people behind the scenes that bring you all your buying and selling advice. These folks are dyed-in-the-wool motoring enthusiasts and when we're not creating content for you to enjoy, we're still living a life that revolves around cars. That means we think about cars, talk about cars and watch videos about cars. One of our favourite things to watch is motorsports.
Related: Gazoo Racing: Toyota rediscovers their fun side
We've all dreamed of being a racing driver and some of us have dabbled in our own forms of competitive driving, be it through weekend street series' or trying our hand at some karting. Now, thanks to Toyota and Gazoo Racing South Africa, this here humble scribe gets to sample the big(ish) leagues first-hand!
The Toyota GR Cup
The GR Cup is not a new formula, now in its second season, Toyota enjoyed much success in 2022 with a field of 6 GR Yarises, all piloted by members of the motoring media. Media challenges are not new but this is the first time that high-performance vehicles have been used for such a series.
The GR Yarises used for the 2022 season were lightly modified versions of the road-going car. Starting out as the range-topping Rally-spec (at the time, the Rally is now the only derivative on offer to the South African public) and Gazoo Racing set about stripping out most of the interior. This not only reduced the weight but also made space for the roll cage which was added for safety and additional shell rigidity. The dashboard was left in place, as were the door cards.
A racing seat was fitted along with a 4-point racing harness to keep the driver safe. Mechanically, the Yaris got a set of uprated brake pads, racing brake fluid and a set of Dunlop semi-slick tyres. The engine was left standard and the exhaust was modified to free up the breathing and add to the race car soundtrack.
The 2023 season
For 2023, Toyota is changing things up a bit. This year the media invitees will not be behind the wheel of the all-wheel-drive GR Yaris, but rather the rear-wheel-drive only Toyota GR86.
A total of six GR86s will take to the grid and will be joined by the six GR Yarises from the 2022 season with candidates from the Gazoo Racing Junior Academy doing their utmost to get to the front of the pack.
The official announcement of the drivers was made at the recent Toyota SOMI 2023 where we got to see the car for the first time. Soon we will take to the track to experience this new car first-hand as we are yet to drive them and the modifications list is still being kept a secret. We suspect that it will receive a similar treatment as the GR Yarises though, with tyres brakes and weight reduction forming part of the process. The GR86s will wear some additional aero in the form of a rear wing as well.
The season comprises seven rounds and is part of the Extreme Series. If you'd like to catch one of the rounds this year, here's what the calendar looks like:
| Date | Venue |
| 18 February 2023 | Zwartkops Raceway, Pretoria |
| 18 March 2023 | Killarney, Cape Town |
| 20 May 2023 | Zwartkops, Pretoria |
| 17 June 2023 | Aldo Scribante, Gqeberha |
| 22 July 2023 | East London Grand Prix Circuit, East London |
| 9 September 2023 | Killarney, Cape Town |
| 14 October 2023 | Zwartkops Raceway, Pretoria |
Video Series
We're going to be bringing you the action in both written accounts of the racing before and after the rounds and a behind-the-scenes video series that will allow you to come along for the ride as we do our best to trump our rivals out on the racetracks of South Africa. We will be sharing links to the videos here on AutoTrader in the News and Reviews section of the site as well as on social media. So be sure to follow and like AutoTrader SA on all the popular social media services and follow @chadluckhoff on Instagram.
