With a record number of participants at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit this past weekend, Round 2 of the National Extreme Festival was packed with action, with racing starting at 7.00 am on Saturday and only finishing closer to 6:00 pm. I was involved in two GR Cup races between the various racing disciplines, and I am happy to report that I walked away with another victory!
Related: A first taste of victory in 2024 GR Cup!
Practice and Qualifying
Having raced around Kyalami many years ago, some rust would have to be shaken from my memory regarding the fast, flowing Grand Prix circuit. I headed into the first practice session on Thursday to refamiliarise myself with the track. I emerged confident, having set a 2min 9.5 lap time, around three seconds faster than my nearest competitor. I arrived at the track at sunrise for the first Friday practice session and knew the cooler track and air would suit our turbocharged Corollas' tyres and drivetrains. I was correct and managed to take 1.7 seconds from my previous time, with a 2min7.8 lap time; however, seemingly out of nowhere, Car Magazine's Alex Shahini set a 2min7.5, some 0.3 seconds faster!
With qualifying coming up at lunchtime, I knew there was time to find, with my optimal lap being a 2min7.1. I headed into the session and pushed, setting a 2min7.5. However, Shahini found another tenth, with a time of 2min7.4, meaning there was less than a tenth from pole to second position, about as close as I have ever seen in the GR Cup! This meant a front-row start and the ability to fight for a win on Saturday!
Enter the GR Yaris
The GR Yaris race cars that were campaigned by media in 2022 and the GR Academy in 2023 have now also been included in the series, with the Toyota Gazoo Racing Advanced Driving Academy as well as several dealers campaigning cars, which, as we found out on the Thursday, would be racing alongside us in the Corollas! The Yaris would be racing in their own league and for their own points and championship despite sharing the track with us! As I will elaborate, this placed the proverbial spanner in the works!
Race 1
Heading into Race 1, I felt a sense of calm, looking out upon a misty morning at Kyalami. We were the day's first race, and I knew our vehicles would love these cooler conditions. We began our warm-up lap, and I knew I would have to get a good start to keep a hard-charging Paul De Vos in his GR Yaris behind me. Our rolling start went well, with Shahini getting a slight jump on me; however, his slightly defensive shape heading into Turn 1 meant I had a better exit for Turn 2, and heading into Turn 3, I slipped up the inside. While I had grabbed the lead, Hannes Visser had capitalised on a brilliant exit from Turn 3 and managed to slip up the inside of De Vos and Shanini in the process.
Visser was on a mission, and while I knew that saving tyres was the name of the game, the distinct lumo yellow stickers of his GR Corolla were getting closer and closer. From my perspective in the vehicle, heading into the final turn on Lap 2, Visser ran wide; however, after the race, it appeared that he ran deep and was going to make contact with my bumper, so he moved wide, allowing Shanini to pass by. Visser had then seemingly taken life from his tyres, and he fell back slightly, but now I had a very hard chasing Shahini behind me. I put in a push lap but still tried to save some tyres for what appeared to be an enviable fight heading into the third lap. Shahini was within half a second, and I prepared for some defensive racing, but to my surprise, he fell back. Throughout the subsequent corners, he fell further back, allowing me to realise that his massive push had cooked his tyres, leaving me with some breathing space. The race was then brought to an abrupt end by a Red Flag as a result of Visser, who went off in Turn 1 with a brake issue. I had won Race 1 and was very happy with how I managed the race overall.
Race 2
Heading into Race 2, I would have to prove myself more than ever before in GR Cup. You see, in my efforts to defend and save my tyres from my hard-charging colleagues, I had only set the fourth fastest time of the first race, meaning I would start fourth in Race 2, with Shahini on pole and two GR Yaris racing machines piloted by Paul De Vos and Mario De Sousa standing between me and a double victory at Kyalami. I knew that this would be a tough ask, but I also knew that my race pace was good, so I went in with confidence. I managed to get a good start and slipped inside a gracious De Sousa inside of Turn 2.
I then set my sights on De Vos, who was right on Shahini's bumper. A great exit from Sunset on Lap 2 meant that De Vos tried to move up the inside of Shahini into Clubhouse, who mounted a defence, meaning that we went through the Esses on one another's bumpers. I knew that I would have to get past De Vos, so I swallowed a brave pill and went through the infamous Cheetah corner faster than I would normally dare, and slipped up the inside of De Vos, who had a great exit and remained on my outside before Shahini seemingly had a poor exit or a mis-shift, meaning the three of us went down the pit straight alongside one another. I had the inside line and took the lead into the fourth lap! The rest of the lap me pull a small gap to De Vos and Shahini, setting the fastest lap of the race in the process. Heading into Crowthorne, I noted Shahini heading off into the gravel as an orange flash in my rear-view mirror.
My key rival in the race was out, and my tyres were now screaming, so heading into Clubhouse, I opened up the inside line for De Vos, who slipped past. We then spent the remaining lap-and-a-half battling and putting on a show, ultimately crossing the finish line just 0.4 seconds apart. I was relieved Shahini was shaken but unhurt from his off at Crowthorne and surprised that I had managed to snatch a victory from my starting position!
The dangers of motorsport
With both Visser, Shahini and many others who had incidents during the course of the weekend walking off physically intact but shaken, a shocking reminder of the dangers of motorsport occurred during one of the Parbar VW Challange races where young driver Michael Zapheriou ran wide at the infamous Cheetah corner, shooting across the track and making a head-on impact with the inside barrier. At the time of writing, Zapheriou was still in a critical state in a local hospital following the accident. We wish him a full and speedy recovery and implore all of our readers to keep him and his family in our thoughts during this difficult time.
Zwartkops next!
With four victories from four starts, I now have 28 points in the championship, with Alex Shahini in second with 15 points and Hannes Visser hot on his heels with 14 points! We head to Zwartkops Raceway on 17 and 18 May for Round 3!
