The 2025 GR Cup Media Challenge is almost done and dusted, with just one more race to go at Zwartkops in Pretoria. But before we get there, there was the small matter of round 6 and settling the championship at Killarney International Race Circuit to get through. The weekend was promised to be a hectic affair, with several series competing at the event, all in the same position to finalise the winners of the various classes and leagues.
Related: Chaotic Round 5 of the GR Cup in East London
It would be Supersport's Nabil Abdool who sealed his championship bid, but not from his customary front row lockout. The honour of flag-to-flag victory would go to Car Magazines Kyle Kock, who drove superbly to take the win. Still, it was only a matter of a few points to put the title mathematically beyond all, thereby sealing Abdools' 2025 championship victory.
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Friday Practice
After eight long weeks of winter break, we were finally back behind the wheel and ready to shake off the ring rust. With the AutoTrader GR Yaris out of contention for the Championship, we reverted to a defensive mode to minimise the points difference to The Citizen's Charl Bosch after the disastrous outing at East London. We were also very interested to know how much we had improved in lap times compared to our virgin outing at the beginning of the year.
At round 1 in March, we ran an average lap time of 1:30, rolling forward to September. We had shaved a full 4 seconds off the lap time, cutting down to a 1:26. Yes the cars have a little more power but that south easterly wind was like an anchor down the back straigh,t where unsurprisingly we were almost 25km/h faster going from roughly 187km/h maxed out up to 209km/h before the braking marker. It was the improvement we had hoped for and one of the goals for the year achieved.
Qualifying
Early Saturday morning, qualifying saw us post a personal best of 1:26.4, placing us fourth in class and 11th on the grid for the race. The surprise, however, was Charl Bosch, a gent who has made incredible progress. Bettering his best lap time from the beginning of the year by well over 10 seconds, he placed right on my bumper on the grid. With the man hungry for a pass, I would have my work cut out for me.
Race 1
Kyle Kock would take a convincing win in Race 1. While the four-way battle was going on two seconds up the road, the midfield pack were jostling for position. It was a literal train of Yaris and Corolla lapping all within 0.5 seconds of each other. While I sat in fourth place watching the battle between Times Live's Phuti Mpanye and Theo Britz, a hard-charging Bosch kept me honest lap after lap, trying his level best to pass, but I defended my line and, after eight laps, crossed the line in fourth, where I started.
Race 2
Race 2 is where it all went pear-shaped. Going into turn 1, Phuti ran wide and off track, promoting me to 3rd place and relegating him to 5th. I latched onto the bumper of Theo Britz and had an absolute blast racing him while also watching a hard-charging Bosch catch up and then fall back between corners. While racing Britz and keeping a mindful eye on my rearview mirror, I watched as Mpanye climbed back onto Boschs bumper and then passed him. On the next lap, braking into turn one, Phuti barrelled past, braking deep, dragging Bosch past.
With nowhere to defend, I latched onto the back of the train and pushed hard to try to take back my position from Bosch through the next sequence of corners. Going at high speed in Sarel Sweep, I watched in horror as Boschs car lurched sideways, and I involuntarily reacted by lifting off. The result was a four-wheel slide going onto the back straight, where I unfortunately met a charging Werner Horn who slammed into my left front wheel at pace. This was not the way I had wanted it to go, but alas, that is the cruel mistress that is motorsport. After coming to a stop and doing a quick check to make sure the car was still drivable, I rejoined to finish the race.... 1 point is still better than a DNF.
The end is nigh
Going into the final race at Zwartkops at the end of October, my points lead over Bosch has been cut substantially after two poor race results. Abdool may have taken the championship, but there is all to play for in the second, third, and fourth battles. The final round is going down on the 25th of October, and it promises to be a very competitive final with all the drivers scrambling for points.
We want to thank all our sponsors, without whom we wouldn't go racing. Dunlop, Ferodo, Garmin and Toyota Financial Services
