Toyota GR Cup Round 1 excites and enthrals - a first-hand account of our first race.

Round 1 of the 2023 Toyota GR Cup saw fans and competitors alike descend on Zwartkops Raceway for a day of all-out action as several different formulas took to the tarmac to earn crucial championship points. This first round of the Regional Extreme series also saw the first round of this year's Gazoo Racing media challenge where yours truly would be competing against five other drivers, all representing their respective media houses.

Related: AutoTrader gets the GReen light to go racing!

The 2023 Toyota GR Cup sees six motoring journalists take to the track in identical Toyota GR86 coupés, kitted out with semi-slicks, upgraded brakes, and a sod-off big wing (for added visual impact, if nothing else). The interiors see the addition of a roll cage, OMP race seat and a 6-point harness, replacing some of the interior trim, but not all. The engine remains as it rolled off of the showroom floor with the exception of a modified exhaust which frees up a little power and adds 10 kW to the recipe. All six cars are fitted with automatic gearboxes. A decision made to ensure the longevity of the race cars and to help improve the consistency of the racing. Watch our reaction to the first drive of this car here.

 

The field

It's not only a gaggle of GR86s on the grid, they are joined by the six GR Yarii that participated in the inaugural GR Cup last year. At the helm, you will find the six young hot-shots from a variety of backgrounds all scrabbling for top honours. Nikki Vostanis, Karah Hill, Sa'aad Variawa, Chris Pretorius, Ryan Naiker, and Taariq Adam will all be jetting around the country hoping to capture maximum championship points at each of the seven championship rounds.

The media challenge sees Mark Jones (The Citizen) return for a second year and he's joined by rookie Brendon Staniforth (Maroela Media), the experienced Denis Droppa (Times LIVE), the equally fearless Reuben van Niekerk (Jumping Kids/Wheels24), e-sports-veteran Setshaba Mashigo (ASAMM), and myself. A few of us have racing experience in some way, shape or form, but some are also completely new to the act of tin-top racing.

 

The first round

With the threat of rain ever present, the GR Cup field set out on Friday morning for three rounds of practice. With the new brakes only having been fitted in the lead-up to the practice day, the vehicles were foreign to all the GR86 competitors. Thomas Falkiner, subbing for an absent Denis Droppa, put his intimate knowledge of the Zwartkops Raceway and his familiarity with rear-wheel-drive race cars to good use, posting the fasted time for the first two sessions in the GR86 class. Posting a1:14.283 and 1:14.280, he lead the charge and would remain the man to beat throughout the weekend.

 

The heavens opened up right before the third practice and thought the entire field some valuable lessons on driving a car shod with semi-slicks in the rain. Whether this new knowledge would be put to the test under race conditions remained to be seen but the weather report suggested that it was valuable insight.

The threats of rain deterred neither competitor nor spectator as Saturday brought with it a single qualifying session and two race heats of 10 laps each. From lapping in the 1:21s earlier in the week, I was able to bring the number 81 AutoTrader GR86 across the line in qualifying in only 1:15.589, a feat I was most pleased with until I realized that the entire field had also made the necessary improvements. I qualified 4th out of 6 and would be starting on the second row, having to fend off Jones and Van Niekerk as we dived into turn 1. It was Falkiner that took Pole Position for the first heat with a blistering 1:13.930 - clearly, we all had some way to go.

 

Race 1

Heat 1 would be the first time that Mashigo, Staniforth, Van Niekerk and I had gone door-to-door in full-size vehicles but we all managed to get through the first few turns unscathed. I was dispatched with rather quickly by Jones and Van Niekerk capitalized on my errant race line and early braking to also slip through, relegating me to the back of the field. I would have to dig deep to find the courage to fight back and defend my line in future race encounters.

A spin from Van Niekerk on the exit of turn 2 promoted me to 5th position as the laps counted down and, try as I may, I was unable to catch Jones or the rest of the field. My slow lap times would relegate me not to 5th on the grid for the next heat, but rather right at the back, 6th in my class. It was Falkiner that took the win in heat 1 with Mashigo in second and Staniforth taking a well-deserved third place. 

In the GR Yaris class, it was Variawa over Vostanis, with Hill bringing up the final podium position.

 

Race 2

Heat 2 started with the threat of rain as storm clouds loomed over the horizon. The lights went out and the pack remained considerably closer than before with the exception of Falkiner who proceeded to jet off into the distance yet again to go and bother the Yarii. Mashigo, having found his groove, drove like a man possessed and left the remaining four of us to fight for the scraps. 

Van Niekerk was struggling and after a failed attempt at a pass into the slow turn 2, I was able to get by in turn 5, in front of the supportive GR grandstand and hospitality suite. Having been held up I set my sights on the battling duo of Jones and Staniforth who were switching positions on the regular. By the final lap, I had come to within striking distance, having found a groove of my own and having learned to rely on the wonderful grip levels provided by the Dunlop Direzza tyres.

 

I watched as Staniforth dived up the inside of Jones into the final turn and reckoned that if Jones was to make a hash of it, I would be able to get by as well. Unfortunately, I just didn't have the drive coming out of the final turn and would have to settle for 5th position again. Falkiner claimed victory with Mashigo in second, relatively unchallenged by Jones and Staniforth who finished 3rd and 4th respectively. I settled for my 5th position while Van Niekerk rested in 6th.

The second heat of the Yaris class was won by Variawa with Vostanis in second, narrowly edging out a determined Hill. Pretorius, Naicker, and Adam rounded off the class in the turbocharged AWD hatches.

This left me 5th overall after the first round as we recover and prepare for the next round which will see us tackling the switchbacks of Killarney Raceway in Cape Town on the 18th March, 2023. Be sure to check out the video series where I take you behind the scenes and show you what it's like to be a pseudo-racing driver.