Toyota GR Cup Round 5 - Flat-out and fearless

The fifth round of the 2023 Toyota Gazoo Racing Cup took place this past weekend at the historic and fast East London Grand Prix Circuit with seven drivers lobbying for the top spot in the hotly-contested GR86 media challenge, while another six hot-shots campaigned turbocharged GR Yarises in the GR Yaris league.

Related: Toyota GR86 (2023) Road vs Race - Attacking the track in the GR86

As one of the classes in the National Extreme Festival, the GR Cup has steadily drawn its own unique following with fans and onlookers rather amazed at the potential of these seemingly-stock road-going machines. Indeed, aside from the race-ready roll cages, seats and harnesses, the GR Cup is filled with lightly tweaked road cars fitted only with bigger brakes and sticky Dunlop semi-slick tyres. 

The GR86 entrants may wear large wings on the rear but the engines remain standard, the FA24D modified with only a cat-back exhaust to give it a more exciting sound. All of the cars are identical, even down to the suspension setup (they run - 3-degrees camber) and tyre pressures. This means that on track it's only driver skill being tested.

 

Friday Practice

This 5th round would certainly test the drivers. The East London Circuit is as dangerous and fast as it is picturesque. I approached the round with a slightly different mindset, aware of the hazards of this race track that was once used to host the South African round of the Formula 1 World Championship. I would race on the same tarmac as the greats, the likes of Graham Hill and Jim Clark, Jack Brabham, and Stirling Moss.

I systematically built my way up, progressively building speed as the three practice rounds on the Friday preceding the race day unfolded. East London Grand Prix Circuit is the fastest in the country; a long straight is punctuated by a fast right-hander known as Potters Pass. In the right car with the right amount of grip, this corner can be taken flat-out. The GR Yarises require a lift but the low centre of gravity and tide track of the GR86s meant that staying pinned would most likely be possible. 

 

This corner is followed by Rifle, an off-camber right that goes over a crest, the exit obscured from your vision. This too is flat but after the long straight and Potters Pass, Rifle comes at you at approximately 200 km/h. The track is devoid of kitty litter and the grassy run-off is nothing more than a skating rink straight to the barriers. Courage and conviction is required.

I started off with a 1:40.46 in practice 1 and by the end of the day I had brought that down to a respectable 1:38.10, the final session seeing me pluck up the courage to attempt Potters Pass flat-out. Everything in your head is screaming at you to slow down, to brake, to lift off of the throttle. You fight your own sense of self-preservation, your limbic brain triggering involuntary responses as you barrel in, committed, knowing that one wayward tyre or steering input will see you get very hurt. At the end of the day I was second fastest on the time sheets, slotting in behind the impressively fast Setshaba Mashigo from ASAMM.

 

Qualifying

As is customary, Saturday sees us take to the track for a single qualifying session and two timed race heats. Your overall elapsed time counts towards the podium placings and grid positions determined by lap times rather than finishing position. A single quick lap is all it takes for you to gain an advantage at the start of the next race.

Qualifying had us out during golden hour, that light that breaks just as the sun is rising. We headed out with the sun still behind the hills, rising over the ocean and as we completed our laps, one by one, the sun rose... right ahead of you and in your eyes as you try and do 190 km/h through Potters Pass. As picturesque as it was, there was no time to admire the view - my focus had to be trained on the corner and getting a good exit and carrying maximum speed.

My best lap time of 1:38.075 was knocking on the 1:37 door but it was only the third fastest in the Gazoo Racing GR86 league. Mashigo claimed pole with a 1:37.216 with Maroela Media's Brendon Staniforth taking the spot alongside him on the grid with a 1:37.578. Denis Droppa from TimesLIVE would be alongside me having posted a 1:38.208.

 

Race 1

Thanks to the long straight and high speeds, the slipstream effect is very noticeable at East London. Even with the part-throttle exit from the last corner, by the time you've made your way through Potters and Rifle a neat little hole is punched in the air by the leaders. A good start in race 1 had me on the tail of Staniforth as we bombed through Potters and Rifle and with the tyres still struggling for heat, all three of us up front ran deep into the hairpin third corner, Cocobana. This allowed Droppa and Mark Jones from The Citizen to pass me as we powered our way up Beach Straight to Butts Bend. Three abreast, I was muscled onto the grass and had to concede two positions as we dived into The Esses.

 

I remained on Jones' heels but now had the challenge from Mario de Sousa to contend with. Jones and I fought it out with a few opportunities coming my way and me failing to capitalise on them. This cat-and-mouse dogfight put De Sousa within striking distance and two laps before the end, I was passed again, relegating me to 6th place. With a great drive through the fast two corners, I closed on De Sousa and when he took the inside line to make a move on Jones I elected to follow suit. My head of speed saw me miscalculate my braking and with the brake pedal firmly in the pile of the carpet and the ABS huffing and wheezing, I ran into the back of De Sousa. It was his second thump this weekend, the first coming from Jumping Kids/Wheels24s Reuben van Niekerk, an incident which would see Van Niekerk out for the remainder of the weekend, his GR86 a little worse for wear, our touch was considerably lighter but it was still enough to upset both of our momentum. I would remain behind De Sousa and cross the finish line dead last - the first time this year.

It was Staniforth that blitzed away, taking his maiden win for the year with a dejected Mashigo left pondering. His lack of early pace came as a result of forgetting to switch the aircon off before the start - I did say that these are road cars. Aircon, speakers, infotainment system et al. Droppa finished in third with Jones, De Sousa and myself bringing up the rear.

 

Race 2

My pace in race 1 saw me fourth fastest overall and starting from the outside of the track in the second heat. This is not the ideal place to be as the track turns away from you, giving the cars on the inside the preferred line into the first 5 corners. Nevertheless, I managed to get a decent enough start and we all slotted into our respective positions early on. Nose to tail we bobbed and weaved through the 9 corners of the East London Grand Prix Circuit, lap after lap.

Staniforth lead the charge but Mashigo was never far behind, waiting to pressure Staniforth into making a mistake. The four of us soon opened up a gap on Jones and De Sousa and we had to remain close; dropping back would cost you dearly as the slipstream effect is minimised. I stayed close to Droppa, hoping for a tangle between the front two where Droppa and myself would be given passage to the front of the pack.

 

For several laps, the four of us pushed on and a rather sudden drop off in the tyres saw us all get it out of shape in some way, shape or form at some point in the final three laps. Droppa got things crossed up going into Cox's Corner but I was carrying just as much speed as he was and as a result, was unable to bank the necessary traction required to make it past him.

Into Potters for the last time in the weekend, Mashigo slid his GR86 up the inside, forcing Staniforth to make a decision: risk it around the dirty, marble-strewn outside or play it safe and back off. He made the smarter call and backed it off, allowing Mashigo to slip into the lead and on to his first victory of the weekend. Staniforth took second in the final heat, followed by Droppa, myself, De Sousa and Jones. Staniforth would take the overall victory for the weekend, followed by Mashigo and Droppa.

 

Round 6 of the 7-round championship sees the GR Cup return to Killarney in the Western Cape on 9 September where the grid will be hoping to make the most of the now familiar Cape-based circuit. 

Thanks go to the series sponsors: Toyota South Africa, Toyota Gazoo Racing, Netstar, Dunlop Tyres, Kinto, Toyota Financial Services, and Garmin.