Publications
It's round 2 of the Toyota GR Cup; this time News24 Motoring contributor Reuben Van Niekerk will be racing in Cape Town, at Killarney.
This weekend, the Toyota GR Cup heads to Killarney for the second round of the 2023 championship.
From Killarney onwards, the Toyota GR Cup, which comprises the GR86 Cup and the Yaris GR challenge, joins the National Extreme Festival. This means we race on the same day as all the premier South African circuit racing classes, including the Volkswagen Polo Cup, the Global Touring Cars, the GTC SupaCup, Investchem F1600 and G&H Transport Extreme Super Cars. I look forward to the privilege of racing on SA's national stage, rubbing shoulders with the who's who of SA motorsport between races, and learning wherever possible.
Our Toyota GR86 Cup cars all performed faultlessly at the first race at Zwartkops, but the 2.4-litre normally-aspirated boxer engine was hampered in performance somewhat by the thin highveld air. It will be great to race the car at its full potential at sea level down at Killarney, where they should get very close to the lap times of the GR Yaris with which we share the track.
The learning curve will be steep
However, Killarney is not a track that regularly features on the new car launch schedule. The result is that I and fellow journalists contesting this year's GR86 Cup have done a limited number of laps around this venue.
The last time I lapped Killarney angrily was on a Honda Fireblade launch in the mid-2000s, so the learning curve will be steep. With all six cars identical in performance, all drivers were within a second or so of each other at Zwartkops, and I expect the same at Killarney. Still, the running order could very well be turned entirely on its head, as it will come down to who can figure out Killarney the quickest.
Killarney is an old-school track, and while relatively flat, it flows very well. A couple of sections consist of multiple corners that follow in succession, so making a mistake at a critical point can cost you time in a compounding fashion. With no sim racing facility at my disposal, I have taken to YouTube and the available in-car footage to try to refresh my memory. Still, Friday's practice sessions will be critical in getting up to pace before race day.
Rivalries rear their head
The first race and accompanying test sessions gave us an excellent opportunity to get comfortable with the cars and all the modifications that were done. The horns are out, and a couple of rivalries have already reared their head on the WhatsApp group, with certain drivers electing to paint bigger targets on their backs than necessary.
Things are getting serious, and the racing will most certainly be intense. Saturday's programme at Killarney kicks off at 08:00, and the first of two races for each category commences at 10:25.
