The third round of the 2023 Toyota GR Cup saw much action and disappointment as the GR86 and GR Yaris leagues took to Zwartkops Raceway as part of the National Extreme Festival this past weekend. Enjoy this first-hand account of the weekend as AutoTrader's number 81 car fights to make its way up the standings.
The Toyota GR Cup returned to Zwartkops Raceway for the third round of the championship after an event-filled second round at Killarney Raceway in Cape Town. With the previous round of the series handing out its fair share of lessons, the 6-strong GR86 league field, comprised of motoring media from several different publications, welcomed the familiar tarmac of the Pretoria West circuit.
With the championship settling into a rhythm, Setshaba Mashigo (ASAMM), Mark Jones (Citizen Motoring), Brendon Staniforth (Maroela Media), Reuben van Niekerk (Wheels24/Jumping Kids), Denis Droppa (TimesLIVE), and myself would be joined by a 7th vehicle and the dark horse that is John Thomson, Vice President of Future Toyota, in an identically prepared GR86.
Friday Practice
Confidence levels have grown and this was evident in the lap times posted in the practice sessions that took place on the Friday preceding the race day. I had set two goals for myself going into the weekend; I wanted a podium finish in at least one of the races, and I wanted to get as close to a 1:13.00 lap time as I could, knowing that I was capable of a mid-14.
The day started with a 1:15.13, a fair go on a track that was green and damp and this just happened to be the quickest GR86 time in free practice 1. The confidence boost this gave me meant that I could push harder as the track rubbered in and saw me post an even quicker 1:14.74 in practice 2.
It was in practice 3 that I needed to know what could be done. It wasn’t an outright qualifying session but I was going to leave it all on the track as if it was. You see, the first session made my presence felt and my competitors responded accordingly, matching or bettering my times in the second session. I was now determined to prove my pace and set out to register a 1:13.98 on the final practice of the day before heading into qualifying the next morning. This was the quickest GR86 time and 4th fastest of all the competitors in the GR Cup, GR Yarises (?) included. I let my opposition sleep on that.
Race day – Saturday 20 May
Qualifying
Having convincingly ticked off one of my objectives I now had to convert that time into something tangible, something that would improve my chances of a podium finish in one of the races. Knowing that I was the quickest in practice and having taken the pole in the second round of the championship, I knew that I could secure it again in qualifying.
A quick lap of 1:13.99 was only thwarted by an equally quick Mashigo who managed to find 0.7 seconds in his locker overnight, pipping me to the pole position by only 0.089 seconds. This left me on the front row of the grid having to find a way past Mashigo and fending off the onslaught from Droppa, Jones, Staniforth and van Niekerk, who all posted great times and improved on their previous bests.
Race 1
After a slight mix-up on the starting line, Mashigo lead the field into the first rolling start for the day. Elbows out, I managed to hold onto the second place position for the majority of the race and Mashigo and I pulled away from the pack with only Droppa in hot pursuit. Droppa would close in and then drop back but didn’t pose too much of a threat until the closing stages of the race when Mashigo and I started to go at it, compromising our lines and exit speeds and allowing him to gain ground on us.
Mashigo and I had the best time on track. We were fast and consistent and Mashigo made no mistakes. It was an exciting battle and very unbecoming of rookie drivers – one would swear that we’d been doing this our entire lives; neat, clean, and calculated. Knowing that the race was drawing to a close and with a win within my reach, I made a move going into turn 2 under the brakes. The move stuck but my exuberance got the better of me as I tried to fend off the challenge from a hungry Mashigo as we passed by the Toyota Gazoo Racing headquarters, packed with Toyota dignitaries and VIPs. The tail of the number 81 GR86 broke loose in turn 5 and compromised my exit speed. I foolishly carried too much speed into turn 6 and the rear broke loose again. This time the slide was bigger. I stayed in it and held the slide as best I could but that was just the mistake that Mashigo needed to take the lead back from me.
Droppa, ever cunning, was biding his time and waiting for such a mistake from the leaders. He too bombed past me into my now compromised entry into turn 8 and with the chequered flag waved down the main straight, I would have to settle for second after having tasted the victory and summarily letting it slip from my grasp.
Behind us three, several intense battles unfolded between Jones, van Niekerk, and Staniforth. Thomson stayed in the mix but it was the journalists that were prepared to get down and dirty, using each other’s cars as brake assistance and cornering buffers, the cars themselves telling the tales and looking worse for wear.
1. Setshaba Mashigo
2. Denis Droppa
3. Chad Lückhoff
4. Reuben van Niekerk
5. John Thomson
6. Mark Jones
7. Brendon Staniforth
Race 2
Race 1 saw me post the fastest lap time of the GR86s and with the lap times being used to determine the starting order of the following race, I was once again in pole position. Having had to start a race before, I was more confident that I would be able to lead the field into turns 1 and 2 cleanly whilst retaining my track position.
I held onto the lead for several laps before a daring move from Mashigo and Droppa into turn 6 (again) saw me relegated to third position and on the back foot, trying to desperately claw my way back to the front. I held on for a few laps before challenging Droppa for second place going into turn 5, diving on the inside and late on the brakes. The pass was clean for the most part but Droppa, wanting to hold onto as much track space as possible and be able to retaliate in the next corner, cut back too soon and made contact with my rear left wheel. The knock was firm enough to damage his car to the point where he was now entirely out of the running and he found himself limping back to the pits, rather than the finish line. Such is racing and decisions are made in milliseconds.
I thus managed to finish in second place but my concern was more with Droppa. I hurried over to his stricken car in the pits and check to see that he was ok and that we were good. Ever the gentleman, Droppa assured me that it was nothing more than a racing incident. Hands shook, back patted and we’re all good for the next round. Mashigo had taken a two-race clean sweep with excellent car control and racecraft, a much-deserved win for the young man from ASAMM.
Once again, the battles behind us were worthy of TV and as Jones broke free to chase down the leading pack, Staniforth and van Niekerk took off the gloves. Staniforth pressed up the inside in turn 2, making contact with van Niekerk but the two were able to carry on. The positions changed yet again before Staniforth ran wide on the exit of turn 8 and the final turn that leads onto the main straight, (you know, the one where all the spectators are?) and lost the GR86 in what can only be described as a biblical spin. Thankfully, he was able to keep it out of the robust pit wall and managed to continue home in fifth place.
1. Setshaba Mashigo
2. Chad Lückhoff
3. Mark Jones
4. Reuben van Niekerk
5. Brendon Staniforth
6. John Thomson
7. Denis Droppa
Final classification
I had succeeded in both my objectives; running a ’13 at Zwartkops and taking a podium. Yes, a win was well within my grasp but I’m not going to self-flagellate over the missed opportunity, instead, I’m going to bank my successes and work on my racecraft so that a race win can be had before the season is over.
The final classification saw Setshaba Mashigo take the honours with me in second place. Mark Jones proved that consistency is key and placed third with Reuben van Niekerk taking fourth and Brendon Staniforth claiming fifth. John Thomson was promoted to sixth place as Denis Droppa’s DNF (Did Not Finish) in race two saw him fail to complete the required 16 laps. A bitter end for the TimesLIVE scribe but a position that any one of us could find ourselves in.
Thanks go out, first and foremost, to Toyota South Africa and the Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa outfit with a special mention to Fast Developments, Dunlop Tyres, Netstar, Garmin, Kinto, Ferodo, ATS Motorsport, the Extreme Festival and all the staff and marshals at Zwartkops Raceway for their hard work and diligence.
Keyword: Toyota GR Cup Round 3 - So close, yet so far