The first round of the National Extreme Festival took place this past weekend at the historic Killarney International Raceway situated a few minutes away from Cape Town. This event would also see the Toyota GR Cup enter its second round of the championship having previously set that stage at the season-opening Regional round at Zwartkops.
The weekend was to be the round of firsts in many ways. Despite my tenure in the motoring industry, I was yet to drive on the famous Killarney Raceway with its long straights, fast switchbacks and unpredictable surface. This second round of the GR Cup would see that change and it raced upon us, a mere 2 weeks after the inaugural round of the 2023 season. Where that round was largely exploratory, getting to grips with the car and sinking my teeth into door-to-door racing my confidence levels were significantly higher this time around, even if the track was mostly alien to me.
We were met with a slight chill in the air as the wind rolled in over the ocean in a North-Westerly fashion, completely opposed to the infamous South-Easter. The locals say that the NE is the wind that brings rain and even though the predictions didn’t call for it, the air certainly suggested that the weatherman was going to be proven wrong.
Friday Practice
Six Toyota GR Yarii and six Toyota GR86s make up the field of 12 cars and they are split into their respective classes. As such, I would only need to worry about the 5 other media competitors, each representing their own publication. Denis Droppa returned to the paddock in the TimesLIVE (12) car while Mark Jones (The Citizen #23), Reuben van Niekerk (Jumping Kids/Media24 #75), Brendon Staniforth (Maroela Media #3), and Setshaba Mashigo (ASAMM #777) all retained their drives and would be fighting for maximum championship points.
A race weekend consists of three practice sessions on Friday with the Saturday race day comprising a qualifying session and two race heats. The overall times determine the final standings.
The chilly air that grasped us in the morning made circuit conditions tricky but as the day progressed, so did the grip levels and my bravery. Practice 1 saw me go second fastest, only 0.05 seconds off of the quickest man on the track, Setshaba Mashigo. Slowly, the rest of the field found their groove and practice 2 saw me drop back in the standings to 4th (this would later become a theme) but run consistent times. By practice 3 I had managed to shave off half a second from my best lap time and once again I remained in 4th position for practice. Mashigo had lit the wick though and was now running in the 1:27s with a 1:26 qualifying time well within his reach.
Saturday Race Day
The ever-present threat of rain presented itself as I woke early on Saturday morning. Precipitation fell from the sky and by the time we were at the track the standing water had formed and the track was decidedly waterlogged. As a result, the ZX10 Masters delayed their qualifying promoting us to circuit sweepers. If we thought Friday’s first practice was greasy we were in for a surprise.
Qualifying
I made my way out on track with the sole intention of bringing the car home in one piece. Killarney has a few intimidating corners that require trust in your racecar’s mechanical grip and a healthy dose of courage. I gingerly negotiated the bends and was already preempting a start from the rear of the field, consoling myself that passes are indeed possible at Killarney should things dry out.
As I pulled the number 81 AutoTrader GR86 into the post-race paddock I was greeted by an enthusiastic Micheal van Rooyen who was quick to open the door and pat me on the shoulder, congratulating me. “I know! I’m also thankful I didn’t crash into the walls” I thought to myself but Micheal corrected me, saying that I had in fact, claimed Pole Position. No one was more surprised than me, trust me on this.
As it happens, I had indeed claimed the front spot on the grid for our GR86 class but only by the smallest margin. The gap separating all 6 cars in our class was less than 0.6 of a second. If that was a sign of things to come, I would have my work cut out for me in the first heat.
Race 1
Until you’ve been there, you do not understand the pressure that a Pole-sitter feels, especially when he has to lead the grid through a rolling start. I managed to get a good start, getting the jump on most of the field with a determined Mark Jones chasing me down. A slight hesitation through turn 4 (Sarel’s Sweep) saw me down on drive through the next double right-hander that leads onto the back straight. For those that know Killarney, you will know how important that corner is for your top speed at the end of the straight, nearly a kilometre down the road.
As a result of this, Jones managed to close the gap and dived down the inside on Cape Town corner, a technical and difficult banked right that once again, sets you up for a high-speed run down the main straight. Unable to take an ideal line thanks to the #23 car alongside me, I lost drive and was soon fed to the wolves. Running in second now, I was determined to remain there and defend as best possible, regaining my rhythm so that I could mount an assault on Jones again.
One wolf was a little hungrier than I thought and I was tagged from the rear under braking into Turn 1, pushing me wide and costing me all the places. I was quickly passed by the field after rejoining the track. This was to be somewhat of a blessing in disguise as the combination of Droppa, Staniforth, Mashigo, and van Niekerk were still duking it out for the second place.
The elbows came out and a fury of sand, grass and dirt was ejected on nearly every corner as the pack fought to claim second place from van Niekerk. van Niekerk would ultimately meet his fate with an over-excited exit from Turn 2 that saw him leave the track and lose valuable positions. Me, I had front-row seats to this fiasco and patiently waited for such a moment, diving down the inside as the pack did their best to avoid the tank slapper that was taking van Niekerk for a ride.
In the interim, Droppa had managed to get away and was sitting pretty in 2nd place while I had managed to regain position to third. I only held this momentarily though as a frightfully fast Mashigo closed on me and passed me on the last corner, resulting in a drag race to the finish line. I would cross in fourth place, only 0.2 seconds adrift.
1. Mark Jones
2. Denis Droppa
3. Setshaba Mashigo
4. Chad Lückhoff
5. Reuben van Niekerk
6. Brendon Staniforth
Race 2
Having placed fourth in Race 1, I was now on the second row slotted in behind Droppa for the start of the second heat. Jones got a good start and fended off challenges from both Droppa and Mashigo, steadily breaking away as he did so. Behind me, van Niekerk and Staniforth went at it again only this time in a far more civilised manner. This left me rather isolated with the target being the combo of Droppa and Mashigo who were now boxing it out for second place.
Jones continued his dominance, taking advantage of the compromised lines that both Droppa and Mashigo were forced to take. The battle for 5th also saw Staniforth and van Niekerk fall behind and left me wondering if it was something I had said…
Mashigo eventually managed to make the pass stick and went off in search of Jones allowing me to focus on closing the gap between myself and Droppa. You’ll hear many drivers say this but “all I needed was 1 more lap”. In the dying stages of the race, I had managed to claw back time on Droppa and despite a late-braking dive on the inside of Cape Town corner, I was unable to nudge ahead of Droppa by the time we crossed the line, resulting in my starting out and finishing in 4th place in what was, for me, a largely uneventful heat.
1. Mark Jones
2. Setshaba Mashigo
3. Denis Droppa
4. Chad Lückhoff
5. Reuben van Niekerk
6. Brendon Staniforth
Overall
1. Mark Jones
2. Setshaba Mashigo
3. Denis Droppa
4. Chad Lückhoff
5. Reuben van Niekerk
6. Brendon Staniforth
Round 3
Round 3 of the Toyota GR Cup returns to Zwartkops Raceway in Pretoria on 20 May 2023 as the Extreme Festival attracts the National competitors to the tight 2.4 km circuit. With the entire field settling into the season and only 5 rounds remaining, this race at a familiar circuit is guaranteed to see more of that exciting dorr-to-door action that everyone loves. Be sure not to miss it and be sure to subscribe to the AutoTrader YouTube channel where the behind-the-scenes video of this second round will be posted over the coming days.
Thanks goes out to Toyota South Africa, Gazoo Racing South Africa, ATS Motorsport, Netstar, Dunlop, Ferodo, and Fast Developments for their continued support of this series.
Keyword: Toyota GR Cup at Extreme Festival Nationals - How to lose the lead