Read more
Change for season four back into the GR Yaris will come with a new self-shifting transmission and six new media scribes.
Media leg of the Toyota GR Cup will have six new drivers and a new car as the GR Yaris returns in place of the GR Corolla. Image: Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa
The Citizen Motoring will embark on its fourth straight campaign in the Toyota Gazoo Racing (GR) Media Cup this year, with another radical change in both car and driver combinations.
New drivers
After two campaigns by Road Test Editor Mark Jones and last year by Head of Motoring Jaco van der Merwe, I will be taking-up the baton in the new GR Yaris DAT.
Aside from The Citizen, reigning champions AutoTrader return for their third season, with Lawrence Minnie taking over from Sean Nurse.
ALSO READ: The Citizen finishes Toyota GR Cup season on a high at Zwartkops
Having last competed in 2023, TimesLive make their reappearance by fielding Phuti Mpyane, while Kyle Kock replaces Alex Shahini as CAR Magazine’s entrant.
New to the championship are Independent Media/IOL with Willem van de Putte, and SuperSport represented by Nabil Abdool.
Welcome back GR Yaris
Along with the drivers, the 2025 edition sees the return to the GR Yaris for the first time since the opening season, but as indicated, fitted with the new eight-speed DAT or Direct Automatic Transmission claimed during development to shift gears faster than not only the six-speed manual but also with the ‘box in manual mode and the gear shift paddles in use.
The result of what Toyota calls predictive software, the setup tips the scales at 18 kg more than the manual, but with a significant increase in power from 198kW/360Nm, to 210kW/400Nm.
Further furnished with new shock absorbers, the GR Yaris DAT gets a new cooling system, uprated brakes and a first-time Circuit mode that activities the G16E-GTS three-cylinder 1.6-litre turbocharged engine’s anti-lag system.
Seven rounds
Once again part of the National Extreme Festival, running in a separate GR Cup with a selection of Toyota GR dealers using the GR Corolla from last year, the final change for 2025 involves the championship calendar over seven rounds and two races each.
Starting, once again, at the Killarney race track in Cape Town on 8 March, the series moves to Kyalami on 12 April, but unlike last year, not the nearby Zwartkops Raceway for round three.
In a round swap, my home track of Aldo Scribante in the Eastern Cape takes third round status on 10 May, demoting the Pretoria track to fourth on 21 June.
The mid-way point, round five, will head to the fearsome East London Grand Prix circuit on 19 July, before reconvening on 13 September for the final coastal visit of the year at Killarney.
As before, Zwartkops then hosts the season finale on 25 October.
Initial thoughts
Besides previous track driving in anger ventures for both Lawrence and Kyle, the battle for the final podium places will be an open affair, as neither my other two colleagues nor I have blasted around a racetrack in “competition mode” surrounded by other cars before.
However, despite the former pair being the most likeable favourites, a clearer pattern will only emerge after the chequered flag falls in two weeks’ time.
NOW READ: The Citizen ready to burn rubber in the Toyota GR Cup again
Download our app
