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Although a first for driver with lots of learning still to be done, The Citizen left Killarney with two fifth place finishes.
At full taps, The Citizen walked away with a pair of fifth places in the opening Toyota GR Cup round at Killarney in Cape Town. Image: Toyota Gazoo Racing
“Just go out there and have fun”, were the words Road Test Editor Mark Jones and Head of Motoring Jaco van der Merwe flung at me as I prepared for my first race in the media section of the Toyota GR Cup at the Killarney racetrack in Cape Town this past weekend as part of the first round of the National Extreme Festival.
The pre-series shakedown at the Zwartkops racetrack had been an eye-opener, and although a feel was gotten for the Toyota GR Yaris we were to race, more questions than answers prevailed.
Setting foot on a racetrack for the first time, never mind one I have only seen on television, didn’t install much confidence as the shakedown had left me bewildered and questioning whether I would really have fun as Mark and Jaco had said.
At the same time, there were my rivals. Both CAR Magazine’s Kyle Kock and AutoTrader’s Lawrence Minnie had done some racing in the past, while TimesLive’s Phuti Mpyane and SuperSport’s Nabil Abdool were the two unknowns.
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That left IOL/Independent’s Willem van de Putte and me as the real novices, whose only track driving experience had been at launches, but not at full tilt and often with an instructor in the opposite seat.
Further uncertainties would also come from the Toyota GR Academy drivers, fresh from karting and racing the GR86s, as well as select Toyota dealers campaigning the GR Corolla driven by the media last year.
While this would be the final farewell for the manual GR Yaris’ first campaigned by the media in the original GR Cup, for us lot, a last goodbye would come in the shape of either paint-swapping with the GR86 and GR Corollas or binning it against Killarney’s walls.
In addition to being the first race with our full racing gear on, there was the topic of pre-race preparation.
This meant getting your kit on before arriving at the track, clipping the whiplash-preventing HANS device to your helmet, putting it over your neck followed by your lid, and squeezing yourself in the cabin over the roll cage.
Once inside, it becomes a matter of strapping yourself into the three-point harness and remembering to place your gloves on the steering wheel so as to avoid losing fractions of time unclipping your belts and starting the process over again.
Factor the intense heat of not only the racing suit but also the fireproof undergarment and the blazing Cape sunshine in, the description of racing drivers branding their “office” a sauna felt appropriate.
Then, there was the race itself. In addition to the two heats over eight laps each, we would be mixing it with the GR Corollas, with the GR86 starting up to 15 seconds ahead.
As in previous years, it would be a rolling start and for Killarney only, the first corner would be under yellow flags to avoid potential accidents in a field of 19 cars.
Having kitted ourselves out in our hotel, bar the helmets and gloves, heading to the track was a mostly jovial affair, but in truth, my nerves were past shooting point.
At the track, having contoured myself into the driver’s seat, reality hit hard. The time for running away had long since gone as we pressed the starter buttons, selected Track mode, and headed into the unknown.
Driving onto Killarney couldn’t have been more mixed. As frightening as it was, so was the thrill as I proceeded to scout for braking markers, where I should turn-in, back-off and then plant it.
My worries about the GR86s and GR Corollas were of little concern as letting them pass made more sense than getting into an argument so early on.
Lasting 20 minutes, the first run was more about getting a feeling than smashing records. In fact, issues with our in-car transponders meant all of us were left in the dark as no times were recorded.
After a brief rest, the second practise arrived, where turning the taps open a bit more took prominence.
Having identified the flowing section from the old Engen corner up to the double apex sweep once known as Sabat as my strong points, I concentrated on the rest.
After struggles during shakedown with my upshifts and not using the rev-range, I simply had to adapt to the fact that I was piloting a race car and no longer a race car.
These limits were exploited throughout the second session as I grew in confidence, but also continued to make mistakes, the biggest being an overly fast entry and nearly ending up down the escape road at turn one.
By far the biggest annoyance was tapping much too soon while heading out for my last run, a result of the yellow flags. Adding insult to injury, as I entered the main straight, the chequered flag appeared, ending any hopes of further gains.
Back in the pits, the time confirmed this; a 1.37 – nearly 10 seconds slower than Nabil, who was mixing it with the GR Corollas of dealer and former Group N racer Mario de Sousa and GR Academy instructor Devon Scott.
I was downhearted. My first run felt like my best and my second anything but. While I was fractionally ahead of Willem, I wasn’t happy. Although I had resided early on not to be as quick as Lawrence, Phuti, Kyle or Nabil, I was beating myself up and vowed to make amends.
My final practise run was, therefore, all or nothing. Heading out, I pushed from the start. Driving as hard as I had ever done, I still managed to miss a few brake markers, but better controlled my entry into the corners I was struggling with overall.
Running to the outer edges of the track, tipping into and accelerating out of the final Cape Town corner, I felt I had gone faster. And so I did, by a full three seconds.
Sadly, I had fallen behind Willem and since qualifying would be over 15 minutes and not 20 on Saturday, I had to go another step further.
After the fear of practise, race day felt different. Calmly, I arrived at the track still in awe of what happened yesterday. But this time, the stakes were higher.
Besides the race, there was the feared door-to-door action with my rivals and the Corollas.
However, before this, there was qualifying. In short, the session turned into a disaster. Aside from having my flying laps interrupted, I felt a step back had been taken from practise.
Indeed, starting last on the grid reflected this, however, this meant starting on the inside for turn one, i.e., the cleanest possible racing line.
With this in mind, I knew I had to attack immediately. My nerves had settled, but even as I repeated the process of lining up and getting onto the track, Mark’s words rang in my head, “don’t be scared. Be aggressive. This is racing”.
All the while, each outing on the track had me going into “the zone” racing drivers often talk about. The outside world is shut off, your mind goes into a type of race mode, your human feelings go out the window and your focus is solely on driving.
Forming up for the rolling start after warming our tyres, I had my sights set firmly on the slowest of the GR Corollas ahead of me.
As the lights went off, I pounced. Passed turn one, I left it all on the line and, taking Mark’s words, braked as late as I dared for turn two – Corolla down, next Willem.
Sensing I had the edge two laps later, I made the move coming out of Sabat and into Cape Town. Again, being as late on the brakes as I dared, for a second, I tapped-off. But the moment putting the move off couldn’t be avoided as he hit the anchors and I didn’t.
Diving down the inside and keeping it as tight as possible, I made the move stick and passed.
Despite also benefiting from an incident up front later, I simply couldn’t progress further and having dropped Willem, I crossed the line fifth out of the Yaris’.
I was ecstatic with a few tears thrown in too. My first race in anger had been incredible, a thrill and yes, fun.
More importantly, I had gone faster than my best lap qualifying with a 1.32 – still well off the leaders’ pace, but an improvement nonetheless.
Having driven probably well within the limits of my GR Yaris, but beyond those of myself, my placing would come with an outside slot for race two, next to the slowest Corolla and ahead of Willem.
No longer with the clear line I had before, I still didn’t flinch. Having never been bothered throughout the race by the boiling cabin, I approached race two with the same mentality – give it horns, be fast and enjoy it.
Lights out, and sticking to the outside, it was a question of hanging on to turn two. But behind me, Willem had made the most of his clean line, and at turn two, pulled off the move as I was blocked from overtaking Lawrence by a Corolla.
With Willem’s Yaris now in front, I hung on to the outside, eventually passing the Corolla into turn four.
Again, through Sabat and onto Cape Town corner, I had the legs on Willem, but as we braked, he moved over to the inside of the passing lines, forcing me left and without the drive to get past. Well played I conceded.
Second time around, I knew I had to get by and as we headed into turn two, I made my move. However, he criss-crossed and retook me.
Not wanting to play anymore, I tucked-in behind him and as in race one, jumped onto the anchors as late as I dared going into Cape Town. This time, the move stuck and again, I proceeded to chase after my rivals.
As in race one, our squabbling had left us behind and while benefitting from another late race off by one of the GR Corollas, crossing the line meant another fifth place after two thoroughly enjoyable races.
As scary as it had been exciting, the next round at Kyalami on 12 April promises the same, but without the same hype as Killarney has provided for a complete novice who overcame his worries and fears to bring it home with a massive smile while at the same time, having enjoyed every moment.
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