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South Africa's best known racetrack will present an entirely different challenge to that of Killarney as the final farewell for the long-serving manual GR Yaris.
A solid debut for The Citizen’s Charl Bosch at Killarney came with two fifth place finishes. Image: Toyota Gazoo Racing
Kyalami is South Africa’s best known racetrack and over the last three years or so, the topic of much speculation about a possible return to the Formula 1 calendar for the first time since 1993.
With recent reports suggesting 2027, a year after the Dutch Grand Prix holds its final race at Zandvoort, action this coming weekend will be provided by the second round of the National Extreme Festival, which includes the Toyota GR Cup.
Kyalami a different challenge
Having been a thoroughly enjoyable, testing and nervous introduction to motorsport last time out at Killarney in Cape Town, take two of the GR Cup presents an even harsher and tougher assignment given the different techniques and higher speeds the Midrand-based circuit requires.
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From the straight-line entry and hard braking into the turn one Crowthorne corner, through the Juksei Sweep and then the run towards Sunset and Clubhouse, the second esses section and up the Kyalami hill, drops down to the challenging and fast Mineshaft before requiring heavy dependency on the ankers for The Crocodiles.
The fast Cheetah and Ingwe sweeps then lead back onto the main straight before a repeat for a further seven laps for an eventual distance of 36.2 km or in total, 72.4 km over the two races on Saturday.
Solid start
Having come away with two fifth place finishes at Killarney, the pressure on The Citizen’s yours truly in the media leg of the GR Cup couldn’t have been higher.
Besides this, never mind the challenge of Kyalami that last year, claimed two of the GR Corollas now used by the selected Toyota GR dealers in almost identical accidents, there is the continuing aspect of learning the circuit as the series goes on.
Unlike Killarney, trips around Kyalami have been more frequent, but at a much slower pace in first a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van, then an electric EQA and most recently, in a BMW M550i with the driving been done by now former DTM champion, Sheldon van der Linde.
Suffice to say that getting to grips with Kyalami won’t be easy, and that the three 20-minute practise sessions will be invaluable in preparation for qualifying on Friday and then the two races on Saturday.
Adding another spanner in the works is the possibility of rain that last added some spice to a GR Cup meeting more than two years ago.
Championship standings
A continuation of the pattern that emerged at Killarney is, therefore, anything but a guarantee where SuperSport’s Nabil Abdool dominated both races to lead home Car Magazine’s Kyle Kock, TimesLIVE‘s Phuti Mpyane and AutoTrader’s Lawrence Minnie in both heats.
Getting fifth place, without going farming or damaging the no. 16 GR Yaris, proved an achievement in itself for me after a series of passes on Independent Media’s Willem van de Putte in both Killarney races.
As a reminder, the current points standing are listed below:
Corner by corner
Again similar to Cape Town, Kyalami comes with a clean slate as neither of us have truly gone flat taps at what is probably the second fastest and scariest circuit in South Africa after the East London Grand Prix circuit.
Whereas Killarney had been a third, fourth and fifth gear affair, Kyalami is more testing, not as tight, faster and arguably more punishable when you get it wrong.
Besides the pair of accidents last year, the sweep out of Sunset into Clubhouse has punished many wanting to go down the inside of the passing lines.
Known under various names depending on the sponsor at the time, the esses, up the hill towards what is now known again as Leeukop, doesn’t show itself until you crest it.
Get this right, you are faced with the Mineshaft that does its name justice as you hurtle down it at close to 200 km/h
Dare lifting off for the left hand sweep can have its own repercussions and either compromise your entry into Crocodiles, or leave you a sitting duck for your rival.
The sweep into Cheetah and then Ingwe shouldn’t be taken for granted either, the latter having been the scene for do-or-die lunges with differing results over past decades.
Final farewell
For the moment, the only constant will be cars as, unlike originally planned, the new eight-speed Direct Automatic Transmission (DAT) GR Yaris’ will now seemingly be ready for round three at Aldo Scribante next month.
This means the retention of the manual GR Yaris in what will be its swansong after four years competing at both media, dealer and rookie levels.
Either way, it promises to be a far greater challenge than Killarney and a result completely different from first place, right down to sixth.
NOW READ: Kyalami ready to welcome National and Regional Extreme Festivals
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