The Toyota Gazoo Racing Cup was part of the South African National Extreme Festival that took place at Cape Town’s Killarney circuit on Saturday. I am competing in this year's season against five other motoring journalists and will be reporting from the racing seat of the TimesLIVE-branded car in each event.
Saturday’s rain-affected qualifying saw AutoTrader’s Chad Luckhoff top the time sheets. I qualified last, but our six-car grid was covered by just 0.5 seconds so a close race was expected in the first eight lapper which was held in the dry.
ASAMM’s Setshaba Mashigo had set the pace in the dry practice sessions but found himself in fifth after the wet qualifying, which mixed up the order and promised an action-packed race for Killarney’s spectators as he fought through the field. And so it proved to be.
There was plenty of bumping and barging as some drivers really took the “rubbing is racing” credo to heart, causing a few slightly dented cars (and perhaps a few egos) and a number of off-track excursions which had the Cape Town crowd on its feet. As five cars tussled for position The Citizen’s Mark Jones took advantage of the drama behind to open a clear lead and race to victory.
I was second across the line, my TimesLIVE car having survived the melee with a couple of minor scratches, with Mashigo in third.
After some drivers were given a stern talking to about etiquette and clean racing by Toyota officials, who did not wish to have their cars redesigned with some impromptu on-track panelbeating, race two was a much more civilised affair — albeit less exciting for spectators.
Starting the second race in our finishing positions from race one, Jones took advantage of a great start to eke out his lead as I tried my best to nip at his heels. That wasn’t to be, and The Citizen man edged ahead on every lap as Mashigo and I tussled for second. Mashigo put his sim racing skills to use by diving past me in the corner at the end of the 196km/h back straight, and hung on to take second. I finished third ahead of a hard-charging Luckhoff.
TALES FROM THE RACING SEAT #2
Cape Town delivers Toyota GR Cup thrills
Denis Droppa reports from the driving seat of the TimesLIVE Toyota GR86 at Killarney
Image: Colin Brown
The Toyota Gazoo Racing Cup was part of the South African National Extreme Festival that took place at Cape Town’s Killarney circuit on Saturday. I am competing in this year's season against five other motoring journalists and will be reporting from the racing seat of the TimesLIVE-branded car in each event.
Saturday’s rain-affected qualifying saw AutoTrader’s Chad Luckhoff top the time sheets. I qualified last, but our six-car grid was covered by just 0.5 seconds so a close race was expected in the first eight lapper which was held in the dry.
ASAMM’s Setshaba Mashigo had set the pace in the dry practice sessions but found himself in fifth after the wet qualifying, which mixed up the order and promised an action-packed race for Killarney’s spectators as he fought through the field. And so it proved to be.
There was plenty of bumping and barging as some drivers really took the “rubbing is racing” credo to heart, causing a few slightly dented cars (and perhaps a few egos) and a number of off-track excursions which had the Cape Town crowd on its feet. As five cars tussled for position The Citizen’s Mark Jones took advantage of the drama behind to open a clear lead and race to victory.
I was second across the line, my TimesLIVE car having survived the melee with a couple of minor scratches, with Mashigo in third.
After some drivers were given a stern talking to about etiquette and clean racing by Toyota officials, who did not wish to have their cars redesigned with some impromptu on-track panelbeating, race two was a much more civilised affair — albeit less exciting for spectators.
Starting the second race in our finishing positions from race one, Jones took advantage of a great start to eke out his lead as I tried my best to nip at his heels. That wasn’t to be, and The Citizen man edged ahead on every lap as Mashigo and I tussled for second. Mashigo put his sim racing skills to use by diving past me in the corner at the end of the 196km/h back straight, and hung on to take second. I finished third ahead of a hard-charging Luckhoff.
Image: Supplied
THE CAR
The Toyota GR86 two-door coupe recently went on sale in South Africa with a new, more powerful 2.4l engine that replaced the old 2.0l unit, along with a facelift, and chassis tweaks to make it handle better.
The normally-aspirated four-cylinder boxer engine now boasts 174kW at 7,000rpm, a handy increase over its predecessor’s 147kW.
The race cars don’t come with any extra power over the road version you can buy at a Toyota dealer, but they’ve been modified for racing with roll cages, racing brakes, sports exhausts and semi-slick Dunlop racing tyres.
For a near-standard road car the GR86 is an impressively accomplished track machine, with excellent handling and little body roll.
The rear-wheel drive chassis delivers neutral handling and those semi-slick tyres really stick; the tail doesn’t get nearly as playful as on the standard rubber. The biggest eye-opener for me was the racing brakes, which allow you to stab the middle pedal incredibly late, lap after lap, without fading. I think I still haven’t truly tested their limits, and could find lap time improvements — and challenging for victory — by braking later.
We will see how it goes at the next round which takes place at Pretoria’s Zwartkops raceway on May 20.
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