TimesLIVE rookie achieves podium place in first 2025 Toyota GR Cup race

The Extreme Festival, presented by Coca-Cola, kicked off at Cape Town’s Killarney circuit this past weekend. The tour is split between regional and national competitions held on various tracks.

The national grid includes the SA Touring Car Championship, SATC SupaCup, Astron Energy Polo Cup, Volkswagen Rookie Cup, SunBet ZX10 Masters Cup, Extreme SuperCars Driven by Dunlop and the Toyota Gazoo Racing SA Cup powered by Netstar.

This review takes place from the seat-of-the-pants perspective perched inside the cabin of a Yaris GR race car as a new competitor in the tour.

Five automotive journalists and I compete in the 2025 Gazoo Racing SA Media Challenge cup using mostly standard cars with their interiors stripped of weighty non-essentials such as seats, carpets and panel covers and fitted with a safety roll cage, a five-point harness seat belt and grippy Dunlop rubber.

For a racer in the series, the action starts at Friday morning's first practice, a day before grid qualification and the official race heats on Saturday. Practice sessions allow experienced racers the time to recollect their form while the rookies fight off a blend of nerves and learning the track. The sensations of entering your first race are an entirely new experience.

Killarney circuit dates back nearly 70 years. The 3,267km long track with a trio of hairpin bends and flat-out section with tantalising start turns is tricky but fun.

The TimesLIVE car finished third in the media class. (SUPPLIED)

The Gazoo Racing field includes 18 cars in total and is divided into three packs of drivers:

six media in the GR Yaris;
six Toyota dealers in the GR Corolla; and
six young development academy drivers in the GR 86, many of them scholars, including 16-year-old Vatiswa Mokhonana.

The fast youth are bunched together in the race, while the GR Corolla and GR Yaris crews combine in a 12-car group. We hang back after the lights go out, then slug it out at a fair distance from the children. I qualified third in my group, and started seventh out of 12 on the mixed grid.

The race 1 start saw Supersport's Nabil Abdool first on the start grid. A brilliant drive saw him post the fastest qualifying time of the GR racers on the day. He was flanked by the Corollas of 2024 Toyota GR Cup champion Devon Scott and Motus Toyota marketing manager and seasoned GR Cup campaigner Mario de Sousa on the starting grid for race 1.

Myself and Kyle Kock of CarMag started in the midfield, having to chase after the leaders while fending off the last pack. The first heat went off without a hitch, and I held onto my starting position, keeping the AutoTrader GR Yaris of Lawrence Minnie at bay. I then zoned in on Kock ahead as he harassed another GR Corolla in front, the larger car eventually sliding off the track at turn 3, and gifting us both with new positions until the chequered flag. I finished third in the media class.

Starting race 2 in sixth position, the final heat was even more intense. I had a new foe on my heels in the shape of the Rola dealer Corolla, and by turn 2 the dealer driver was showing his intent as we took the corner abreast, but I had the inside line. A few laps later he was no longer in my rear-view mirror, and neither was anyone else.

The GR Yaris and Corollas kept swapping grid places in the full send race. (SUPPLIED)

In our fight for sixth we’d opened a big gap from the tail-enders, thus allowing me to refocus on reeling in Kock, who was ahead by at least two car lengths. At times I could sniff his bumper, but the Cape Town based-driver hung on cleanly, showing his knowledge of the local track and not giving me an inch of a chance. The media challenge was a repeat of race 1 with Abdool winning, Kock second and me third.

Our last-ditch battle brought us close to unexpected rivals though; the young pair of Brandon van der Nest and Mokhonana in their 86 coupes. With Abdool and the leading pack of Corollas firmly out of reach, our fight continued and inched us closer to the young lad and lady, but the chequered flag was waved, signalling the end of our race weekend. We try again next time.

As a whole, my racing debut was nothing short of an amazing experience. The entire event is a true festival of speed for participants and spectators alike who came out in good numbers.

The Extreme Festival tour descends on the Kyalami circuit next in April.