
The second round of the annual Toyota GR Cup recently took place at the Kyalami Grand Prix circuit in Midrand, Gauteng, and it’s an exhilarating event any enthusiast would enjoy.
Started in 2022, the GR Cup is Toyota’s way of showing off what its most dynamic vehicles are truly capable of in the right setting.
The inaugural season of the GR Cup saw the first-ever Gazoo Racing (GR) Yaris being the ride of choice, the second was the GR 86, and now in its third instalment, the contestants were put behind the wheel of the new GR Corolla.
To comply with regulations these hatchbacks are slightly changed from their production spec, being fitted with safety-critical equipment such as a racing seat with a five-point harness, roll cage, and fire extinguishers.
The intake and exhaust system has also been fiddled with resulting in an extra 11kW and 20Nm, they get a new diff cooler, and the factory wheels are wrapped in Dunlop Direzza semi-slick tyres.
The six drivers comprise members of the media working for various motoring publications, with each year seeing several new faces on the grid who didn’t compete in the previous championship.
The GR Cup extends over seven rounds in total, with 2024’s calendar structured as follows:
- 15-16 March – Killarney International Circuit, Cape Town, Western Cape
- 11-13 April – Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, Midrand, Gauteng
- 17-18 May – Zwartkops Raceway, Centurion, Gauteng
- End June (date TBA) – Aldo Scribante Raceway, Gqeberha, Eastern Cape
- End July (date TBA) – East London Grand Prix Circuit, East London, Eastern Cape
- 21 September – Killarney International Circuit, Cape Town, Western Cape
- 25-26 October – Zwartkops Raceway, Centurion, Gauteng
Since its introduction, the racing championship has proven highly popular both with the drivers and the fans, said Toyota South Africa’s Glenn Crompton.
Experience the GR Cup
The main drawcard of the GR Cup is that it’s easily accessible. It’s not expensive to watch in person and it travels all around the country so chances are there will be one close to you at some point during the year.
The grandstands aren’t packed like sardine cans as you still have enough space for an umbrella and cooler, parking isn’t miles away, and you have more freedom to choose from which vantage point around the track you want to watch for the day.
The racers, while being motoring journalists, are ordinary people not much more skilled in driving than you or me.
It’s easy to picture yourself in their shoes, battling it out on the tarmac with your peers not for millions of dollars or as a means of surviving, but simply for bragging rights, which adds a bit of excitement into the mix.
Seeing myself in a Red Bull RB20 hurling around Suzuka like Verstappen requires strenuous creativity, and I can’t even begin to imagine how an F1 car truly feels like, nevermind being the son of a tyrannical millionaire father; a Toyota hot hatch at my home track is far more believable.
Being rookie racers there is still plenty of drama, too.
It’s not out of the ordinary to see fumbled corners that could make or break a race, wheel-to-wheel action, or a car suddenly losing brakes and bashing nose-first into a wall (the driver was fine, don’t worry).
Watching the GR Cup is good, clean fun; it supports local talent; and if all else fails, there is always something lurking elsewhere on the grounds for the enthusiast within to ogle, whether it be on track, in the pits, or in the parking lot.
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