The Toyota GR Yaris #60 going flat out around the iconic Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit.
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As I pulled into the pits after the last race at the Kyalami Extreme Festival at the weekend, I couldn’t help smiling about the past three days’ activities and improvements.
It was our second outing in the Toyota GR Cup Challenge and our last drive in the current Toyota GR Yaris for the Media Challenge before we switch to the new, more powerful and faster automatic GR Yaris with paddle shifters at the Aldo Scribante Raceway in Gqeberha in May.
So, Kyalami was a fitting farewell for the Independent Media/IOL car #60.
Lots of information
I had booked time with an instructor on the Simulator at the Toyota GR HQ at Zwartkops to get a feel for the iconic racing track with 16 corners and received a set of valuable notes on how to tackle the circuit.
Racing was tight throughout the day.
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It helped a lot but it’s almost an overload of information, and once we headed out of pit lane for practice one, you remember only bits of it so you concentrate on getting that right.
Back in the pits, I went through the notes again. I knew where I was losing time, braking too soon and too hard and realised I had to sacrifice time at the entrance to each corner to get a quicker exit.
Paradigm shift
Oh, and then there’s a sweep called Mineshaft, after the sharp exit from Leeukop heading to what’s called the Crocodiles.
My notes said lift or brake, not both, but drive flat out.
There’s a valve between your foot and brain that cries self-preservation, and it takes a paradigm shift to overcome that, which I eventually managed to override in the third and final practice on Friday.
In fact, at my age and not having a racing background, almost every corner and sweep shouts self-preservation.
Staying focused while being chased.
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My times were slowly improving, and with qualifying on Friday afternoon, I had shaved five seconds off my initial times, which still had me starting almost at the back of the pack, but I was feeling a lot more confident for race day.
Nabil Abdool (SuperSport) had set the track alight and was on pole position ahead of Kyle Kock (CAR Magazine), Phuti Mpyane (TimesLive), Lawrence Minnie (Auto Trader), Charl Bosch (Citizen). We were grouped according to qualifying times along with the GR Corollas driven by the Toyota dealers.
Race day
Race day dawned with a nervous anticipation. I kept re-reading the notes, running the track through my head and listening to what the other drivers were saying while preparing for two eight-lap races.
We’d be in a rolling start with the GR 86s driven by the young GR Academy drivers leading the pack, followed by the Corollas and our Yarises just behind.
It’s rather intimidating when you’re heading flat out together into turn one but I had a good start passing two Corollas and up the back of the Citizen’s Bosch.
My rear-view mirror was filled by the orange liveried Corolla and I made the mistake of keeping an eye out for him rather than chase Bosch.
Kyalami has long, fast high G-corners and the body takes a hammering.
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Focus
With all the cars pretty much equal, it’s difficult to make up time, so I stayed focussed on my race for the next few laps.
Reaching speeds of close to 200km/h at the bottom of the main straight and braking hard on the last lap, I took the inside racing line, but a slight clip from the Corolla unsettled my Yaris, and he passed me.
I had a long chat with two colleagues who had raced in the GR Cup Media Challenge in previous seasons and had watched the race from the Toyota hospitality boma.
I was still braking too hard and coming on the throttle too aggressively.
Crash boom bang
With that in mind I challenged hard in race two passing a Corolla and Bosch in the first corner.
From there, a tight tussle ensued between the two of us and using the advice I had been given, kept pushing the car (and myself, remember self-preservation?) for a place.
On lap six, heading into the Cheetah Kink, I came across to set myself up for the corner into the main straight only to hear an almighty thud on my right rear.
He had inadvertently crashed into the back of me, causing me to lift off the accelerator and allowing him to pass.
I tucked in behind again until his back came loose into the S bend and swerving to avoid an almighty crash, I hit the rubber marbles on the outside and promptly became a passenger in my own car with the wall spinning ever closer.
Fortunately, there wasn’t any contact, but my race was run.
You're constantly challenging yourself and the car while racing.
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Racing can be a cruel mistress but taking seven seconds off my time over the weekend bodes well for the races still to come.
Abdool (SuperSport) once again took honours followed by Kock (CAR Magazine), Mpyane (TimesLive), Minnie (Auto Trader) and Bosch (Citizen).
Kyalami has long, fast high G-corners, and the body takes a hammering, but it's an incredible adrenaline high every time you exit the pit lane and don your race face and even more so at the big daddy of South African tracks, where even F1 drivers want to race.
Keeping everything running
Keep in mind that the 20-car Toyota GR Cup racing fleet takes a hammering every time we go out on track. Tyres, brakes, gearboxes, suspension and anything mechanical and electrical are pushed to the limit.
Getting as close to the Apex as possible.
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It’s also our GR Yarises fourth racing season, so they have been through the wringer, but every car starts and drives each time it’s asked to.
It’s thanks to Leeroy Paulter and his team of tireless technicians who keep every car running flawlessly, working into the early hours checking tyres, brakes, alignment, replacing the occasional gearbox and attending to any niggles we may have reported, that ensures we get to race another day.