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Facing East London's curveball of speed and rain in Toyota GR Cup

Facing East London's curveball of speed and rain in Toyota GR Cup

The Citizena day ago
Adverse conditions made the most daunting and fastest racetrack in South Africa even more of a challenge.
Round five of the Toyota GR Cup had the ultimate challenge of rain and speed at the East London Grand Prix Circuit. Image: Toyota Gazoo Racing
Having gone a year without a wet race, it was only expected that, at some stage, a round of the Toyota GR Cup would be held in greasy conditions.
Facing the monster
The fact that it would happen at the East London Grand Prix Circuit added further concern to a track none of us wanted to think about or even recognise at the start of the year.
The reality was that round five of the GR Cup, which forms part of the National Extreme Festival, wasn't going to change venue simply because of our fears of flying off the road at the fastest track in the country at over 200 km/h.
ALSO READ: From zero to almost podium hero in Toyota GR Cup stunner
Aside from the speed factor, the infamous complex section at the back of the track, still known by the older generation by its original name, the Prince George Circuit, presented another challenge as per its description.
Changing direction through the back straight sweep and then into the final corner, Beacon Bend, would be the final challenge before repeating the process for a further seven times.
Practice
Setting out for the perennial three practice sessions on Friday drove the message home hard; adapt or die.
Comparable to James Hunt's famous 'big balls' interview with Sterling Moss after the 1976 Spanish Grand Prix, going through Potter's Pass and Rifle Range Bend requires exactly that.
Beforehand, there was the task of having to bleed the brakes as new discs were given to our GR Yaris DAT's for the weekend.
In sunny but typically blustery coastal conditions, setting off on my first flying lap came with the conclusion that, despite the obvious danger factor of the corners in question, the rest of the track shouldn't be seen as easy.
The tight and twisty complex section into the extremely bumpy sweep puts massive force on your neck to the point where my helmet was constantly bashing the roll cage.
What's more, a section had been resurfaced, making it incredibly slippery and in need of carefully balancing the throttle with the brakes to avoid a snap oversteer moment onto the lawn on either side.
Early on, I had decided not to risk the temptation of taking Potter's flat-out. Neither did my colleagues as only a subtle tap of the brake pedal was needed before letting the car run-out to the kerb on the outside.
Practice proved fast but tricky in beautiful sunny conditions. Image: Toyota Gazoo Racing
Taking Rifle with a feather foot still came with an indicated speed of 213 km/h.
Hitting the brakes for the banked Cocabana hairpin was problematic as my decision to apply the ankers between the 150 m and 100 m marker board didn't leave sufficient time to scrub off enough speed.
As such, this resulted in the #16 GR Yaris going too deep and unable to get a fast enough exit onto the Beach straight and into the complex.
My initial time of 1.38 was satisfactory, but progress could still be made. With the onset of the second session, I decided to not only adjust my brake markers, but be a bit braver through Potter's and Rifle.
Dabbing the brakes into the former, feathering through Rifle and stomping onto the middle pedal earlier did the trick. Along with improvements through the complex all the way through the sweep and into Beacon, I managed shave nearly two seconds off my first run.
Hoping to break into the 1.35s didn't materialise as leaving my braking into the complex too late nearly came with an excursion onto the outer karting circuit.
Along with my speed being too high into Beacon and the back wanting to step out a few times, I finished my third run with a best time of 1.37, and not overly happy.
Qualifying chaos
Come qualifying, the status quo was turned upside down by the overnight rain that drenched the circuit, made worse by what was later discovered to be a broken feeder line to the city's main reservoir that pumped litres of water onto the track.
Failed to be rectified in time, this led to three separate rivers flowing down the main straight where speeds still breached 160 km/h.
Worse still, our Dunlop Direzza rubber was of the semi-slick kind and not likely to excel in the wet and windy weather.
Having, however, been keen on a wet race, precision and no longer only speed was to be the key as I headed out for qualifying.
As had been the case at the last round at Zwartkops, the growth in the GR Cup again saw 25 cars on the grid, which, despite East London's 3.9 km lap length, required us to be split into groups of two.
Being part of the first group, the first run at speed saw us hitting the trio of rivers head-on at over 160 km/h.
Qualifying for the one and only race was held on a damp and greasy track. Image: Toyota Gazoo Racing
An experience anything but pleasant as the tyres momentarily loose grip, the shudder of hitting the standing water was beyond unnerving and anything but confidence inspiring going into Potter's and Rifle.
Still, I dared only lifting off a fractionally more before going into Cocabana. More of a challenge was the complex.
With the new surface, I had to get my wrestling gloves out to keep the speed up, but not fly off of the circuit.
On more than a few occasions, the rear wanted to break loose, yet I managed to keep it steady and with the process on reply, crossed the line with a time of 1.48 – a full 12 seconds slower than my best lap in the dry.
While I had no idea where this was to place me, minutes later, it all became academic as after two laps of the second group starting their session, the CFAO Mobility GR Corolla of Riaan de Ru aquaplaned on the main straight and was catapulted into the outside tyre barrier.
Despite having landed upside down, de Ru emerged only shaken in another testament to modern race car safety and construction.
Needles to say, the session was red flagged and the entire programme thrown into disarray.
Race time
Already behind schedule, consultations with the Clerk of the Course resulted in the suspension of both SunBet Kawasaki ZX10 Masters races, a lap reduction for all categories to eight, and the cancellation of the second group's qualifying.
By late afternoon, and after more discussions, a decision had been made to run the GR Cup over a single race, but over 12 laps instead of the usual eight, and with double points being given.
To make matters fairer, the best times from practise was to be used in setting-up the grid for the race.
This meant a fifth place start for me, directly behind fellow GR Yaris drivers Kyle Kock (CAR Magazine), Phuti Mpyane (TimesLive), Lawrence Minnie (AutoTrader) and in front of a slew of GR Corollas.
With the NMI Yaris of Werner Venter beside me, I managed to stay close to the yellow TimesLive Yaris in front on the rolling start as the lights went out.
Having got off to a good start, and with the legs on the slightly less powerful, manual NMI Yaris, I kept an equal close eye on the green AutoTrader Yaris on my left.
Heading into Potter's though, the inevitable happened. Keeping tight to the right, I found myself paying too much attention to Minnie, who had, presumably, started moving over to take the racing line into getting a better entry into Rifle.
A drying circuit on race day netted fourth place in the GR Yaris media cup. Image: Toyota Gazoo Racing
Contact was unavoidable as the rear right of the no. 17 came into contact with no. 16.
Spearing across onto the outside of Potter's as I slammed on the brakes resulted in a typical concertina effect behind, but fortunately without any secondary repercussions.
Not happy at an incident I felt had been attributed to me either not giving him enough space, I lost a further two places to Venter and the second NMI entered GR Corolla of Theo Brits before entering Cocabana.
With a sizable gap behind, I decided to make the best of a pending bad situation and tried to get away as quickly as I could from the pack behind.
On a track still greasy but drying as the rain had stopped during the early afternoon, I managed to ease myself away from the chasing lot, but well out of reach of the pair of the 'Pink Panther' NMI cars in front.
Despite a few lairy moments into the complex, again nearly causing a complete standstill after entering way too fast, I did gain an overall place after passing the GR86 of debutant, Gabriel Fernandez, with two laps to go.
Crossing the line 13th overall and fourth among the media brigade behind race winner, SuperSport's Nabil Abdool, second placed Phuti and third place finisher Kyle, wasn't the best feeling after what happened at the start.
Damage to both Lawrence and my cars were, however, light and having apologised, I felt a bit better knowing that I still had one of my strongest races to date.
Time for a break
As tricky, difficult and dangerous as East London had been, it had also been one of the most testing, thrilling and best of the season so far.
The series now goes on an extended six-week break before reconvening on 13 September for the penultimate round at Killarney in Cape Town.
ALSO READ: Return to home ground counts for little in Toyota GR Cup thriller
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Facing East London's curveball of speed and rain in Toyota GR Cup
Facing East London's curveball of speed and rain in Toyota GR Cup

The Citizen

timea day ago

  • The Citizen

Facing East London's curveball of speed and rain in Toyota GR Cup

Adverse conditions made the most daunting and fastest racetrack in South Africa even more of a challenge. Round five of the Toyota GR Cup had the ultimate challenge of rain and speed at the East London Grand Prix Circuit. Image: Toyota Gazoo Racing Having gone a year without a wet race, it was only expected that, at some stage, a round of the Toyota GR Cup would be held in greasy conditions. Facing the monster The fact that it would happen at the East London Grand Prix Circuit added further concern to a track none of us wanted to think about or even recognise at the start of the year. The reality was that round five of the GR Cup, which forms part of the National Extreme Festival, wasn't going to change venue simply because of our fears of flying off the road at the fastest track in the country at over 200 km/h. ALSO READ: From zero to almost podium hero in Toyota GR Cup stunner Aside from the speed factor, the infamous complex section at the back of the track, still known by the older generation by its original name, the Prince George Circuit, presented another challenge as per its description. Changing direction through the back straight sweep and then into the final corner, Beacon Bend, would be the final challenge before repeating the process for a further seven times. Practice Setting out for the perennial three practice sessions on Friday drove the message home hard; adapt or die. Comparable to James Hunt's famous 'big balls' interview with Sterling Moss after the 1976 Spanish Grand Prix, going through Potter's Pass and Rifle Range Bend requires exactly that. Beforehand, there was the task of having to bleed the brakes as new discs were given to our GR Yaris DAT's for the weekend. In sunny but typically blustery coastal conditions, setting off on my first flying lap came with the conclusion that, despite the obvious danger factor of the corners in question, the rest of the track shouldn't be seen as easy. The tight and twisty complex section into the extremely bumpy sweep puts massive force on your neck to the point where my helmet was constantly bashing the roll cage. What's more, a section had been resurfaced, making it incredibly slippery and in need of carefully balancing the throttle with the brakes to avoid a snap oversteer moment onto the lawn on either side. Early on, I had decided not to risk the temptation of taking Potter's flat-out. Neither did my colleagues as only a subtle tap of the brake pedal was needed before letting the car run-out to the kerb on the outside. Practice proved fast but tricky in beautiful sunny conditions. Image: Toyota Gazoo Racing Taking Rifle with a feather foot still came with an indicated speed of 213 km/h. Hitting the brakes for the banked Cocabana hairpin was problematic as my decision to apply the ankers between the 150 m and 100 m marker board didn't leave sufficient time to scrub off enough speed. As such, this resulted in the #16 GR Yaris going too deep and unable to get a fast enough exit onto the Beach straight and into the complex. My initial time of 1.38 was satisfactory, but progress could still be made. With the onset of the second session, I decided to not only adjust my brake markers, but be a bit braver through Potter's and Rifle. Dabbing the brakes into the former, feathering through Rifle and stomping onto the middle pedal earlier did the trick. Along with improvements through the complex all the way through the sweep and into Beacon, I managed shave nearly two seconds off my first run. Hoping to break into the 1.35s didn't materialise as leaving my braking into the complex too late nearly came with an excursion onto the outer karting circuit. Along with my speed being too high into Beacon and the back wanting to step out a few times, I finished my third run with a best time of 1.37, and not overly happy. Qualifying chaos Come qualifying, the status quo was turned upside down by the overnight rain that drenched the circuit, made worse by what was later discovered to be a broken feeder line to the city's main reservoir that pumped litres of water onto the track. Failed to be rectified in time, this led to three separate rivers flowing down the main straight where speeds still breached 160 km/h. Worse still, our Dunlop Direzza rubber was of the semi-slick kind and not likely to excel in the wet and windy weather. Having, however, been keen on a wet race, precision and no longer only speed was to be the key as I headed out for qualifying. As had been the case at the last round at Zwartkops, the growth in the GR Cup again saw 25 cars on the grid, which, despite East London's 3.9 km lap length, required us to be split into groups of two. Being part of the first group, the first run at speed saw us hitting the trio of rivers head-on at over 160 km/h. Qualifying for the one and only race was held on a damp and greasy track. Image: Toyota Gazoo Racing An experience anything but pleasant as the tyres momentarily loose grip, the shudder of hitting the standing water was beyond unnerving and anything but confidence inspiring going into Potter's and Rifle. Still, I dared only lifting off a fractionally more before going into Cocabana. More of a challenge was the complex. With the new surface, I had to get my wrestling gloves out to keep the speed up, but not fly off of the circuit. On more than a few occasions, the rear wanted to break loose, yet I managed to keep it steady and with the process on reply, crossed the line with a time of 1.48 – a full 12 seconds slower than my best lap in the dry. While I had no idea where this was to place me, minutes later, it all became academic as after two laps of the second group starting their session, the CFAO Mobility GR Corolla of Riaan de Ru aquaplaned on the main straight and was catapulted into the outside tyre barrier. Despite having landed upside down, de Ru emerged only shaken in another testament to modern race car safety and construction. Needles to say, the session was red flagged and the entire programme thrown into disarray. Race time Already behind schedule, consultations with the Clerk of the Course resulted in the suspension of both SunBet Kawasaki ZX10 Masters races, a lap reduction for all categories to eight, and the cancellation of the second group's qualifying. By late afternoon, and after more discussions, a decision had been made to run the GR Cup over a single race, but over 12 laps instead of the usual eight, and with double points being given. To make matters fairer, the best times from practise was to be used in setting-up the grid for the race. This meant a fifth place start for me, directly behind fellow GR Yaris drivers Kyle Kock (CAR Magazine), Phuti Mpyane (TimesLive), Lawrence Minnie (AutoTrader) and in front of a slew of GR Corollas. With the NMI Yaris of Werner Venter beside me, I managed to stay close to the yellow TimesLive Yaris in front on the rolling start as the lights went out. Having got off to a good start, and with the legs on the slightly less powerful, manual NMI Yaris, I kept an equal close eye on the green AutoTrader Yaris on my left. Heading into Potter's though, the inevitable happened. Keeping tight to the right, I found myself paying too much attention to Minnie, who had, presumably, started moving over to take the racing line into getting a better entry into Rifle. A drying circuit on race day netted fourth place in the GR Yaris media cup. Image: Toyota Gazoo Racing Contact was unavoidable as the rear right of the no. 17 came into contact with no. 16. Spearing across onto the outside of Potter's as I slammed on the brakes resulted in a typical concertina effect behind, but fortunately without any secondary repercussions. Not happy at an incident I felt had been attributed to me either not giving him enough space, I lost a further two places to Venter and the second NMI entered GR Corolla of Theo Brits before entering Cocabana. With a sizable gap behind, I decided to make the best of a pending bad situation and tried to get away as quickly as I could from the pack behind. On a track still greasy but drying as the rain had stopped during the early afternoon, I managed to ease myself away from the chasing lot, but well out of reach of the pair of the 'Pink Panther' NMI cars in front. Despite a few lairy moments into the complex, again nearly causing a complete standstill after entering way too fast, I did gain an overall place after passing the GR86 of debutant, Gabriel Fernandez, with two laps to go. Crossing the line 13th overall and fourth among the media brigade behind race winner, SuperSport's Nabil Abdool, second placed Phuti and third place finisher Kyle, wasn't the best feeling after what happened at the start. Damage to both Lawrence and my cars were, however, light and having apologised, I felt a bit better knowing that I still had one of my strongest races to date. Time for a break As tricky, difficult and dangerous as East London had been, it had also been one of the most testing, thrilling and best of the season so far. The series now goes on an extended six-week break before reconvening on 13 September for the penultimate round at Killarney in Cape Town. ALSO READ: Return to home ground counts for little in Toyota GR Cup thriller

Surviving the East London Grand Prix Circuit: a day of speed and surprises in the Toyota GR Cup
Surviving the East London Grand Prix Circuit: a day of speed and surprises in the Toyota GR Cup

IOL News

timea day ago

  • IOL News

Surviving the East London Grand Prix Circuit: a day of speed and surprises in the Toyota GR Cup

Overnight rain had drenched the circuit and made the run-off areas a muddy quagmire with the new surface on Cox's Corner becoming an ice rink. Image: Supplied The fifth round of the Extreme Festival and the Toyota GR Cup was everything we expected and dollops more as we tackled the blisteringly fast East London Grand Prix Circuit. It was a race that hovered constantly in the background as the season progressed due to its unforgiving nature, legendary fast bends, tight infield and hairpin corners. As a result, Toyota Gazoo South Africa (TGRSA) had arranged for us to spend time on the simulator at their headquarters at Zwartkops under the watchful eye of instructor Devon Scott, so that we at least had an idea of the layout before getting in behind the wheel of our GR Yaris. Practice We were out early for practice on Friday morning to experience first hand Potters Pass, a fast sweeping righthander, followed by Rifle Bend, taken with your foot on the floor before hard braking for the Cocobana hairpin. It's a lot different from the simulator, let me tell you, and the first session was spent getting familiar with the track, sussing out brake markers and turning points. Border motor racing had resurfaced Cox's Corner, which forms part of the twisty Complex section, and it proved to be the nemesis of quite a few of us as we struggled to find grip before heading flat out into the Sweep towards the final hairpin into the main straight. My times steadily improved in practice two and three with the help of Lorenzo Gualtieri from Comprehensive Driving Solutions, who insisted I could carry a lot more speed and needed to be more aggressive with the turns at The Complex. It takes a paradigm shift not to lift off on Rifle Bend to keep speeding at more than 220km/h towards the Beacon Bend hairpin. It's a hard brake to be sure from the 100m marker, but the Powerbrakes on the GR Yaris quickly slow you down before another flat-out section down the Beach Straight and into Butts Bend before the Esses. Independent and IOL's GR Yaris #60. Image: Supplied Rainy race day Race day dawned cold, wet and misty. Overnight rain had drenched the circuit and made the run-off areas a muddy quagmire. Puddles, streams and a constant drizzle around a relatively unknown track on sem-slick Dunlop tyres resulted in some nervous discussions in the GR Cup paddock. We had been divided into two qualifying sections as a result of the large 25-car grid so that there would be enough clean air between us. I was in the second group; the cars before us had dried up some of the racing lines while the sun was beginning to peek out behind the clouds which augured well for qualifying times. We were instructed to stay to the right of the main straight and to keep the accelerator pinned to the floor through the streams of water flowing over the track. I used the first two laps to gauge new braking points in the wet and especially how to maneuver through The Complex which had become an ice rink. I'd use lap three as the first hot lap and stomped on the accelerator after Beacon Bend. With the sea as a backdrop, the East London Grand Prix Circuit is the fastest in the country. Image: Supplied Dangers of Motorsport Coming up behind the spray of Riaan de Ru in his GR Corolla #555, I saw a slight twitch of his car as it started to aquaplane and slipped past his outside. At the first marshal point after Potters Pass, red flags waved furiously. We were directed back into the pits, where we were told that #555 had had a horrific accident, skidding off the track before hitting the tyre barrier and somersaulting through the air before landing on his roof. It's a testimony to the quality of the safety systems, including the roll cage and the safety equipment we have been issued with, that he managed to walk away unscathed. It was also a sobering reminder of the risks we take every time we go out on track. As a result, qualifying was cancelled, and we'd be using the best times set in practice. Round five of the Extreme Festival tested drivers and cars to the limit. Image: Supplied One race The day's programme was also reshuffled as a result of the extensive delays as cars slid and crashed that saw our two heats consolidated into one race of 12 laps. That would mean 50 percent more laps. The sun was out so we'd have to keep an eye out for drivetrain temperatures, as a result of the track's incredibly fast layout placing an enormous strain on components, tyre management would be crucial and so would looking after the brakes. It would be another rolling start and for the first time this season I managed to get away really well. Turning into Potters there was an almighty spin-off by some of the competitors which I managed to avoid allowing me to make up a good few places, including fifth place in our class. I was starting to get into a rhythm and was chasing down those ahead of me passing a few as my lap times decreased and the car responded to my inputs. Even the sketchy parts of the track were now starting to become a bit more comfortable at speeds close to and over 200km/h. With so many accidents, it was also a sobering reminder of the risks we take every time we go out on track. Image: Supplied Crash boom bang On lap eight heading out of the complex and onto the sweep with the accelerator floored, a GR Corolla tried to pass on my inside and hit me on the driver's side causing me to spin across the track and into the outfield. It was an almighty thump. Fortunately I managed to control the slide, but I had lost all momentum as I rejoined with the pack passing me. The car seemed to show no component damages or alignment issues, but for the rest of the race I was playing catch-up. The day's topsy-turvey events compounded by an unnecessary spin once again showed that racing is a cruel mistress. Still, I had managed to conquer the circuit, overcome the fear of Potters and Rifle and brought GR Yaris #60 back in one piece. We have a six week break in the calendar before the second last race of the season and our second outing at Killarney Race Track in Cape Town.

TimesLIVE racer finishes second at a rain-soaked East London circuit
TimesLIVE racer finishes second at a rain-soaked East London circuit

TimesLIVE

time2 days ago

  • TimesLIVE

TimesLIVE racer finishes second at a rain-soaked East London circuit

Prince George Grand Prix circuit — a sunny East London Friday practice day greeted the throng of racers in the eight classes of the Extreme Festival Tour powered by Coca-Cola on Saturday. The rehearsal preceded an eventful qualifying and racing on a Saturday morning marked by cold and rainy weather resulting in a number of racing incidents and another second place podium finish for the No 50 TimesLIVE Toyota GR Yaris. Qualifying With panic about this track having set in weeks before in our GR Yaris rookie group, its reputation preceded its real enjoyment. It's the fastest circuit on the calendar with potential to hit more than 220km/h on some sections and it introduced us to new and wilder emotions, the crucial decision-making pro racers face at times for a chance at victory and as pure survival tactics. A wet East London immediately offered surprises, starting with loss of control of my GR Yaris on the sixth lap of qualifying. I held on but decided the conditions were too dangerous and opted to exit the session before its close. An undamaged car was the priority no matter where I'm placed on the starting grid. The drama taps were then switched on. The first red flag was raised when dealer man Riaan de Rui hit a patch of water that trickled onto the main straight during the GR Cup group two qualifiers, his GR Corolla careening off the track and landing on its roof. The Gauteng resident escaped uninjured, but it caused a long delay as race marshals rebuilt the tyre wall. With the day's arrangements muddled up and with the rest of the qualifiers scrapped, the luck I'd hoped for going into this race shined when GR Cup team manager Leeroy Poulter made the call that Friday's practice times would now determine the start grid positions for the late race. It would also be a single 12-lap race for double points instead of the regular pair of eight-lap heats. The heat My fastest practice time of 1:36.563 meant starting fifth on the mixed dealer/media class grid and third in our GR Yaris field, behind Car Magazine's Kyle Kock. A good launch on a dried track had me neck-and-neck with Kock with AutoTrader's Lawrence Minnie nearby heading into turn 1 — the frighteningly fast Potters Pass curve. We continued towards the even faster Rifle bend and into the slow Cocobana right turn with me still behind Kock and him tailing dealer man Mario De Sousa. Sticking close by paid off as Kock skidded and overshot his braking on approach to Beacon bend with De Sousa holding back to avoid contact. The fracas created an opportunity for me to pass on the inside line and I didn't miss the chance to capitalise and pounced for a double overtake on the pair onto the main straight. I never looked back until the chequered flag where I finished second in the class behind winner and championship leader Nabil Abdool from SuperSport. The weekend's point haul is a bigger cushion against Kock who arrived in East London a single point behind me in the overall standings. The next round will be a return to Cape Town's Killarney raceway on September 13.

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