The fifth round of the Toyota GR Cup didn't get off to a great start, to be honest. Sure, I'd comfortably managed to be the second fastest journalist during Friday's practice sessions but on race day — when it matters most — I only managed to qualify third on the grid behind Riaan Esterhuysen (Toyota SA) and the ever-dominant Ashley Oldfield (cars.co.za).
This was either because I had: a) spent the good part of the session trailing Oldfield who seemed to be struggling to get his tyres up to temperature or b) starting to lose my mojo. Obviously my self-deprecating brain went with the latter reasoning and despite my best efforts to think otherwise I went into the first heat of the day with a sense of trepidation.
However, once the lights went off for the first rolling start of the day, my TimesLIVE GR Yaris accelerated down the main straight towards Potter's Pass with real gusto. Enough gusto in fact to edge past Oldfield and onto the back bumper of Esterhuysen who now led the charge through Rifle Bend down towards Cocobana (apologies for calling it "Copacabana" in my previous posts — clearly I listen to too much Barry Manilow).
The Toyota SA man went for the brakes a little too early — an easy mistake to make when you're rocketing towards such a sharp corner at more than 220km/h — which gave me the perfect opportunity to squeeze past. I hit the middle pedal a second later than he did, stuck my TimesLIVE GR Yaris on the inside line and moved into the lead as we all swung past the apex and dragged on down the Beach Straight en route to The Esses, Cox's Corner and The Sweep. After rounding the final corner — Beacon Bend — I was still at the head of this high-speed GR Yaris snake and set about putting some distance between Sean Nurse (SN Automotive) who had snuck past Esterhuysen into second place.
By the end of lap three I had accrued a decent amount of breathing space as the others fought among themselves for track position, allowing me to relax a little and focus on keeping things consistent and not make any stupid mistakes that would compromise my lead. For once luck was on my side and I eventually took the checkered flag unchallenged to pick up my first win in this one-make series; a massive mental weight off my shoulders, that much I can tell you. Nurse came home a spectacular second, Esterhuysen third, Oldfield fourth, Mark Jones (Citizen Motoring) fifth and Top Gear's Lerato Matebese sixth.
As usual the TimesLIVE GR Yaris performed flawlessly with no gremlins nibbling through the woodwork to spoil my pace. Engine power was consistent throughout the race, the six-speed manual transmission baulk-free and the brakes (even after multiple stops from 220km/h down to about 60km/h in the space of 100 metres) strong with no signs of fade. I say it every time, I know, but this fiery little Japanese hatchback is such an impressive package. Remember that aside from a set of Dunlop Direzza semi-slicks, uprated brake pads and the mandatory safety equipment, these are basically stock-standard road cars.
Anyway, fuelled by my performance in the first race I was now looking forward to the second. Especially as I would be starting from pole position (the reward for setting the quickest lap time in heat one). Unfortunately, myself and the rest of the Toyota GR Cup drivers would have to wait a helluva long time due to a barrage of circuit delays. The original programme of events had us down for 4.45pm. However, we eventually took to the grid at 6pm — 30 minutes after the sun sank below the horizon.
Potter's Pass is fearsome enough in the day, but thundering through it after dusk dials it up to a whole new level of gnarly. In fact, even as the lead car with both my brights and fog lights on, I struggled to identify most of my daytime reference points. Especially the brake marker for Beacon Bend — a patch of circuit where the bitumen surface changes from light to dark. This saw me out-brake myself at the end of the first lap — a costly driver error that saw Nurse sneak past me into first place. Fortunately, I was able to get back onto his bumper through Rifle Bend and — much like my manoeuvre on Esterhuysen in the first heat — scythe back past him on the inside of Cocobana to reclaim the lead.
From here on in I did my best to try to keep things together and not go off again. The pressure was immense though, as Nurse was forever nipping on my heels waiting for me to make another mistake. Luckily there none and at the end of the fourth lap the officials waved the flag and bought the final Toyota GR Cup race to a slightly premature end, handing me the victory. Nurse held on to claim second while Oldfield came home third, Esterhuysen fourth, Jones fourth and Lerato Matebese sixth.
This result meant that I had earned TimesLIVE its first overall win in the Toyota GR Cup. Second went to Nurse and third to Oldfield who still leads the championship with two rounds still to play out: one at Killarney in September and then the big season finale at Zwartkops in October. Stay tuned for more GR Cup updates as and when they happen.
Toyota GR Cup East London Grand Prix Circuit Overall Result:
Sean Nurse (SN automotive): +4.739
Ashley Oldfield (cars.co.za): +6.811
Riaan Esterhuysen (Toyota SA): +7.986
Mark Jones (The Citizen): +36.735
Lerato Matebese (TopGear SA): +41.443
TimesLIVE
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