From nerves to nose-to-tail racing at Killarney

TOYOTA GR CUP CHALLANGE

- WILLEM VAN DE PUTTE

IT MAY have been the penultimate round of the Toyota GR Cup Challenge and the second race for us at the Killarney Raceway in Cape Town at the Extreme Festival, but that doesn't mean it was any easier.

When the first race of the season took place in March at the same track, my nerves were frayed as I began my racing journey with the manual GR Yaris.

It was the first-ever outing in a stripped-out race car, and it took a while to get used to the noise, the heat, the speed, and 24 other GR Yarises, dealers in GR Corollas and Toyota Gazoo Academy GR 86s all vying for a place.

Subsequent races at the iconic Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, Aldo Scribante, Zwartkops Raceway and East London Grand Prix Circuit have seen the six of us in the Media Challenge significantly improve our race craft and dramatically improve our speed and times.

It's partly aided by the fact that from Aldo Scribante in Gqeberha, we've been piloting the new, more powerful automatic GR Yaris.

The changes are super fast and slick, but ultimately it's up to the driver to make the most of it.

And because it was the second outing on the track, the pressure was on.

Practice

It had been eight weeks since our last race in a wet East London, so with first practice on Friday, it took a while to shake the rust off and become accustomed to the surroundings again.