A baptism of fire, the GR Cup Round 1 proved to be far more than what we had bargained for. Finishing the tumultuous weekend with a podium finish, Alex Shahini details how the first race outing in his Toyota GR Corolla fared.
Looking for your next new or used Toyota? Find it here with CARmag.
Heading towards the Killarney International Raceway, it beckoned on me that the Cape-located 2.6 km piece of tarmac had never been attempted in complete attack mode. Unsure of what to expect, myself and five other journalists arrived with the Gazoo Racing outfit at the Extreme Festival over the weekend to get off the mark in the third season of the GR Cup. For four of us, this track, at least under full attack, was something yet to be conquered in the realm of reality.
The same principle of don’t race to win, race to learn that Gazoo Racing had embodied in its formative years was an approach I would take going into GR Cup Round 1. This would serve as the first occasion of wheel-to-wheel car racing I would ever embark on and boy was I in for a ride of a lifetime.
Related: Toyota GR Corolla Race Car – 2024 GR Cup Ep 1
Friday and its practice sessions arrived and following the two shakedown sessions at Zwartkops, these served as opportunities to chip away at the lap timer that counted our first few outings of the new car, on a new circuit. According to the timing sheets, the fastest of the day would be in the 1:27s, well over a second off of the pace set by Sean Nurse. This had me comfortably placed in third with two packs emerging from the timing sheets. Collectively, we managed this unscathed, with only two instances of my colleagues parking their cars off of the black stuff during our hot lap sessions. Recounting the experiences over a drink before dinner, I glanced at the weather app to provide solace in knowing the volatile Cape conditions wouldn’t deviate from the clear skys we enjoyed in the day – apart from some clouds forecast, things looked good.
Related: Racing Upgrades to the GR Corolla for the 2024 Toyota GR Cup
The following morning had other plans with Cape Town’s silhouette vaguely visible from our Blouberg accommodation and the earth-soaked courtesy of a drizzle. Once we had geared into the warm overalls at the Gazoo Racing garages, the cloud cover had fortunately begun to disperse overhead yielding some blue sky and sunshine. Being the first session out for qualifying, we would clean the track from our multiple laps and dry the racing line ahead of the next session, which seemed to have a completely dry outing.
With the drivetrain in Track mode and a perfect 50/50 split between the front and rear diffs, the all-wheel drive GR Corolla had its work cut out for it. A slippery moment on lap 2 at the exit of turn 2 had the nose of my affectionately named Carmella pointing more than 30 degrees in the wrong direction. Slight throttle modulation returned the slipping semi slicks to full traction and the front end immediately redirected itself in the right direction. Traipsing on the limit was evident across the field courtesy of the ever-evolving track line. New car, new experience and a new, wet track served as the definition of baptism of fire. Despite my best efforts and some competitive times initially, once the line had dried up, these times began to tumble and an ill-fated yellow flag impeded a final flying lap. A dry race 1 would have me start in fourth.
With Bernie Hellberg Jr and Jaco Van Der Merwe directly in front and behind, this served as a good opportunity for us to learn the limits of the car, while sharing the track. Once the flag dropped and the adrenaline started pumping, it was time to make up some lost ground. Some justles and position trading ensued, dropping me to fifth after running wide and onto the grass alongside a move on Bernie – Gazoo Racing does have rally pedigree after all. Eventually, this place was regained and Jaco was now the man in front. Following a drag race down the back straight into the final banked corner, I managed to take the clean, inside line with my colleague on the marbles and into the sandbank. This had him complete the final lap with a puncture but more crucially, finish the race albeit a lap down.
How the final classification works requires the combined drivers’ time from race 1 and race 2 determining the outcome of the race weekend. More importantly, the start of a driver in race 2 is determined by the fastest lap during race 1. Thus, the final race of the day featuring the Gazoo branded Toyotas would have me start in third. The sun had dropped to just above the decal on the windscreen with but despite the picturesque sunset, it was a far less eventful race having Sean Nurse and Hannes Visser, equipped with more racing experience, eventually gaining enough ground to be a few corners ahead. With that, the GR Cup Round 1 ended with a third-place finish and a trophy in hand.
Concluding the first race weekend with a podium place wasn’t necessarily the plan considering the racing to learn philosophy but the experience from this outing will hopefully foster more competitive driving in the future, ideally closing the gap to the front runners sooner rather than later. Speaking of which, the Gazoo Racing Circus will head to the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit on the 13th of April for Round 2 – see you there!