For the second entry to the diary of an aspiring racer, Kyle Kock faces concern and trusts his instincts within the Toyota GR Cup…
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With my first race weekend below my belt, a lot of the nervousness of driving a race-prepared automotive has lifted. Nonetheless, spherical two of the Toyota GR Cup at Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit was a large enterprise for the Media Problem rookies. The storied 4.522 km venue has hosted worldwide and native racing legends in a wide range of formulae, and its 16 turns require a cool head and consistency for aggressive occasions.
S stands for sacrifice
In some S bends, a consecutive proper into left – or within the case of The Esses at Kyalami, left into proper – requires the sacrifice of your entry velocity into the primary bend in an effort to get a greater run out of the second. I discovered this the exhausting means, scrubbing off velocity with understeer after which having to straighten the wheels earlier than hitting the gravel to save lots of the automotive throughout first follow. Luckily, this occurred early within the proceedings, and I may make the mandatory changes for the remainder of the weekend.
Use the info
For the second spherical, the Garmin Catalyst information loggers utilized by opponents in final 12 months’s GR Cup have been current and plugged in. These gadgets file your laps and sew collectively your quickest sectors to make a one-lap tempo suggestion – primarily an ideal lap based mostly in your present velocity. Extra importantly, for me a minimum of, was that in periods, I glanced over at it as a result of it additionally shows present tempo, whether or not you’re up or down in your quickest lap.
Race report
The foremost distinction between this spherical and the primary was that this race week included two follow periods on Thursday 10 April. This was adopted by a 3rd follow session on Friday 11 April and a qualifying session thereafter, so Saturday 12 April could be devoted to racing solely. Woman Luck smiled down on me because the climate forecast for race weekend was sunny and sizzling. My first session yielded a quickest lap of two:14.182 whereas I explored the observe limits, with an unceremonious off coming into The Esses. After reviewing the onboard footage, courtesy of the Garmin Catalyst information logger plugged into my #88 GR Yaris, and a few sage recommendation from fellow racers, a extra measured strategy to second follow resulted in an enchancment to 2:12.838.
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After the in a single day relaxation, later braking into Crowthorne and rotating the GR Yaris on the brakes into Barbeque throughout third follow introduced my quickest lap all the way down to 2:11.167, however I got here in after simply 5 laps to save lots of my tyres for qualifying. It was time to belief the Yaris’ all-wheel drive system totally, and for the primary time over the weekend, I switched from Sport to Observe mode (shifting the front-to-rear torque break up from 30:70 to 50:50) and didn’t hit the brake pedal within the Mineshaft. This introduced my lap time common down considerably, and I posted a quickest lap of two:09.725 – fifth quickest general, and third on the shared grid behind pole-sitter and fellow GR Cup Media Problem contender Nabil Abdool and the hard-charging Seller Problem’s Mario de Sousa in a Motus GR Corolla.
Though I’d been warned to observe the lights initially, I used to be caught napping by TimesLive’s Phuti Mpyane, who gained a automotive size on me by the point we had rounded The Kink. I felt assured in how I’d warmed up the Dunlop semi-slicks and hit the anchors simply after Mpyane, which allowed me to regain second place simply earlier than the Crowthorne’s apex. I may solely attempt to cling onto Abdool and de Sousa as they rapidly minimize via the sphere of GR86s, and bought caught up momentarily by Brandon van der Walt and Justin Rogers, and ran alone to the end
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The second race’s grid was shaken up by Gazoo Racing Academy teacher Paul de Vos beginning forward of me, with the NMI GR Corolla of Theo Brits alongside my GR Yaris. One other error initially granted Brits the benefit off the road, and into Crowthorne I needed to pull off a manoeuvre just like what I’d executed in my alternate with Mpyane within the earlier race. Tucked behind de Vos, I beat my qualifying time with a 2:09.518, however was barely slower general in what was a reasonably uneventful race 2. The 2 outcomes have been adequate for P2 general for the day.
Though we had anticipated to fulfill our new race-prepared 2025 GR Yaris steeds for spherical two, which delivers an additional 12 kW and 40 N.m extra via an automated transmission with paddle shift over the 2022 guide fashions that the Media Problem has been operating with, we’ve been assured that they’ll be prepared for the following assembly at Aldo Scribante Race Circuit in Gqeberha.
Discover the complete characteristic within the June 2025 difficulty of CAR Journal.
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