Latest news with #LeeroyPoulter
The Citizen
13-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Citizen
Return to home ground counts for little in Toyota GR Cup thriller
First outing with the new eight-speed automatic gearbox proved impressive, but a bad qualifying and not so good first race almost ruined the weekend. The Aldo Scribante racetrack outside what was previously known as Port Elizabeth has a reputation as one of the most demanding circuits in South Africa. The challenge Aside from its tight, twisty and technical layout, it only has one real speed incentive, the main straight where cars either get close to or exceed 200 km/h for a few moments. ALSO READ: New and personal challenge awaits in Toyota GR Cup trek to PE Above all though, the circuit is abrasive and famous for eating tyres at an alarming rate, with the final result being clumps of rubber or marbles at the side of the road, or a puncture. These factors weren't probably what Toyota had in-mind when it finally debuted the facelift GR Yaris, complete with the new eight-speed Direct Automatic Transmission (DAT), for round three of the Toyota GR Cup this past weekend. New car Supposed to have debuted at the last round at Kyalami, the replacement for the long-serving GR Yaris, fitted with the six-speed manual, has been an almost month long build over the April holidays. Under the eye of preparations boss Leeroy Poulter, all six Yaris' were finished in record time in preparation for the event, albeit with a slight caveat excluding the circuit. Aldo Scribante's esses caught The Citizen's rookie out a few time during practise and in race one. Image: Toyota Gazoo Racing. Being box fresh, no time was allocated for the cars to be tested before the event in readiness for the series that also forms part of the National Extreme Festival. It, therefore, meant that unlike the previous GR Yaris', none of us knew what to expect as our first acquittance with the new black DAT, finished in each driver's selected colour accent, would be during Friday morning's practise session. What advantage? Adding further trepidation was the personal factor for me. Having attended my first race at Scribante almost exactly 30 years ago, the pressure do well was mounting. A thought that had spun through my mind ever since being announced as The Citizen's driver in March, I had very little expectations of being up with championship leader Nabil Abdool (SuperSport), Kyle Kock (CAR Magazine) or Phuti Mpyane (TimesLive) as my last lap around the 2.4 km track was back in 2019 during a tyre test. More power but… The biggest uncertainty, therefore, was still the cars. While supposedly easier to drive with the automatic 'box, a decision still had to be made; leave it in Drive and let it go about its doings, or use manual model in conjunction with the gear shift paddles. As much as the former has been touted by Toyota as being capable of shifting gears faster than using the paddles using what it calls predictive shift technology, the simple truth was all of us were entering the unknown the moment we arrived for first practise. Beside the DAT, Toyota has also extract more power – 210kW/400Nm – from the G16E-GTS three-cylinder 1.6-litre turbocharged engine, fitted massively bigger brakes and uprated the cooling system with a pair of radiators. As part of the facelift, these have been recessed on the flanks of the front bumper where the fog lamps previously sat. This provided yet any other hazard as any side contact would result in probable retirement as parts from Japan weren't yet present. What's more, the sight of our gleaming new toys came with another worry; the same tyres as Kyalami for practise, and advisory to heavily pump the brakes for two laps. Seated inside, I was faced with the reality of unlike four-year old me, driving around Scribante would be tough and anything easy. The Scribante challenge Having decided to leave the DAT to sort itself out, carefully heading out came as a surreal experience. Turn one, LuK Repco, is tight, turns two and three, the esses, are even trickier as going too fast will lead to a trip across the grass when you get it wrong, while getting it right will lead to the g-forces throwing you from side-to-side. The fast Hanger sweep is next and requiring either a lift for its fast right hand entry – again get right and you placed ideally for the hairpin that follows. But overdo it will lead to a grass cutting or hitting the tyre barriers. Out of the hairpin, the circuit drops before entering what as is known as Chevy Sweep. The same logic as Hanger applies; lift, but be ready to accept either a perfect exit, a trip into the barriers on the outside or a spin and grass trekking on the left. Finally, the Dunlop hairpin, is all braking and possibly the easiest place to get passed if you don't comprise your exit heading onto the main straight where slip streaming and late braking into LuK Repco counts. Practise Finishing practise one came with a massive sense of reality: even after two laps bleeding the brakes, no connection with the car happened. Feel was lacking everywhere, the early morning slippery track conditions weren't helping and my driving wasn't good. My times reflected this as I had zero confidence with a dismal best run of 1.16. Fortunately, things improved and despite a lairy off-road moment at the esses, by end of sessions two and three, trust was building, the car was improving and I was getting confident. That being said, the boiling hot conditions and running the untested cars in Race mode saw the engine go into limp mode just I finished my last flying lap. Down the home straight, the GR Yaris only fractionally lost out to the more powerful GR Corollas. Image: Toyota Gazoo Racing While the new cooling system comes with a button activated spryer that cools the intercooler at maximum acceleration, this only lasts for 10 seconds and seemingly, did little to prevent the engine's reduced performance. Along with the disintegrating tyres, the cars were drinking fuel at an alarming rate. Arriving back in the pits, the fuel gauge had gone well into the red and the dramatically reduced power so bad I nearly didn't make it back. With a time of 1.15.029, I was relatively happy in being ahead of my arch rival Willem van de Putte (IOL/Independent) and not far behind AutoTrader's Lawrence Minnie. Qualifying Come qualifying, my confidence was at an all time high as apart from new tyres, the weather was a lot cooler and unlikely to lead to any overheating issues. But then the penny dropped. As a way of preserving the new Dunlop Direzza rubber for both races, team orders were issued; two warm-up laps, two flying laps and then pitlane-bound after the cool-down lap. This meant only two chances to get it right while at the same time having enough of a gap between the other Yaris', and watching the mirrors for the GR Academy GR86s and the dealer driven GR Corollas. With the tyres heated, I nailed it. The car felt totally different, handled beautifully and made of a joy to drive, Having backed-off to give myself a descent gap, I finished my first run in 1.15. Starting lap two, I realised I had spoiled the lap of GR Corolla series leader Mario de Sousa, who himself was trying to improve on his final flying lap. I pressed on though, but still, small errors, plus the green Motus Corolla behind me, proved too much. As I crossed the line, with Mario having slowed and most likely enraged with me, I crossed the line with a slower time. Unlike Kyalami, I could only blame myself and once back in the pits, beside trying to avoid the wrath of former Group N driver Mario, the news hit hard; slower than Willem and dead last on the grid overall. Angered, and knowing that I had to get passed Willem, come race one, and being properly fired up, I took my place behind my rival, and alongside the Halfway Corolla of Dylan Jones. Race 1 From a rolling start, my start wasn't perfect and I was watched Jones rounding up the pink IOL Yaris up front, I knew I had to follow as soon as possible. This though didn't happen as all attempts to get passed Willem failed. While much faster and braver on the brakes, the IOL man simply defended for all his worth, resulting in the mood becoming blue inside car no. 16. Annoyed at his lack of pace as we passed the pit-bound Corolla of GR Academy driver Paul de Vos, who had hit the tyre wall at the hairpin, contact with the IOL car appeared almost certain at all the slow corners, but luckily, there was to be no repeat of what happened at Kyalami. By the end of eight laps, I hadn't succeeded and finished last, my worst of the year and anything but happy. Race 2 With a three-hour break between races, my best time in race one had, however, been faster than Willem's, which placed me on the inside for LuK Repco and directly behind the green AutoTrader GR Yaris of Minnie. In ever more cooling conditions, but with a typically also unsurprising PE wind, a slightly better start saw me doing exactly what I needed. Braking as late as I dared, I muscled my way passed Willem and fixated on Jones and Minnie ahead. Looming large behind the latter for lap after lap, I then entered the esses too fast and ended on the grass, allowing Willem back through. With the horror of race one still in my mind, I simply had to react and after a good exit out of Dunlop and into LuK Repco, I used the passing lines, took a deep breath and braked even later than I had previously. It worked and with Willem dispatched, I set about chasing after Jones and Minnie, who had become embroiled in a three-way battle with the Waterberg Corolla of Rudi Boonzaaier. Watching Lawrence pass the Halfway car at Dunlop, I chased after, but couldn't do it. Despite the lighter Yaris having the edge in the corners and on braking, the more powerful Corolla had the legs on the straight. With Willem still in attendance, I risked it all. Getting close to the Corolla, and nearly hitting him at Dunlop, I still sensed a chance as Lawrence had become stuck behind Boonzaaier. In what turned out to be a massively enjoyable battle, I crossed the line in my customary fifth place amongst the Yaris', delighted to have overtaken Willem, and smiling after a close fought and truly stunning battle that left no marks on either Yaris or Corolla. Driving passed the area where I stood three decades ago, a few tears dripped from my eyes as I knew, I had done my utmost and enjoyed every second as I had watching from the sidelines in 1995. Next, Zwartkops While still not perfect, the new GR Yaris DAT has showed their intentions and having been run-in, would be ideally suited for the next round – Toyota's home track that is the even shorter, but faster and still as daunting Zwartkops Raceway on 21 June. ALSO READ: Thrill of a lifetime: Toyota GR Cup season opener goes to plan
IOL News
13-05-2025
- Automotive
- IOL News
Racing the new GR Yaris: insights from our driver in the Toyota GR Cup Challenge
The Toyota GR Cup Challenge at the Aldo Scribante Circuit in Gqeberha saw the Media Challenge drivers in the new more powerful and faster GR Yaris. Image: Supplied It was the closest racing yet seen in the Toyota GR Cup Challenge this season as we tackled the Aldo Scribante Circuit in Gqeberha. When we arrived at the track on Thursday, May 8, we were greeted by our new stripped-out racing GR Yaris replete with more power, new livery, roll cage, upgraded brakes, exhaust and a new eight-speed Direct Automatic Transmission (DAT). New challenge Our first two outings in the six-speed manual GR Yaris were behind us and we were now faced with a new challenge; getting to grips with a completely new set-up. Leeroy Poulter and his team of technicians at Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa had pulled the proverbial rabbit out of a hat by stripping and converting six cars into GR Cup Media Challenge track weapons in a month. The weekend would follow the normal format with three practice sessions on Friday, qualifying on Saturday morning, followed by two races. Racing was bumper to bumper through every corner. Image: Supplied Practice We were first out early on Friday on a track that was slightly moist and covered in fine sand from a construction site close by. First though we had to bed the brakes for three laps, gently at first and then increasingly more aggressive before we could floor the GR Yaris with less than 200 kilometres on the clock. I had printed out a copy of the track's 2.48km layout and downloaded a few in-car camera clips to create a picture in my head of what to expect. Reality though is different and corners, hairpins, kinks and sweeps approach a lot quicker than watching it on a screen. After a few laps the new Toyota GR Yaris proved to be a fantastic track car. Image: Supplied Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ To compound matters the slippery surface saw a few butt-clenching moments around the S's, hairpin corner and sharp right-hander before the main straight. After getting into a rhythm I could immediately feel the difference in power over the previous GR Yaris and the auto box adapted quickly to the harsh realities of hard racing. There were one or two occasions where it would gear up instead of holding the gear around corners, but I'm not Max Verstappen, so it's of little consequence. I sent clips of my laps to Lorenzo Gualtieri of Comprehensive Driving Solutions and he would give feedback on how to improve my time. By the second session, we were a lot more familiar with the GR Yaris and the track so the times kept on improving. It takes a paradigm shift when you're told to brake later and go in wider when the 50 metre brake marker just flashes by at close to 200km/h. Aldo Scribante is well known as a tyre shredder with it's abrasive surface. Image: Supplied Tyre shredder It was a good session but what was also clear is that Aldo Scribante was living up to its reputation as a tyre shredder. It has an incredible abrasive surface and 15 minutes into the session with hot semi-slick Dunlops you really have to concentrate to keep the car from sliding off and going into the rubber marbles strewn outside the racing line. Some more feedback from Gualtieri for the third session and I was improving steadily and gaining a lot more confidence. Some of my colleagues experimented with the paddles behind the steering wheel but a couple of us preferred the electronic brain to handle the gear changes and it seems the difference is negligible, especially for the less experienced racers because we get to concentrate on braking zones and corner entrance and exit. Look, it's never comfortable in a race car. It's hot, noisy, the racing seat grips you tightly as does the five-point harness, the helmet and HANS (head and neck support) device squeeze your face and shoulders but once you're out of the pit lane and on track it's all forgotten as you belt through each sector. Focusing on the race ahead and where to improve my times. Image: Supplied Race day Saturday saw us fitted with new rubber with the instruction to go out for two warm up laps, followed by two qualifying laps and a cool down lap before returning to the pits otherwise by the end of the second race the tyres would be completely shot. With my "coach's" voice notes running through my head I had a decent qualifying time ahead of Charl Bosch ("The Citizen") and one of the dealers' GR Corollas. Nabil Abdool (SuperSport) qualified overall first and in the Media Challenge followed by Kyle Kock ("CAR Magazine"), Phuti Mpyane ("TimesLive") and Lawrence Minnie ("Auto Trader"). There was just over a second separating those of us in the midfield so racing would be tight. It would be another rolling start with the GR Academy drivers leading the field in their GR 86s followed by the GR Corollas and Yaris' all going hell for leather. I was too far behind Minnie when the lights went off so I would have to play catch-up. Remembering my notes, I focused on my braking and turning and not lifting off the accelerator around the sweep. There aren't many passing opportunities at Aldo Scribante and the only way would be to either dive bomb into a corner or wait for a mistake by the drivers ahead. The team that worked late every night and over weekends to ensure that the new Toyota GR Yaris's were race ready for Aldo Scribante and the rest of the season. Image: Supplied Discretion proved to be the better part of valour because a risky move could damage the cars and that would be a major blow to our new GR Yaris' so I settled down tightly behind a Corolla for a fifth place when the checkered flag dropped. Race two was a lot more intense with door to door cornering, bumper to bumper straights, some risky dive bombings and a bit of a two wheel gravel fright which eventually saw me crossing the line in sixth. Damn. So close for car #60. Abdool won both races with Kock and Mpanye swapping second and third place. We'll be doing more of the same at Zwartkops Raceway, a track we're more familiar with and also the home of Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa, next month.
