- GR Cup and SATC seasons ended at Zwartkops.
- Devon Scott won the Dealer Challenge title.
- Abdool won twelve from twelve in Media Challenge.
- Kobus Reyneke took the GR86 Development Academy title.
- Van Rooyen ends ten years with TGRSA.
Searing heat on both days at Zwartkops Raceway in Pretoria shaped the final round of the 2026 GR Cup and South African Touring Cars (SATC) championships for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing South Africa (TGRSA). Every category arrived with a tightly packed championship picture, and several titles were only settled over the weekend.
Devon Scott takes GR Cup Dealer Challenge
GR Driving Academy driver Devon Scott secured the Dealer Challenge crown at the academy’s home circuit with the double he needed. He took pole by 0.334 seconds from Nabil Abdool, then won both races, holding off Werner Horn (Malalane Toyota) by 0.934 seconds in Race 2. Andries de Villiers (Rola Toyota) was best of the rest, while Werner Venter (NMI Toyota Menlyn), who had led the standings for much of the year, finished fourth and sixth as the title slipped away.
Media Challenge and GR86 Development Academy results
SuperSport’s Abdool swept both Media Challenge races to complete an undefeated campaign of twelve wins from twelve starts across the six rounds that counted. Craig Nicholson of News24 Motoring and Brandon Jacobs (Khulekani on Wheels) completed the class podium each time. Race 2 was shortened to six laps without his knowledge, which Abdool said “threw my preservation strategy out the window”. Broadcaster Kriya Gangiah closed the 2026 GR Cup Hot Seat programme in the GR Yaris AT, classified sixth in class in both races.
In the GR86 Development Academy, Reagile “Spice” Mailula won both races, by 2.187 and 1.923 seconds, from Kobus Reyneke, with Connor Weston third on each occasion. Reyneke and Weston had arrived separated by just three points, and the consistent second places gave Reyneke the title. Team manager Leeroy Poulter noted that Mailula, who came from karting, had been around two seconds off the pace at the start of the year.
SATC finale and Michael van Rooyen farewell
Touring car qualifying was close, with 0.366 seconds covering the top six. Keegan Campos won Race 1 from Jason Coetzee and Michael van Rooyen. A first-lap incident with KC Ensor-Smith put Van Rooyen on the grass in Race 2, bringing out a red flag and a full restart. Julian van der Watt won the restarted race, with Van Rooyen recovering to second and Coetzee fourth.
That result, together with the buffer he carried into the finale, rounded off a dominant championship campaign for Van der Watt, while Coetzee capped a strong season in his GR Corolla.
After the race, Van Rooyen revealed it was his final appearance for TGRSA, ending a ten-year association with the team. “Toyota have told me, unfortunately, that this was my last race. That chapter has now come to an end,” he said, thanking the team for trusting him with its car for so long.
Supplied by MotorPress (Karabo Sethusha, Manager: Motorsport TGR, Toyota South Africa)
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