Two of TOYOTA GAZOO Racing SA’s GR Cup cars will be taking part in this weekend’s 9-Hour race at the Killarney Race Circuit near Cape Town. While the GR Cup cars do not usually compete in the Southern African Endurance Series (SAES), the end-of-year race at Killarney is something of a one-race festival of speed, with a large variety of cars competing in various classes.
The two standard production GR Yaris cars will be campaigned by two four-person crews, with the first entry consisting of four of the country’s foremost motoring writers. These drivers all took part in the inaugural GR Cup, which pitted six journalists against each other in identical machinery, over a season that spanned seven rounds.
Ashley Oldfield captured the title with a round to spare this year, and will be in action in the journalist entry at this 9-Hour this weekend. He will be joined by Thomas Falkiner, Mark Jones and Jeanette Kok-Kritzinger, as they aim to best the crews racing in the second GR Cup entry.
The sister car will be crewed by senior Toyota SA Motors senior management in the form of Leon Theron and Anand Pather, with former racer and Toyota stalwart Mario de Sousa taking up the third spot. The final driver in this car will be motoring writer Sean Nurse, who also competed in the GR Cup this year.
The action at Killarney gets under way on Thursday, 8 December 2022, with the first practice sessions. This will be followed by more practice sessions an qualifying on Friday, before the main event takes place on Saturday, 10 December 2022. The 9-Hour is scheduled to start at noon, with the singing of the national anthem, followed by a formation lap and nine hours of adrenaline-filled action.
Content and images supplied via MotorPress
