TOYOTA GAZOO Racing SA’s exciting GR Cup, driven by Netstar, is all set for its third instalment, with the cars and drivers for the 2024 season now in place, with Driven’s Editor, Bernie Hellberg Jr, participating in the media series for the first time.
This year, the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing SA GR Cup will be contested in the powerful GR Corolla, with six members of the motoring media vying for honours over seven rounds.
The GR Corolla used in the series is a standard car, but sports updated black GR livery. The car features a state-of-the-art GR-FOUR all-wheel drive system, which, together with a manual gearbox and 221kW of power, makes for a spirited and rewarding drive – exactly what the six media members will require when they take on some of the country’s best-known race circuits.
THE RACES
First up is a visit to the Killarney International Circuit in Cape Town on 15-16 March. This will be followed by Round 2, at the fearsome Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit on 11-13 April. Next up is a visit to the Zwartkops Raceway on 17-18 May, followed by the Aldo Scribante Raceway in Gqeberha for Round 4 at the end of June. The East London Grand Prix Circuit will host Round 5 at the end of July, before the series returns to the Killarney International Circuit for Round 6 on 21 September. The final round of the year is set to take place on 25-26 October, at the Zwartkops Raceway near Pretoria.
THE DRIVERS
This year’s drivers will include Bernie Hellberg Jr (Driven); Hannes Visser (La’t Wiel on kykNET); Alex Shahini (CAR); Jaco van der Merwe (Citizen) and Kumbi Mtshakazi (Kumbi-M on Cars). Sean Nurse, who contested the inaugural GR Cup, will once again take to the hot seat – this time representing AutoTrader in the 2024 series.
“The GR Cup has proven highly popular both with the drivers and the fans,” says Toyota SA Motor’s Glenn Crompton, Vice-President of Marketing. “This year, the series promises to be more exciting than ever, thanks in part to the powerful new GR Corolla, which will be used by the media representatives.”
LAST WORD
Over the course of the year, Driven will bring you all the action of the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing SA GR Cup in bi-monthly instalments, with the first report appearing in our April 2024 edition.