TOYOTA GAZOO Racing SA’s common GR Cup pushed by Netstar was again in motion this weekend, at the iconic East London Grand Prix Circuit, for Round 5 of the 2023 season. The weekend noticed some exceedingly shut racing, however there was the candy style of a maiden race win for Brendon Staniforth (Maroela Media). At the identical time, ASAMM’s Sethsaba Mashigo continued his march to the title, by taking each pole place and victory in the weekend’s second race.
Maiden race win for Staniforth
The East London Grand Prix Circuit is understood for its high-speed corners, with the fearsome mixture of Potter’s Pass and Rifle making even skilled racers doubt themselves. For the six motoring writers who compete in the GR Cup with their commonplace GR86 highway vehicles, the concept of tackling this specific circuit was daunting.
Things received off to a humid begin, as Friday’s follow classes occurred in changeable climate situations. Guest driver Mario De Sousa and Reuben van Niekerk (Jumping Kids/Wheels24) had a minor coming collectively in the Esses, when Van Niekerk bumped into the again of De Sousa’s GR86. The latter managed to return to the weekend’s motion later in the day, whereas Van Niekerk was side-lined.
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This left six drivers to duke it out for honours, with the first order of enterprise being Saturday morning’s qualifying session. Mashigo, who held a snug lead in the standings main as much as the occasion, continued his good type, by posting the quickest time of the session. He pipped Staniforth to the submit, with Chad Luckhoff (Auto Trader) in third and Denis Droppa (TimesLIVE) in fourth. Mark Jones (Citizen) and De Sousa accomplished the grid.
When the lights turned inexperienced for the opening race, Mashigo was considerably shocked to search out Staniforth pulling forward into Potters – and proceed to construct a lead in the early components of the race. But mid-way via the race, he realised that he had the aircon switched on in the automobile, and with the extraordinarily excessive speeds demanded by the East London Grand Prix Circuit, each kilowatt counted.
“I switched the AC off and immediately saw my top speeds increase,” mentioned Mashigo after the occasion. “I tried to close the gap to Brendon, but it was too little, too late. I had to settle for second place, but I won’t be making that mistake again!”
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Droppa introduced his GR86 house in third place, with Jones and De Sousa each making the most of a possibility to go Luckhoff. This set the GR Cup contestants up for an thrilling second race, with Mashigo decided to go for the win in East London.
Next up was Race 2, and this time Mashigo and Staniforth introduced the fireworks. The pair managed to make the semi-reversed grid work for them, with Staniforth initially wanting on the right track for a second victory. But Mashigo, who had closed the hole to Staniforth determined to go for broke on the remaining lap, and he made a go into Potters stick – giving him a well-deserved victory.
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Staniforth needed to settle for second, however on mixture occasions he nonetheless triumphed over the weekend. Not that the mixture occasions have an affect in the championship, however in relation to bragging rights, a win is a win: “This was a fantastic weekend for me,” mentioned Staniforth. “I’ve been fairly decent in qualifying all year, but struggled to translate that into race pace. This weekend everything clicked, and I was competitive from start to finish.”
As with Race 1, Droppa got here house in third place, however this time it was Luckhoff in fourth, De Sousa in fifth and Jones in sixth place at the end. All the GR Cup drivers will likely be again in motion early in September, when the motion strikes to the Killarney Race Circuit in Cape Town.
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Published by Toyota South Africa on Motorpress
For extra previews and opinions of the 2023 TGRSA GR Cup, observe our motorsport web page.
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