Hiding over as Toyota GR Cup prepares for East London challenge

The East London Grand Prix Circuit, which some of the older generation still refer to by its original name, the Prince George Circuit, has an inevitable reputation of being the fastest and scariest track in South Africa.

It is time

A venue that has hosted motorsport since before WW II, the current 3.9 km track served as the first home of the South African Grand Prix with three F1-sanctioned races taking place between 1962 and 1965, and four non-official events, the last being in 1966.

Thoroughly old-school in its layout, the equally famous “circuit next to the ocean” hosts the fifth round of the National Extreme Festival this weekend, and by extension, round five of the Toyota GR Cup.

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The final race weekend before an enforced one-month break until the penultimate round at Killarney in September, the track has been the one most feared by all of the GR Cup media since the start of the year.

Besides its wide-open spaces, the fear-inducing Potter’s Pass and Rifle Range Bends are, by and large, responsible for any mention of the circuit’s name warranting blocked ears and not being commented on.

The past doesn’t lie

At well over 200 km/h, the slightest mistake doesn’t go unpunished as proven last year by colleague Bernie Hellberg’s now infamous roll that wrote-off the GR Corolla used then.

Going back further, both rounds of the erstwhile Super Touring Car series 30 years ago resulted in speculator accidents.

The first being Anthony Taylor’s Toyota Camry going off at Rifle at 240 km/h, and then spinning across the track before flying across the infield and coming to a halt before the braking point at the Cocabana hairpin.

In the second meeting later that year, the BMW of the late Sabine Schmitz, then Reck, triggered a multicar accident after missing her brake markers heading into the hairpin.

Not immune, the Group N race the following year saw Kosie Swanepoel’s BMW lose its brakes and fly across the circuit, over the hairpin and then into the bushes over 100 m from the track.

A year later, the title challenge of Nissan and one Giniel de Villiers nearly came unstuck when the eventual champion’s Primera pitched sideways at Rifle and slew across the track onto the outside before control was regained.

With well known incidents and near misses like these being only a few that comes to mind, the reasons for neither the GR regulars nor the media wanting to think about East London speaks volumes about the challenge it presents.

As shown by Bernie’s accident last year, the track penalises any faux pas harder than at Kyalami, with devastating consequences.

A circuit that demands respect

From the main straight, the circuit flicks right into the infamous Potter’s Pass where lifting simply isn’t an option, never mind braking.

A corner that demands absolute respect, trust in the driver next to you and the car underneath, the running out wide in setting up for the next corner, Rifle, requires extreme care as the outer curb eventually makes way for gravel and then grass.

From here, with the speed still building, the kink over a slight hump that is Rifle gives way to the mentioned Cocabana hairpin.

A corner that requires the same respect as Potter’s and Rifle, the speed drops dramatically from over 200 km/h to less than 60 km/h, placing a massive premium on the brakes that will take severe punishment over both races, totalling eight laps each.

From here, the circuit changes direction down the Beach Straight and into the esses, a section just as testing that saw Mike Briggs’ Opel Vectra and Steve Wyndham’s Ford Mondeo exchange blows in more ways than one during that second touring car meeting in 1995.

Tight and compact, the right-left sequence will place a further strain on the already suffering brakes, as well as the driver’s neck that are jarred from-side-to-side.

The third section, known as Cox Corner’s, turns left at the back-end of the pits before going into the equally tricky back-end sweep.

Part of the circuit that puts additional strain on the driver, it requires the same “set-up” approach as Potter’s by drifting to the outside curb, which, once again, doesn’t last forever and gives way to the much less tractable green stuff.

A complex of corners vital to get right as building the speed and tucking into the slipstream of the car ahead all but sets you up for the final turn that is Beacon Bend.

Although easy in appearance, it too can bite as getting out too slowly will result in a drag race down the main straight and into Potters.

All new, once again

With the same field of GR86s, GR Corollas and GR Yaris’ totalling 25 cars expected, the term “tow” will prove most important throughout qualifying and the race.

Besides the higher speed and narrower gap to the car in front, it allows those at the rear to brake fractionally later and then overtake for position at the prime corners of Cocobana and Beacon.

The risk factor, though, is being careful with your brakes as, apart from being the fastest circuit in South Africa, it eats brakes similar to how the abrasive surface of Aldo Scribante destroys tyres.

Adding further jeopardy is the biggest mental challenge, us. With the exception of current GR Corolla championship leader and former Group N driver, Mario de Sousa, the majority of the current drivers have never been around East London.

The same applies to the media. In fact, while I had been around the track before nearly two decades ago, it was at anything but race speed in a Mercedes-Benz GLC 250d as, out of race season, the venue is a public road housing a number of businesses within its confines.

High hopes

Having scored my first on-track podium last time out at Zwartkops, but missing out on an overall third place finish after a poor race one, the excitement for East London is high in building further on the outcome of race two last month.

However, while the circuit is a proper driver’s pleaser by encompassing all the variables; speed, nerves, excitement, fear, precision, being smooth and calculated, it won’t be easy to master and with greasy weather another potential factor, it promises to be a tough and demanding conclusion to the first half of the year.

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