The running of any motorsport wouldn't be possible without a dedicated sponsor network.
Motorsport, by nearly every facet, is anything but cheap, regardless of whether it is with manufacturer support or going the privateer route.
Getting the message across
Sponsors are the lifeblood of any operation, as has been the case since the 1950s.
A method that saw the famous rise of tobacco backing following its banning on television in the ‘70s, the importance of sponsorship, especially in South Africa, is further harnessed by the long-held tradition of a backer being named before the race car.
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As such, identifying a competitor by commentators and voiceovers such as Roger McCleery, the late Kevin Savage, Tinky Pringle, Arnold Geerdts, and, more recently, Greg Moloney would always start with the name of a participant’s sponsor, followed by the vehicle he or she is piloting.
Perfected over time, the method has been such as such that in most cases, drivers and cars are best known for their sponsorship livery.
Driving the GR Cup
Despite being a manufacturer-run series within the National Extreme Festival, this year sponsored by Coca-Cola, the Toyota GR Cup isn’t without backing.
For the fourth edition this year, tracking company Netstar has the naming rights and as such, the series is officially known as the “Toyota GR Cup by Netstar”.
Besides the publications and broadcasters competing in this year’s media leg, various backers’ names are present across all six GR Yaris, ranging from Netstar, Toyota Financial Services and race gear supplier OMP, to brake manufacturer, Ferodo.
Putting the rubber down
A central brand is Dunlop, which supplies the semi-slick Direzza racing rubber for not only the GR Yaris, but also the GR Academy GR86s and Dealer Series GR Corollas.
The official GR Cup tyre since 2023, the 03G compound, which features on the GR Yaris this year, is wrapped around the road car’s 225/40 R18 alloy rim.
Made for competition usage, and ideally for dry conditions, the 03G still proved surprisingly effective and grippy after the downpour that soaked the East London Grand Prix circuit two months ago.
Locally made by parent company Sumitomo Rubber at its Ladysmith facility in KwaZulu-Natal, the tyres are fitted via a dedicated crew supplied by ATS Motorsport that is present at every event.
In addition, Dunlop’s involvement goes further as, besides the GR Cup, it also has naming rights to the Extreme Supercar and regional V8 Supercar series, plus the official tyre supplier of the BMW M Performance series.
Time after time
When it comes to the nitty-gritty of setting benchmark times for practice and qualifying, the GR Cup has long cited Garmin as a sponsor with its sophisticated Catalyst Driving Performance Optimiser.
One of the most important tools throughout the year, the multi-functional display has a presence in all six of the GR Yaris, with the aim of being a virtual instructor.
Clipped onto the infotainment screens, the display comes with the following features:
- Lap counter with time readouts;
- Detailed session summary;
- Adaptive Coaching analyser;
- Real time lap tracking;
- Optimal time readout;
- Coaching via audio prompts
Measuring just under seven inches, the handheld device has a working time of two hours when not plugged in and an internal storage of 16 GB.
Fitted from the start with a 32 GB microSD storage card, the catalyst contains precise data of more than 100 global racetracks.
This includes South Africa, where all of the tracks this year have been loaded into its memory bank.
Finally, Catalyst works in tandem with a front-facing camera that captures clear images of the road, and automatically “saves” one’s progress once it detects, via satellite, that a session is ending.
Able to be played back at real-time or slowed down speeds, it sports an overlay of not only the speed, but also best, last and optimal laps.
For the competitors, this allows precise monitoring of where time is lost and gained from lap to lap.
We’d be lost
Motorsport wouldn’t be able to function without sponsors, and although the thanking of backers might often be annoying for some when viewed in post-race interviews, they are essential in keeping a racing programme on the move.
With the championship reaching its finale at Zwartkops on 25 October, it goes without saying that all of our backers have played a massive part in this year’s running of the GR Cup – something we are all incredibly thankful and grateful for.
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