Avatar photo

By Mark Jones

Road Test Editor


WATCH: Mark’s scary moment in the potent Toyota GR Yaris

Scores to be settled as pocket rocket racing returns to Killarney in Cape Town.


Things did not go so well in the Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa GR Cup at the East London circuit.

The track gets into your head when you start making high-speed mistakes, and that I did. There were also some interesting starting line games being played to finish off a weekend in the Toyota GR Yaris I would rather forget.

This video is no longer available.

But this weekend, I plan to be back to my normal self as we return to the slightly more technical and less intimidating Killarney Raceway in Cape Town.

It was the venue for the first race of the year and now plays host to the penultimate round in our seven-round series as part of the National Extreme Race Series.

The first race was an innocent high-speed lapping session. Since then, the races have produced different winners, and a few bent body panels.

ALSO READ: Smash-hit Toyota GR Yaris repriced as more units arrive

The amateurs are all more blooded, and on the odd occasion presented a proper challenge to the more seasoned competitors. I have no doubt it won’t be plain sailing anywhere in the pack this time.

Series runaway leader Ashley Oldfield and second-placed Thomas Falkiner have been on the receiving end of some great driving by Sean Nurse, and a newcomer to the series, Riaan Esterhuysen.

Lerato Matabese has grown in leaps and bounds in terms of pace and is now also mixing it up in his Toyota GR Yaris.

I doubt local woman Jeanette Kok Kritzinger is going to hold back for anybody on a track she knows only too well.

Nurse and I are once again locked in a life-or-death battle which seems to rage whenever we are on the track together.

With only one point separating us for the final place on the podium, it is going to be wide race cars and small pieces of tar to play on in Cape Town.

For more information on the Toyota GR Yaris. click here.

Read more on these topics

Toyota gazoo racing Toyota Yaris

Access premium news and stories

Access to the top content, vouchers and other member only benefits