The little Yaris that could: looking back at year of racing in the Toyota GR Cup

The year has blasted by and so has the inaugural Toyota GR Cup that I was fortunate enough to be involved in under the TimesLIVE banner. Now just to recap in case your short-term memory is as fried as mine, this is a new one-make racing series that uses the fiery little GR Yaris as its base: a stillborn rally car that Toyota decided to unleash upon everyday streets in limited numbers.

Out of the box it’s already a formidable package with standard features such as a fully variable all-wheel drive system, front and rear mechanical limited-slip differentials and a brake package that will make the GR Supra blush. Finished off with a teeny force-fed triple making unexpectedly big numbers (198kW and 360Nm), it’s a car that lends itself well to the racetrack. Which is why Toyota Gazoo Racing ‘borrowed’ six from the marketing fleet, bolted in the requisite safety gear and distributed them among a sextet of journalists in what would become one fascinating rolling test bed of a race programme. And, coincidentally, the very first in the world to use the GR Yaris as a competitive racing car.

Like I said, my particular whip was wrapped with TimesLIVE branding and spent the entire season rubbing doors — sometimes quite literally — with Mark Jones (The Citizen), Ashley Oldfield (cars.co.za), Sean Nurse (SN Automotive), Jeanette Kok-Kritziner (Wiele2Wiele) and Lerato Matebese (Top Gear).

Now for reasons unknown some of the top brass at Toyota SA thought we would all err more on the side of courtesy than all-out competitiveness when taking to the track but, believe me, when the lights went out on race day there was absolutely no quarter given. There was blocking. There was dive-bombing. There was a sense that if you didn’t brake later and get back on the gas sooner you would inevitably be swallowed up by that snarling GR Yaris looming large in your wing and rear-view mirrors. I have competed in numerous club racing series over the years and I can tell you that the GR Cup was every bit as contentious, pressured and mentally challenging. Sometimes even more so as the social media eyes of a notoriously rancorous industry were on us at all times. 

Be this as it may, it was devilishly good fun. Especially at high-speed circuits such as Killarney, Aldo Scribante and East London. I can safely say that the latter proved particularly memorable thanks to its biblically fast corners. Potter’s Pass is the one that usually gets all the press but to me it was the preceding Rifle Bend that really tested my mettle: a flatout (#neverlift) 224km/h off-camber flick to the right that more often than not required a serious throw of opposite lock to quell the ensuing drift as those Dunlop Direzza tyres fought for grip. And then as soon as you caught it you’d have to smash the brakes and, in what seemed like a matter of centimetres, slow down to a comparative crawl to get through Cocobana corner.

Yeah, when it comes to ‘car-breaker’ tracks East London is right at the top of the list. And yet my GR Yaris shrugged it all off and asked for more. In fact I can honestly say that after seven rounds of abuse my Japanese hot-hatch didn’t experience a single mechanical issue. And that, for what’s ostensibly a road-going car with minimal mods, is seriously impressive.

In the end I finished second in the drivers’ championship with two wins and two pole positions. In hindsight I think I could have done a bit better and there were times where some bad luck came into play and robbed me of some more stellar results. But, hey, cry me a river, right? How dare I even think of feeling sorry for myself when I have just spent the greater part of 2022 jetting around SA driving somebody else's race car? I mean apart from my written articles and social media posts, what did Toyota get out of this? Well, according to product communications and marketing fleet manager Riaan Esterhuysen, quite a bit.

“The GR Cup has done an incredible job for the GR brand. Brand recognition went from people not knowing what Gazoo Racing was and what GR stood for, to having a growing fan base where the public flocked to the racing to see the cars and purchase merchandise. The brand now has true meaning, association and collateral. So from a brand building point of view, the GR Cup has been highly successful for us. I believe it has also showcased just how capable the standard GR Yaris road car is and that it’s a phenomenal package, unbeatable in terms of its track prowess, handling capability and durability at the price point.”

Everyday motoring enthusiasts aside, this single-make series has also been the talk of the local motorsport paddock with seasoned campaigners and aspirant newcomers alike all having their curiosity piqued by the red, white and black GR Yaris and what it has to offer.

“When we arrived at the first Extreme Festival event at Killarney and you guys started lapping at a similar pace — if not quicker — than the Polo Cup cars then that definitely raised a few eyebrows. Consequently there has been a lot of interest from fellow competitors, other manufacturers and one-make series as well as young drivers looking to get into motorsport. Especially as the cars have continued to prove themselves with such minimal modifications.”

More interesting, perhaps, is the fact that the learnings gained from GR Cup will help Toyota build more reliable streetcars. Esterhuysen explains that when certain parts did prematurely wear or in some cases fail on some of the other competitors’ cars, these were documented by Toyota SA’s technical division and relayed back to Japan. So from a research & development perspective our on-track antics did in some way help with improving the breed.

With the inaugural season in the bag, what happens next? Though yet to be finalised the idea here is to keep the GR Cup rolling into 2023 with six new Toyota GR86 coupés that will be piloted by a fresh batch of motoring journalists. These will possibly be joined on the grid by this year’s GR Yaris fleet that will be prepped, maintained and hired out to amateur racing drivers looking for a fuss-free way to get in on the action. However it plays out, it sure is an exciting vision and one that demonstrates Toyota’s tremendous commitment to expanding the reach and appeal of — not to mention accessibility into — motorsport here in South Africa.

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