You won't believe what happened: our driver's epic journey from crashes to comebacks in the Toyota GR Cup

After seven thrilling rounds of the Toyota GR Cup, I’ve hung up my gloves and helmet.

It was a bittersweet moment as I piloted my GR Yaris into the pits and switched it off for the last time at the Extreme Festival at Swartkops Raceway this past weekend.

It was a weekend of highs and lows that included some fast times but also a crash into the tyres and a race-stopping red flag.

The weekend would be a little different from the others, with us out first early morning for practice one, and we would also be qualifying on the same day.

That meant four outings, well, turns out it was just two and a bit for me.

Practice one

Once the tyres had warmed up and the brakes bedded in, practice one saw me running tighter lines than during our previous outing at Swartkops, and as a result, my times were faster.

This was a good sign, and I approached session two with confidence.

Crash boom bang

I kept back to allow me space and put in a few quick laps before catching up with some of the guys on cool-down laps.

With 22 GR Yarises, GR Corollas and GR 86s on track, there was a lot of traffic, and after a slowish lap to create a gap, I put the hammer down as I entered the straight.

I lifted slightly as I turned into turn one a little early, aimed for the apex and turned in to accelerate out of the corner. As the car turned in, the right rear wheel clipped the sand, and car #60 shot me across the track into the tyre wall, at about 120km/h.

I tried to save it by turning out and flooring the accelerator in an attempt to hit the side of the car rather than the front, but it happens so quickly, and you’re essentially a passenger.

I limped back to the pits, keeping a sharp eye on the temperature gauges to see if I was losing fluids.

A dangerous sport

It again goes to show that motorsport, despite all the safety improvements to the car, is a very dangerous sport.

I was lucky, I didn’t roll or come off at over 200km/h. Still, I had a slight pain in my neck and shoulders and had it not been for the Head and Neck Device (HANS) preventing my head from lolling around, things would have been very different.

Technicians at work

The first order of business was to see whether the oil cooler was damaged because that would have been the end of the weekend. Fortunately not.

The technicians immediately dispatched someone to the warehouse for bumpers and other parts while stripping the front end of the car.

These guys were brilliant. Within three hours, they had replaced all the damaged parts, and despite missing out on practice three, it was ready for qualifying.

Qualifying

Temperatures were in the mid-30s, so tyre management would be crucial.

My Garmin Catalyst showed times in the low 1:14s, and with three seconds to go in the session, I crossed the line, which meant I could put in one final hot lap.

It was looking good with the Garmin showing I was in the green when I turned into the sweep at turn three. By the time I was out of turn six, I was close to a second faster, which meant a mid-field race qualifying.

Heading into turn seven, one of the dealer Corollas was on its cool-down lap on the racing line. I had to pass him the rubber marbles, and so that was that.

Race one

Both races would start under a double yellow flag in turn one and two to prevent an expensive 22-car pile-up.

As I came out of turn three, I passed two Corollas and then another on the inside of turn four. 

Things were looking up as one of the Boonzaier brothers continued our duel from the previous race in Cape Town with another Corolla up my tailpipe. 

I overcooked it at turn two, and he passed on the inside, and the three-car train continued to battle it out. 

With soaring temperatures, my gauge was showing 141 degrees and flashing red.

I needed air through the system, so I moved out of the slipstream to cool things down, but the car ahead of me kept on thinking I was trying to pass and would block me. Well, I was trying to pass also, but needed the air more.

The GR Yaris slipped into limp mode with two laps to go, but by the time things quickly went back to normal, it was too late. 

Nabil Abdool (SuperSport), who had already clinched the title, crossed the line first, followed by Kyle Kock (Car Magazine), Phuti Mpyane (TimesLIVE), with Lawrence Minnie (AutoTrader), Charl Bosch (Citizen) and me not far off the pace.

Race two

Race two, with Mpyane receiving a 20-second infringement penalty, saw a ding-dong battle as we vied for positions in our last hoorah. 

My three-car dice was on again, and as I passed on the outside of turn one, there was a badly damaged GR Corolla up on the same tyre wall that had seen my shunt. 

With three laps to go, the race was red-flagged with Kock winning the race, followed by Abdool, Bosch, Mpyane, myself and Minnie.

It’s been a heck of a season, and I’ve learnt much about racing craft and myself over seven races, and to be sure, this is something that I will cherish for the rest of my days.