Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa Rally Cup takes to tar for round one
· Citizen
The first round of South African National Rally Championship would have taken place in the North West province out on seriously fast farm roads, but due to an outbreak of foot and mouth disease, the rally had to be cancelled.
Fast track sections
In the process, one of the all-time classic events of the past, the All Tar Rally, is back on the calendar. And as the name suggests, this is a rally that is held on tar and not on gravel.
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There will be close on 90 km of stage racing, with six stages at Gerotek on Saturday morning, and two stages in the afternoon at Zwartkops Raceway. It could not have come at a better time for this rookie team.
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No gravel just yet
Rally in South Africa is all about gravel, dirt tracks and forests. And gravel experience is the one thing I don’t have. At all. But what I also don’t have is any seat time in the car as we have not been able to do any shakedown runs yet.
This first event puts us in slightly more familiar territory, before we tackle the dirt and dust of the Cape Swartland Rally in Malmesbury at the end of April. But running on off-road rally tyres, I still will have no idea of grip levels or the handling characteristics of the car until the flag drops at the start of the first stage. Talk about a baptism of fire.
Seasoned TGRSA campaigner, Kes Naidoo, joins the team as co-driver. Picture: Supplied.Cool heads must prevail
Thankfully, I have been joined by experienced Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa man, Kes Naidoo. He has years of experience not only as a co-driver but also as a driver. And I am going to tap into all of it as we jump into a 200kW Toyota GR Yaris.
And not just any GR Yaris. But a stripped out, bespoke rally prepared GR Yaris in NRC 2. This a highly competitive class for 1600cc to 2000cc non-homologated turbocharged all-wheel drive cars.
The TGRSA GR Yaris has been modified to deal with the rigours of rally racing. Picture: Supplied.Rally specific goodies fitted
Our GR Yaris is still based off the road car that has done a few seasons of track racing already. But now it runs a bunch of trick bits and added safety to cope with the rigours of rally:
- Chromoly FIA spec roll cage
- OMP wrap around seats
- OMP safety harness
- Syvecs engine management
- Tilton pedal box
- X-Shift sequential transmission
- Cut brake system
- 15-inch lightweight wheels
- Vari Racing 4-pot calipers
- Ferodo racing pads
- Eibach springs
- Mark Sacks dampers
Do I know what to expect? Not at all. But the mission is clear. Go out and have some fun and bring the car home in one piece.
ALSO READ: GR Yaris will forever change the way you look at Toyota
2026 NRC Calendar
- Mar 20/21 – NRC All Tar Rally – Gerotek & Zwartkops
- Apr 24/25 – Cape Swartland Rally – Malmesbury
- May 29/30 – Tzaneen Rally – Tzaneen
- Jul 10/11 – Algoa Rally – Gqeberha
- Aug 21/22 – Ermelo Rally – Ermelo
- Sep 25/26 – TBC – TBC
- Oct 30/31 – TRACN4 Rally – Dullstroom