WATCH | Battle cars, ready! Toyota GR Cup returns for second season with six new vehicles

Following the success of the inaugural Toyota GR Cup, which saw six journalists battle it out on racetracks around the country in the GR Yaris, Toyota is expanding its involvement in the GR Cup and South African circuit racing.

For 2023 a new batch of six journalists will race door handle to door handle in a one-make series aboard the recently launched Toyota GR86 Coupe. 

The design of the Toyota GR86, which includes a front engine, and rear-wheel drive layout, makes it the perfect basis for a racing car. The updated 2.4 litre normally aspirated engine offers 174kW and 250Nm, which allows for a 0-100km/h sprint of 6.8 seconds in the automatic model, which is what the GR Cup cars are based on.

Getting the six GR86 Cup cars prepared for racing included several safety and performance-orientated upgrades. While the engine has been left untouched, the exhaust has been tweaked slightly to ensure a good soundtrack. 

The vehicles have been wrapped in the Toyota Gazoo Racing livery, and a rather large carbon fibre wing ensures it looks like a proper racing car. Inside, the seats have been removed and replaced by a custom roll cage, an OMP racing seat and the required five-point harness in the interest of safety on the racetrack.

Stopping power has been improved with a front brake kit developed locally by Powerbrake that will accommodate special Ferodo racing brake pads. Dunlop semi-slick tyres replace regular road tyres.

Due to the nature of the Toyota GR86 and the modifications made, this class is expected to produce highly tight racing. Campaigning the six GR86s will be journalists Mark Jones, Denis Droppa, Brendon Staniforth, Chad Luckhoff, Setshaba Mashigo and, yours truly, Reuben van Niekerk.

The seven race-prepared Yaris GRs that