• Pole position for Thomas Falkiner
  • Victory in Race 1 for Sean Nurse
  • Victory in Race 2 for Ashley Oldfield
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing SA’s GR Cup brought exciting racing to Zwartkops Raceway, when Round 2 of the new formula took place this weekend. While Ashley Oldfield had it all his way at Round 1 last month, this weekend saw some upsets, before the experienced Oldfield brought home his stock GR Yaris in first place in the second race of the weekend.

The weekend started with a qualifying session early on the Saturday, and it was Thomas Falkiner who made the most of the cool temperatures. He bested Oldfield by just 0.186sec to take pole position at a circuit that he knows very well. Mark Jones went third-fastest, 1.135sec off the pace set by Falkiner.

The opening race saw Sean Nurse, who had missed the opening round in Killarney due to family commitments, drive an inspired race to take victory – remarkable, considering this was his first time out in the GR Cup. He started the race in fourth, but after a tough tussle over eight laps, emerged as the winner.

Falkiner managed to hold onto second place, following some confusion around the start procedure for the race, while Oldfield finished in third place. He was followed home by Jones, Anand Pather, Lerato Matebese and Jeanette Kok-Kritzinger, in that order.

During the second race of the day, Falkiner again showed good pace to take third place, while the winner of the first race, Sean Nurse, had to settle for 4th. Up front the battle for victory was between Jones and Oldfield, with the latter taking a convincing win in the end.

Oldfield has proven to be the man to beat thus far in the GR Cup, which is contested by six motoring journalists, driving stock Toyota GR Yaris cars. The next round of the Cup will take place at the end of May, at the Aldo Scribante Racetrack in Gqeberha.