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Motosport

2025 GR CUP SEASON GETS UNDER WAY IN THE MOTHER CITY

Itumeleng Garebatshabe
Last updated: March 11, 2025 12:13
By Itumeleng Garebatshabe
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  • GR Cup Media Challenge dominated by SuperSport’s Nabil Abdool
  • GR Dealer Challenge sees Devon Scott stamp his authority
  • Dawie van der Merwe debuts in SupaStarlet (SupaCup)

The 2025 South African national circuit racing season got under way with Round 1 of the Extreme Festival, which was hosted by the Killarney International Raceway in the Mother City on 7 and 8 March. This was also the first outing for the 2025 GR Cup, consisting of the GR Cup Media Challenge, GR Cup Dealer Challenge, and GR86 Development Academy.

Killarney is known as a short but challenging circuit, with a bumpy surface and mix of fast and technical corners, ranging from the daunting Cape Town corner to the high-speed Sarel Sweep. As such, it proved a tough baptism of fire for this year’s GR Cup contestants, many of who had not driven around the Cape Town circuit in anger before.

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GR CUP MEDIA CHALLENGE

The opening race of this year’s GR Cup Media Challenge again saw six of the country’s top motoring writers take to the track – this time from behind the wheel of the punchy GR Yaris. The six competitors for 2025 are:

  • Willem van de Putte (Independent Media/IOL)
  • Charl Bosch (Citizen)
  • Lawrence Minnie (AutoTrader)
  • Phuti Mpyane (TimesLive)
  • Kyle Kock (CAR Magazine)
  • Nabil Abdool (SuperSport)

The weekend started with practice sessions on the Friday, followed by a Qualifying session early on the Saturday morning. While all the drivers were on a similar pace during the early sessions, it was SuperSport’s Nabil Abdool who set the fastest time in Qualifying. Abdool’s time of 1:25:146 was not only the fastest of the Media Challenge crews, but the fastest time of the entire GR Cup field overall. For Abdool, this result came as a surprise, as his previous racing experience was limited to a simulator, and this was his first ever outing at Killarney.

The SuperSport man was followed by Kyle Kock and Phuti Mpyane, with Lawrence Minnie, Willem van de Putte and Charl Bosch completing the Media Challenge line-up.

Race 1 saw Abdool continue his dominance, as he completed the 8-lap opening race in first place, leading the Media Challenge from flag to flag. Kock held onto second place, with Mpyane in third and Minnie in fourth. Bosch came through in fifth place, with Van de Putte completing the Media Challenge in sixth place.

Race 2 was a rinse-and-repeat of the opening race, with Abdool again dominating the race. Kock was in second, Mpyane in third and Minnie in fourth. Bosch and Van de Putte again completed the results. This was a power performance by Abdool, and the SuperSport driver will be one to watch over the coming rounds. With that said, Kock is quickly finding his feet, and may well be a factor as the season unfolds.

GR CUP DEALER CHALLENGE

The GR Cup Media Challenge has bolstered the GR Cup grid over the last few seasons, and the GR Driving Academy’s Paul de Vos and Devon Scott quickly emerged as two of the top names in the class. This time around, it was Scott’s turn to do battle, and the burly driving instructor picked up from where he left off at the end of 2024.

Scott qualified his GR Corolla in pole position, and managed to secure victory in both races over the course of the weekend. He was followed home by Motus Toyota’s Mario de Sousa on both occasions, with the experienced racer nipping at the heels of his younger foe. Werner Venter, in the NMI Toyota GR Corolla finished in third place in both races, while Andries de Villiers (Rola Motors), Rudolf Boonzaaier (Waterberg Toyota) and Tiaan Combrink, in the Halfway Toyota car, completed the results.

GR 86 DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY

Jason Coetzee was the man of the moment in the GR 86 Development Academy. The youngster qualified on pole, and went on to win both heats in his GR 86. Mikel Bezuidenhout took second place in the opening race, with Khanya Ngwennya completing the podium. Race 2 saw Coetzee again emerge victorious, with Bezuidenhout in second and Kent Swartz in third, capping a great weekend for the competitors in the GR 86 Development Academy.

SUPASTARLET

While not part of the GR Cup, Dawie van der Merwe had his first outing in the stunning SupaStarlet as part of the SupaCup. The young gun reported that the car still needed some setup tweaks, but nonetheless he went faster in each session over the course of the weekend. He qualified the SupaStarlet in 6th place, but was less than a second off the fastest time.

For Race 1, he held onto his 6th place, improving to 4th place in Race 2 – testament both to the potential pace of the car, and Van der Merwe’s undeniable tenacity.

The next round of the championship is set to take place on 12 April at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit.

– Ends –

QUALIFYING RESULTS:

GR Cup Media Challenge

PosCompetitorLapsBest LapBest Lap No.
1Nabil Abdool101:25.1467
2Kyle Kock51:27.3933
3Phuti Mpyane91:28.5724
4Lawrence Minnie61:29.9274
5Willem van de Putte91:33.0288
6Charl Bosch91:35.1574

GR Cup Dealer Challenge

PosCompetitorLapsBest LapBest Lap No.
1Devon Scott91:25.2435
2Mario de Sousa71:25.6214
3Werner Venter91:26.5046
4Andries de Villiers91:26.8585
5Rudolf Boonzaier71:28.6466
6Tiaan Combrink91:33.7895

GR86 Development Academy

PosCompetitorLapsBest LapBest Lap No.
1Jason Coetzee61:25.8863
2Kent Swartz81:26.2717
3Mikel Bezuidenhout61:26.4906
4Khanya Ngwenya31:27.3733
5Brandon van der Walt101:28.51810
6Jordan Moodley91:28.7378
7Vatiswa Mokhonana71:31.0353

 RACE 1 RESULTS:

GR Cup Media Challenge

PosCompetitorTotal TimeLapsBest LapBest Lap No.
1Nabil Abdool12:09.58481:27.6523
2Kyle Kock12:12.53881:28.0735
3Phuti Mpyane12:19.55481:29.1456
4Lawrence Minnie12:24.00181:29.6183
5Charl Bosch12:50.27781:32.2662
6Willem van de Putte12:53.52581:32.5098

GR Cup Dealer Challenge

PosCompetitorTotal TimeLapsBest LapBest Lap No.
1Devon Scott11:59.46081:26.7162
2Mario de Sousa12:00.87881:26.7973
3Werner Venter12:08.72481:27.9346
4Andries de Villiers12:20.78081:28.7715
5Rudolf Boonzaier12:43.36281:29.4663
6Tiaan Combrink13:11.54381:31.8576

GR86 Development Academy

PosCompetitorTotal TimeLapsBest LapBest Lap No.
1Jason Coetzee11:44.33781:27.5356
2Mikel Bezuidenhout11:45.43981:27.3948
3Khanya Ngwenya11:47.01381:27.5818
4Kent Swartz11:48.68081:27.7473
5Brandon van der Nest12:05.42581:29.7036
6Jordan Moodley12:09.50781:29.1164
7Vatiswa Mokhonana13:00.19981:30.7233

RACE 2 RESULTS:

GR Cup Media Challenge

PosCompetitorTotal TimeLapsBest LapBest Lap No.
1Nabil Abdool11:48.09881:25.6935
2Kyle Kock12:01.61481:27.8044
3Phuti Mpyane12:03.39081:27.8194
4Lawrence Minnie12:22.94481:29.9867
5Charl Bosch12:44.20481:31.4087
6Willem van de Putte12:57.42581:31.9355

GR Cup Dealer Challenge

PosCompetitorTotal TimeLapsBest LapBest Lap No.
1Devon Scott11:44.97081:26.0803
2Mario de Sousa11:47.78981:25.7863
3Werner Venter12:13.15681:27.8575
4Andries de Villiers12:15.23481:28.4693
5Rudolf Boonzaier12:39.48381:29.3017
6Tiaan Combrink13:04.27481:34.0897

GR86 Development Academy

PosCompetitorTotal TimeLapsBest LapBest Lap No.
1Jason Coetzee11:45.95381:27.2732
2Mikel Bezuidenhout11:46.78281:27.2372
3Kent Swartz11:47.31381:27.6346
4Jordan Moodley12:00.02881:28.7285
5Brandon van der Nest12:01.01981:28.6372
6Vatiswa Mokhonana12:33.03881:30.6476
7Khanya Ngwenya12:33.73281:27.3656
TAGGED:2025 GR CupExtreme FestivalGR Cup Dealer ChallengeGR Cup Media ChallengeGR86 Development AcademyKillarney International Raceway

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Itumeleng is the Managing Editor of The Auto Magazine. He is a tech and car enthusiast

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