WATCH: What happens when a motoring journalist becomes a motorcar racer

And, just like that, my first race in the Toyota Gazoo Racing GR Cup Media Challenge is over.

Not just the first race in the GR Cup, but also my first real race and my first time on Killarney International Raceway in Cape Town.

Arriving in Cape Town on Thursday night, there was an air of expectation and a lot of nervous banter among my fellow racers and media colleagues.

There are six of us vying for honours and making our debut, myself, (Independent Media/IOL), Charl Bosch (Citizen), Lawrence Minnie (Auto Trader), Phuti Mpyane (TimesLive), Kyle Kock (CAR Magazine) and Nabil Abdool (SuperSport).

It was a struggle to get a good night’s sleep as I nervously played out various scenarios through my head, watched YouTube videos of the track again, and, well, generally stressed out.

Breakfast on Friday before our three practice rounds wasn’t much better as I struggled to eat some yoghurt and a slice of toast.

The track was eight kilometers from the hotel, but Cape Town traffic is more congested and chaotic than the first corner after a race start, so it took a while to get there, which didn’t do much to settle the nerves either.

Practice

After collecting our racing suits and vests I climbed into car number 60 to familiarise myself again, adjust the steering wheel and also the side mirrors so I could see past the rollcage with visions of Robert Duvall talking to Tom Cruise’s NASCAR car the night before the big race in the film “Days of Thunder".

Session one was meant to get the hang of the track, which I thought would be at a more gentle pace. It was, until the semi-slick tyres had warmed up and everyone’s racing face turned on. 

If you can’t beat them, join them, I suppose.

But after a few laps I remembered what a colleague had told me about using it to find out the racing line, brake markers and how to get the best out of the GR Yaris.

Back in the pits and out of the car, my nerves had settled completely.

Second practice would be timed which adds an extra competitive dimension, and while your first instinct is to give all, I was again reminded to use the first three laps to heat the tyres and find my rhythm, do two hot laps, allow the car to cool down for a lap or two and then put in more quick laps.

Looking at the times and comparing them to the rest of the field, including Toyota dealers in their GR Corollas and six GR academy youngsters, I still had a lot to learn.

It’s weird how, despite my lack of experience and words of wisdom from friends and colleagues, within an instant, you become competitive. 

“Keep calm,” I told myself as I headed out of the pits for the last session.

I did, mostly, and it takes a while to remember that despite the car behind you filling your rearview mirror, it’s his job to pass you as long as you’re on the racing line.

My time improved slightly, but it was still some way off that of most of my (much) younger colleagues.

On the flip side, my nerves had settled, and I was a lot more confident.

Qualifying

Saturday morning, we were first on the track for qualifying with the nerves back as I waited for the marshals to send us out.

Allowing space between myself and the cars ahead of me while warming up, I headed into the main straight foot flat, grabbed fifth gear past the start/finish line and went for it.

From there, it’s all a bit of a blur as you talk yourself around the track, trying to remember what the instructors had told you as you get your head around the noise, fellow competitors, heat and constant activity.

Self-preservation wants to override racing dynamics, and it’s a paradigm shift to keep it in fourth gear, just touching the brakes and heading flat-out into the double right-hander Malmesbury corner before the back straight to almost 200km/h before jumping on the brakes for the sharp right-hand Cape Town corner.

It seemed to work, and I improved by three seconds over Friday’s time, starting fifth in the Media Challenge but still a few seconds behind the leaders and some of the GR Corollas.

SuperSport’s Nabil Abdool hit it out of the park, claiming pole position ahead of the entire field. 

I’m not a guy that overly perspires, but my balaclava and vest were sopping wet every time I got out the car. Heat and 100% concentration for 20 minutes will do that to you.

Racing

Because of the 19-car GR Cup line-up (GR 89s, GR Corollas and our GR Yaris') and a large group of inexperienced drivers, the Clerk of the Course had decided that we would be under a yellow flag till after the first corner from the start. 

That means you’re not allowed to pass once the lights go off from the rolling start, but from there, it’s open season.

A ding dong battle ensued between Bosch (Citizen), one of the Corollas and myself and despite telling myself not to worry about the car in the rear, it’s easier said than done, so we may not have been the fastest cars on the track, but for us nothing else mattered.

On the eighth and last lap, as I was about to try a passing move, the Corolla just ahead of me spun off, hurtling stones, sand and dust in my way. I should have carried on flat out but because it was my first time out in a race, I lifted off the accelerator which allowed Bosch to ease ahead.

Lessons learnt

Oh well, lesson learnt.

Race two was much of the same as the three of us tried to hunt each other down, except this time, it was my turn to churn up the dust.

Cape Town Corner is fairly steeply banked, and the idea is to brake hard after the back straight, turn in on the apex, open the steering wheel and let it “spit” you out into the chicane before the main straight. Spit turned into swallow. My right rear tire hit the dirt, and I spun out.

The all-wheel drive GR Yaris is incredibly forgiving, but a rookie mistake as I tried to accelerate out too fast put paid to any further challenges, despite finishing only a few seconds behind.

Again, lessons learnt, a vital precursor to what’s still to come for the next six races, starting with Kyalami on 11-12 April.