Publications
Partners
- Reuben van Niekerk is one of six motoring journalists competing in this year's Toyota GR Cup.
- The News24 Motoring contributor uses specially designed prosthetic equipment to go racing.
- This driver is using motorsport to create awareness for the Jumping Kids charity.
The Toyota GR Cup initiative was started by Toyota South Africa in 2022 and sees motoring journalists battle in identical vehicles on tracks around the country as part of the National Circuit racing calendar.
In 2022, six journalists competed in identical Yaris GR cars, and this year, we are utilising the very appropriate Toyota GR86.
Following a motorcycle accident in 2008, my lower right leg was amputated below the knee. I now use specially designed prosthetic equipment to walk, ride my bicycle and go about my daily tasks. This equipment has also allowed me to continue to pursue my passion as a motoring journalist. Therefore, I understand and appreciate the vital importance of having access to the right equipment to live a normal life.
READ | Riding with Reubs: Learning life lessons to have fun in motorsport
Keen followers will notice the titles of prominent media houses such as TimesLive and The Citizen, among others adorning the cars of drivers like Denis Droppa and Mark Jones. However, when at the beginning of the year, I was given the opportunity to put a logo on the side of my car; instead of going with the obvious and adding the logo of News24 or one of the other publications I represent, I decided to leverage the opportunity to promote a charity that is close to my heart and decided to adorn my race car for the year with the Jumping Kids logo.
Jumping Kids is a non-profit organisation that assists underprivileged children with the necessary prosthetic equipment. This advanced prosthetic equipment gives them the mobility they need to live everyday, fulfilling lives, attend regular mainstream schools and pursue any career or leisure activities they are interested in. The lack of access to this vital equipment shouldn't stand in the way of youngsters achieving their dreams, and Jumping Kids assists in this regard.
What Jumping Kids is doing fits in so well with Toyota's Start Your Impossible campaign, which aims to create a more inclusive and sustainable society where all people are encouraged to reach for and attain their personal best. This goes hand in hand with Toyota's goal of moving from an automobile to a mobility company that highlights real-life mobility stories, as well as everyday people who demonstrate the values of humility, hard work and tenacity in the face of adversity.
While there are not many people with disabilities competing in motorsport in South Africa, Motorsport South Africa does make provision, therefore. When applying for the racing licence required to compete in this year's Toyota GR Cup series, I was asked to perform a simple test as part of the application to ensure that I can get out of the car quickly enough, should I need to in the event of a fire or similar. Thanks to my prosthetic equipment, I have above-average mobility, and this test was a mere formality.
Prosthetic equipment is so sophisticated these days that it allows amputees to do pretty much anything an ordinary person can do, even drive a racing car. In the Toyota GR86, I utilise the same prosthetic as I do for every day mobility, allowing me to extract the utmost out of this car against my fellow motoring scribes.
With three rounds behind us, the 2023 Toyota GR Cup has been a massive learning experience. Racing against equally talented drivers in cars that are 100% identical is never going to be easy. The action on the track is extremely tight, and while I have struggled slightly with outright pace, I have outperformed my qualifying performance when it is time to actually go racing. Last time out at Zwartkops, I had my best result to date and managed to finish fourth overall, edging ever closer to that elusive podium.
Aldo Scribante is not a track that any of us in the GR Cup have spent much time on, and it is also not something that those drivers who use sim racing as preparation can accurately do, as the relevant game developers do not officially support the track. This unknown could very well prompt a reset of the very tight running order, and hopefully, I will come out somewhere near the top of the timing sheets.
The Toyota GR Cup is part of the National Extreme Festival held this weekend, the 16th and 17th of June, at the Aldo Scribante circuit just outside Gqeberha. Other categories competing on the day include the cream of South Africa's circuit racing categories, such as the Volkswagen Polo Cup and Supa Cup, GTC, Formula Ford, ZX10 Masters Cup and the G&H Extreme Supercars.
