Teams and drivers ready for Sasol GTC series

Global Touring Cars South Africa finally added some tangible evidence to the social media content that has teased the arrival of every component or early rendering for what seems like an eternity. The official GTC reveal took place at Zwartkops Raceway and after a brief presentation which formally announced Sasol as the headline sponsor, the press got their first sight of the cars and their respective drivers.

BMW, Audi and Volkswagen are the first manufacturers to commit but many industry heavyweights took keen interest in today’s reveal and that can only be a good sign for the future. Attendance from Jaguar’s high-ups and Toyota’s motorsport specialist Glyn Hall raised the possibility of a varied grid come the first race.

Volkswagen had months earlier confirmed Gugu Zulu and Graeme Nathan as its drive line-up while BMW signed up Gennaro Bonafede and Hennie Groenewald. A familiar Audi team sees Michael Stephen and Terry Moss retained from defunct Production Cars.

Global Touring Cars has evolved since its inception five years ago. Keeping with current trends, all GTC cars will be powered by a 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo opposed to the original 5.0-litre V8. The reason behind the smaller engine is to encourage manufactures to participate by bringing the rules closer to the vehicle’s original specifications. Of course there are some irregularities like a rear-wheel drive Jetta or a 4-cylinder BMW M2 but we won’t get into that…

To place a higher reward on driver skill and team preparation, car performance between brands will be equalised by strict control of the chassis measurements, shock absorbers, ECU and data logging. According to GTC directors and management, these fixed regulations will provide everybody with the same opportunity and stop budget-creep for a sustainable series, helped further by a freeze on regulations until 2021.

While GTC South Africa is unable to confirm a date for the first race (it was supposed to be Kyalami later this year), the actual race format has been decided. Each round will consist of two 50 kilometre races and there will be no reverse grids like in Production Cars. All GTC cars will run on Dunlop tyres but to reduce costs, teams will be restricted to four new tyres per race weekend.

Gary Formato, GTC Founder and former motor racing champion, says: “GTC is an exciting and spectacular racing series that is tailor-made and uniquely South African. The rule stability and tight cost control makes it appealing to manufacturers and competitors, while giving race fans renewed enthusiasm for motorsport in general. It is the first time in twenty years that drivers have a bespoke, purpose-built race car to compete with. We are privileged to have a company of Sasol’s calibre on board. Sasol is a technologically advanced company with a shared vision and aligned objectives. GTC looks forward to a long and rewarding partnership in the years ahead”.

There are still many unanswered questions surrounding GTC and it’s sobering to remember that neither the cars on show were anywhere near ready to compete. Yet these critical missing links did little to dampen the enthusiasm that a top-tier South African Motorsport formula might finally be on the right track.