At the end of last week, the latest series at SimGrid, The Kyalami Series, got underway for a duo of thirty-minute sprint races. Due to the series being run solely at Kyalami, it poses drivers a new challenge – a changing of their car. 

For these first two races of the season, drivers were taking to Assetto Corsa Competizione’s beautiful Lamborghinis, firstly, the Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo, and secondly, the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo. However today, we are going to hop away from the track and into the media pen to see what the drivers had to say about the evening of racing. 

Felix Ruppert – #71

Ruppert had a near dream start to his Kyalami Series championship campaign, as he claimed second place in the Super Trofeo race and victory in the latter Huracan GT3 sprint. These results leave him heading the championship – a great way to start the series. But, how does he feel it went?

“It really was [a dream start], I couldn’t be happier with how both races unfolded, to be honest. Although, I wasn’t very happy with my qualifying performance because I had the potential for pole in both races, but luckily, I could make up for it at the start of the races by overtaking one car which set me up for 2 gratifying results.” 

Felix was delighted with the races. Despite mentioning that he wasn’t happy with his qualifying, he was able to make up for most of these losses, as he was hot off the line in both races to gain back any losses.

After a relatively calm first race as he slotted in behind Kristiyan Lozanov, the second race was much higher pressure. “The second race however had my heart racing through the entire race by having to deal with the pressure of Nagy behind me in the early stages of the race and a hunting pack of 3 drivers being led by Mitchell towards the end of the race. I was trying my best to keep calm and collected though and make no mistakes which was enough to keep them behind me and celebrate my first win in the Kyalami series.”

After two successful rounds, Felix still feels this was his weaker event, saying that “I feel like I am more comfortable in the Cayman GT4 and the Porsche cup than in the Lamborghinis”, so expect him to be right up the front next time out.

Errol Verwey – #85

Errol Verwey had one of the most intense evenings possible, engaging in many a battle at the top of the pack, whether it be in the Super Trofeo or the GT3. He came out of the first two rounds with back to back fourth places, which also puts him fourth in the championship. 

He put these fights down to the incredibly competitive top ten but also took the time to compliment his rivals, “The top 10 is very closely matched and the racing has been hard but fair. So in that sense, it has been two exhilarating races. Sprint races can become rough quickly as you only have a short time to make moves, but what I have seen so far in the top 10 has been mostly exemplary behaviour.”

However, in the midst of all of this fighting, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for Verwey. “After a small mistake, I hit a kerb, resulting in severe pressure loss that cost me 5 tenths per lap. I went from attacking to defending for my life. That was some pure stress and sweat for 20 minutes.” 

Nevertheless, he held on and provided us with a great show as he was put under immense amounts of pressure. It requires a lot of confidence in the car to be able to put in such bulletproof lap times even with your rivals baring down your neck, but in a series like this, being confident in every car isn’t easy. However, Errol feels he can keep this up. 

“I feel cautiously optimistic and don’t have room for complacency if I hope to reach my goal to finish the championship in the top 3. I believe one of my strengths is the ability to adapt to new situations quickly.”

Rob Taplin – #214

Just like Verwey, Rob Taplin also had a crazy start to the season. Throughout the Super Trofeo race, he was putting the pressure onto top five drivers such as Verwey and Reegan Mitchell, whilst also having to keep an eye on his mirrors as Patrick Nagy was hot on his heels. 

This all added up to make it a very entertaining race, and one that was certainly worth tracking from the stands. He said, “It was a really enjoyable race! There were a few names I haven’t been familiar with or raced before on the grid, so I was a little apprehensive of how it would go. I actually had a pedal issue during the middle stint of the Super Trofeo race, so throttle was only going to around 95%, which added a little to the pressure, but definitely one of the most fun races I’ve had this year.” Despite technical troubles, nothing could dampen his mood. 

Leaving the first batch of races with a fifth and a sixth-place finish is a very solid way to kick of your campaign, but Taplin wasn’t quite satisfied as he aimed even higher pre-race. “I would probably give myself an 8/10 for my performance, I’d have liked to have been on the bottom step of the podium to be totally honest, but P5 and P6 aren’t bad at all.” 

After good performances in both cars, although especially the Super Trofeo due to “familiarity of it from the MFR series”, he believes the Porsche rounds in the coming weeks will suit him better, as he said, “I’d say I am more confident racing the Cayman than the Cup car, though that’s not saying much as I have done 1 race in the Cayman and drove the cup car for the first time yesterday!”

Alexander Novikov – #369

Alexander Novikov had an event of mixed emotion, after coming home in an impressive third place in the first round, but not finishing the second. He was pretty delighted with his first performance, and rightfully so after keeping Verwey at bay and then gapping him as the race went on.

“I am pretty happy with my first race, as it was my first ever race in Super Trofeo. At the start, I was stuck at the outside of turn 1 so lost a few places. But in the race pace was good, at the end I was even catching P1 and P2 somewhat. Apart from a few mistakes in the middle of the race with overdriving the car, and losing the rear end, I would say it was the perfect race for me.” Novikov showed that he does have the pace to keep up with the leaders and has the wheel to wheel skill to go with it, as shown in the first race.

However, after such a strong Super Trofeo race, the Huracan GT3 Evo didn’t treat him so kindly. “The less said about the second race the better. It was a culmination of all the things clicking together. Bad qualifying, bad start, and a mistake at the penultimate corner sent me back, and then a bad attempt at the overtake in the first corner being the final nail in the coffin on that race. It is a race to forget, to be honest.” 

The high of the first race sadly didn’t last so long, though, which is a great setback to his championship fight in a season where races pass in the blink of an eye.

To see how these drivers fair in the next rounds, make sure to keep up to date with the SimGrid YouTube channel.