MIND THE HURDLE

With a repaired car and a point to prove, Alex Shahini returned for Round 3 of the Toyota GR Cup at Zwartkops Raceway to achieve a career-best finish

- Alex Shahini

Approaching the third race weekend of the season, it dawned on me that we would soon be at the halfway point of the seven-round championship. The age-old adage that time flies when you're having fun fits the narrative, but I would be lying if I didn't admit to feeling nervous arriving at Zwartkops Raceway on Friday morning.

Climbing into the freshly repaired GR Corolla following an unfortunate encounter with the tyre barriers at Crowthorne in our previous outing served as the weekend's first mental hurdle. Despite the fact that I walked away physically unscathed from a brake failure - a thorough investigation proved that the stock rear pads boiled the uprated brake fluid there is no denying my confidence took a knock.