Silence fell at Killarney
Kobus Reyneke arrived in Cape Town last week leading the Toyota Gazoo Racing GR86 championship, expecting a normal race weekend with a clear plan.
The 16-year-old Namibian held a three-point lead over Connor Weston, 52 to 49, with the final round scheduled for Zwartkops on 17 October.
Reyneke had already proved his pace at Killarney. In March, during his first season in the Toyota, he won both races at the circuit, qualifying in 1:27.392 and recording a best race lap of 1:27.712.
This time, he wanted to go faster.
Practice on Friday showed just how much Reyneke and the team had progressed. He was fastest among the GR86 drivers in all three sessions, recording a best unofficial time of 1:26.445.
Saturday morning brought an even stronger result.
Reyneke produced a 1:25.876 in official qualifying to take class pole, finishing 0.507 seconds ahead of Reagile Mailula and 0.529 seconds ahead of Weston.
The lap was 1.5 seconds quicker than his March qualifying time.
“The car was good and we were quick,” Reyneke said afterwards. “That’s what you want, and then you wait for the races.”
‘In Memory of Robert Wolk’
But the day had already carried a sombre tone.
Robert Wolk, known as Roby, was due to compete at Killarney. The 41-year-old national champion lost his life in Johannesburg on Wednesday while travelling to the meeting.
Before the first grid formed, drivers stood together with ‘In Memory of Robert Wolk’ stickers on their cars and observed a minute’s silence.
The engines then returned to life.
The first event on the timetable was Extreme SuperCars. Marcel Angel, 62, from Llandudno, started in the number 51 Ferrari, a car in which he had won at Killarney as recently as 22 August.
At the end of the back straight, Angel’s Ferrari suffered a brake failure. The car left the circuit and went through a wall. Angel succumbed to his injuries, while a security guard working on the other side of the wall also lost his life.
The atmosphere at the circuit changed immediately.
Drivers were called together and organisers read a letter from the Angel family, who said they were willing for the remainder of the day to continue. Most of the grid, including Reyneke, were prepared to race.
“If they said we race, I would have raced,” he said. “That’s the job. But it didn’t feel right. How do you just go past there and pretend it’s a normal lap?”
His father, Jacques, said he would have allowed Kobus to race, as they had agreed since his karting days, but was relieved when organisers eventually stopped the programme.
No championship points awarded
Kobus shared that feeling.
“Not because I was scared of my car,” he said. “The car was fine. It just wasn’t a race day anymore.”
The remainder of the Extreme Festival was cancelled, meaning there were no GR86 races and no championship points awarded.
Reyneke therefore returns to Namibia with the same three-point advantage he had when he arrived in Cape Town.
The standings remain Reyneke 52 and Weston 49, with the entire championship now set to be decided at Zwartkops on 17 October.
For the Reyneke family, however, the weekend was ultimately about something bigger than the championship.
Both Kobus and Jacques said the events at Killarney should serve as a reminder that safety has to remain the priority at every level of motorsport.
The family thanked Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa, Leeroy Poulter and the mechanics who prepared the car.
Reyneke arrived looking to go faster, and he did exactly that in practice and qualifying.
He leaves with pole position as the only result from his weekend, while the championship moves to Zwartkops for its final chapter.
Condolences go to the families of Marcel Angel, the security guard who also lost his life, and Robert Wolk.
