Learning Curve Continues for Dawie VD Merwe in the Eastern Cape

It was a challenging outing for Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa's Dawie van der Merwe at Round 5 of the SATC SupaCup Championship, held at the high-speed East London Grand Prix Circuit this past weekend. Despite continued efforts by Fast Developments and some signs of progress, Dawie struggled to match the pace of the dominant VW Supa Polo contingent.

In Saturday's qualifying session, Dawie placed seventh among the SupaCup runners with a best lap of 1:30.144, just under two seconds off the pole time set by Tate Bishop (1:28.473). The Toyota Starlet pilot's qualifying result left him in the thick of midfield traffic heading into the races.

Race 1 saw Dawie finish 5th in class. While he managed to keep the car in one piece and bring it home, the Starlet couldn't match the performance of the Polos around East London's iconic circuit.

In Race 2, Dawie's pace marginally improved, dipping into the 1:30.5 range once again. He crossed the line 6th in class, but with valuable race mileage under his belt as the team continues to develop the Supa Starlet platform.

"It’s always tough when you’re giving it everything but still find yourself off the pace," Dawie commented after Race 2. "We knew this wouldn’t be an easy weekend, but we've learned a lot. The team is working hard, and we’ll keep fighting to close the gap."

Dawie will be looking for more performance gains ahead of Round 6 at the Killarney International Raceway. While the results didn't reflect the team's efforts, the experience gathered at one of the country's fastest circuits will aid development heading into the final two rounds of the season.