Toyota 86 Championship winner Tom Bewley and star performer William Exton are hard at work on track and off it as they count down the weeks until they compete in the ADAC GT4 Germany championship round at the Nürburgring in August.
The Kiwi duo will be joining the championship at its fourth round of six, so will have their work cut out to settle in quickly and acclimatise to a new car, a new circuit and a new team – but they are both looking forward to the challenge.
Both have been racing hard against each other in the winter North Island Endurance Series One Hour races as they get used to more powerful machinery, but there’s been plenty of work away from the track, too.
“I have been doing a lot of sim work and watching a lot of videos to get my head around braking points and gear changes,” explained Bewley.
“I am also trying to get my head around all the buttons inside the car so it feels like I have already driven the GR Supra GT4 before I get there. That way, I will be able to focus on learning as much as I can from the engineers and from a new team.”
Exton, too, has been working hard on preparation. “I’ve done lots of sim work too, like Tom, but I’ve also been watching a lot of videos of the event last year, in car and race coverage, to try and get a really good idea of what is to come.”
It’s going to be a busy week for the two young chargers, who will leave New Zealand on August 9th. As soon as they arrive in Europe, they will be off to TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s major facility in Cologne. This will include a simulator session on the organisation’s bespoke simulator on Monday, the 12th.
The next day will see a seat fitting session with the KCMG team in their workshop close to the Nürburgring. On-track action begins the day after that with three one-hour test sessions on the DTM circuit. That takes the boys to the Friday when the race meeting gets underway, and they’ll get another two one-hour sessions, which form Free Practice for the GT4 event.
On the Saturday there will be a 20-minute qualifying session and a one-hour race, and that will also be the format for the Sunday.
Performing when almost everything is new is probably the biggest challenge facing the two, but they are upbeat and confident they can work well together as a driver team and spring a surprise or two.
“I’m looking forward to being teammates with Willie as we both have the goal to go over there and do the best as we can and grab some silverware,” added Bewley. “Willie is quick in a race car, so I have no doubt that I will learn a lot from him.
“I would love to go over there and step on the podium which I think me and Willie are very capable of doing.”
Exton believes his teammate has a few tricks up his sleeve, too, as he learned from two seasons of hard racing in the Toyota 86 Championship.
“I’m looking forward to working with Tom – he’s very fast and definitely good at blocking I’ll give him that,” he said.
“I know both of us are totally committed to the event and really want to try and get a podium in one of the races, so that would be the goal.”
