Following two titles in his first full circuit racing season, Leyton Fourie is set to start his new adventure in the Global Touring Cars (GTC) SupaCup this weekend (March 4-5) at Killarney International Raceway.
The circuit will bring back fond memories for Fourie. Just under three months ago, he claimed the national Volkswagen (VW) Polo Cup title in a nail-biting season finale that was rescheduled at the Cape Town circuit following the postponement of the Kyalami 9 Hour event. He also won the Pozidrive VW Challenge title at Red Star Raceway two weeks prior. This while still only being 16 years of age.
Universal Motorsport, which has prepared most of Fourie’s race cars since starting, will continue its relationship with the youngest driver on the GTC grid. Express Hire (Pty) Ltd also resumes its support to Fourie.
“It is set to be a competitive season and I am looking forward to getting to the front as soon as possible,” says Fourie. “It is a new challenge, and I don’t want to speculate too much about where we’ll find ourselves on the grid this Saturday. Testing has gone well, and we are confident that we are able to compete at the front.”
Fourie will once again team up with regular race engineer and former South African saloon car champion Etienne van der Linde. Van Der Linde has worked with Fourie since he debuted with Signature Motorsport in 2020, assisting his young driver in claiming a maiden victory in only his third Polo Cup outing.
“A key to our success in 2020 was that we started our preparation early”, continues Fourie. “At that point, I was still too young to obtain a circuit-racing license, but we spent a lot of time at the circuit in both Polos preparing to make our debut. We followed a similar strategy when purchasing our SupaCup Polo last year and are hoping that this will pay dividends again.”
Fourie is widely considered one of the most promising young drivers in South African motorsport, with many comparisons drawn between himself and the Van der Linde brothers. Fourie, however, remains humble in his approach to the season ahead, “I choose not to pay too much attention to these comparisons. Yes, I am young and yes, I have won the Polo Cup in my first full season. My focus has and remains on building a successful career that will always see me giving my best at every opportunity.”
Saturday will see Fourie’s first two GTC SupaCup races form part of the Extreme Festival event. A limited number of spectators can purchase tickets, with the event also broadcast on the Global Touring Cars Facebook Page.
Issued by Motorsport Fanatix on behalf of Leyton Fourie
