Gavin Foster
BMW’s Z3, Porsche’s Boxster and DaimlerChrysler’s Mercedes-Benz SLK have been around for a couple of years now, while Audi’s TT, a recent arrival, is also proving popular in South Africa. Now there’s a new wave of two-seater sports cars cropping up, headed by Toyota’s mid-engined MR2.
Why be sensible? Most people are altogether too sensible and their lives are consequently as boring as hell. Two-seater sports cars aren’t as practical as family saloons, but they’re hugely more fun to drive, they attract a lot more attention if that’s what floats your boat and, for those who love al fresco motoring, they offer much better protection against crappy weather and hostile road users than do motorcycles.
Toyota has always been known for producing quality, sensible cars. Now, with the third generation MR2, they’ve shown that they understand soul as well.
Weighing in at only 975kg, the little Japanese two-seater generates 103kW from an all aluminium 1,8 litre four-cylinder 16 valve twin-cam engine mounted amidships to produce impeccable handling. Maximum torque is 170Nm at 4 400rpm, and a five-speed transmission with a limited slip differential ensures that nothing gets lost between the rubber and the road.
Boot space is limited, but if you look at a car like this and start bitching about luggage capacity then you ‘re missing the point. This is not a workhorse, a taxi or a means of transport. It’s a car for driving and enjoying.
During a brief driving spell at the launch we did just that. Handling is razor sharp, braking is top notch and power is adequate for most needs, thanks to the low mass of the little car. Acceleration of 0-100 is claimed to happen in just more than seven seconds at sea level (two seconds quicker than on the Reef) and top speed is around 206kph.
In true sports-car tradition the gearshift is delightfully short and crisp. There’s a bit of scuttle-shake, but the car has more soul in its sump plug than many other cars costing twice as much do in their entire four-door body-shells. Of course, it’s not perfect; another 20kW or 30kW would turn the MR2 into an even more memorable driving experience, and the lovely six-speed gearbox from the Corolla RXi would also add to the fun
At R 209 000 (or R230 460 for the hardtop version) the MR2 isn’t cheap, but it’s a fair bit more affordable than most of the opposition. It’s also pretty exclusive. Of the 500 ordered by Toyota South Africa for 2001, 300 have already been delivered from Japan and they’ve all been spoken for.
@The right stuff
Lance Isaacs always believed he could ride with the best if given competitive gear and now he’s proved it
Gavin Foster
Lance Isaacs has packed more professional ups-and-downs into his 23 years than most people do in a lifetime.
As an up-and-coming young motorcycle roadracer he was sponsored by Vodacom, who bought him a place in the NCR Ducati World Superbike team for 1999. But after two years of poor results he returned to South Africa, where he’s now a member of Russell Wood’s Vodacom Nashua Yamaha team competing in the South African national championship. Then the whispering started. He’d been given a chance because of his colour, and he’d failed, they said. Now he’d have to show the locals if he’d learned anything overseas.
Last month the young rider showed that he had, when he won his first national championship superbike race at Killarney. Then, to prove it was no fluke, he ran away with both heats at the East London round three weeks later.
“I hope it’s shut a lot of my critics up I know there were people bad-mouthing me all over the show. I never took much notice of them because I knew my day would come. But then there was even more pressure on me to prove I could do it again,” he says.
Then came East London.
Isaacs had always believed he could run with the best if he was given truly competitive machinery. “I knew that in two years in World Superbike I’d learned more than how to ride around towards the back of the pack. I didn’t have the right equipment to win there, but I was riding as hard as anybody else. Unfortunately without the proper gear that’s not enough. I have the ultimate confidence in myself. I know that I’m just as good a rider as Russell Wood, Greg Dreyer, Robbie Petersen, or any of the others.
“They all have lots of experience so obviously I can still learn from them, but they’ve been dominating for far too long and they shouldn’t still be there. They should be long gone retired! We need new young riders winning races and we need guys like Russell to develop them.”
At the beginning of the season I asked Wood what he thought of Isaacs’s riding ability. He replied that he expected the youngster to be a frontrunner, but that he still had a lot to learn about racecraft. “You don’t pick up much of that running midfield,” the multiple South African champion told me.
At the Killarney national last month Isaacs rode a brilliant tactical race, nipping into the lead when it counted at the finish line on the last lap. I asked him about racecraft.
“If you don’t ride a thinking race then you’re not in the running at all. I played my cards right and rode smart. I think I could have won the first heat as well, but Russell had problems with his bike and I got stuck behind him. I lost three seconds to Greg Dreyer, but cut that back to just 0,4 of a second at the finish. If there’s been one more lap I think I could have won. But that’s could have, should have, would have “
Just how helpful has it been riding as teammate to a man with more than a dozen national titles under his belt? “Russell’s been involved in racing for years, and he’s ridden with the best in the world. I can still learn from him. But what I’ve learned in World Superbike is different from what he’s learned so we can help each other. That’s what makes our whole team so strong we can all help each other. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few Vodacom Nashua Yamaha 1-2-3 finishes during the rest of the season.”
What about competing overseas again? “I’m riding in a few races in the United States this year, for a private team, but I’d love to get back into the World Superbike championships. But next time I’ll do it differently. I wouldn’t accept a third rate ride where the results didn’t depend upon me.
“During my two years in World Superbike I was with a team running on a very tight budget and my bikes weren’t what they were supposed to be. Most of the money was spent on the number one rider.”