Action packed Formula Vee has a new Hills on top!
Theodore Vermaak • October 8, 2019
Image Credits: Elroy Vice
This was the first return since 2015 and the lap record was set to fall after the track was resurfaced. A proper grid of 15 cars made the trip down to the racetrack. This also included Cape Town lad and old timer Byron Mitchel (Dolphin Engineering Forza) and Cyril Somerville (Dolphin Engineering Sting).
Friday had its fair share of action. Most notably Jaco Schriks (Lube Station Racing Rhema 2) had to replace a clutch, Brandon Hills (Mangaza Consulting / Just Water Rhema 1.5) had to replace a gearbox and then Gert van den Berg (Hankook Rhema 2) hit the tyre barriers after running wide onto the grass at turn 6. Luckily for van den Berg, the damage was repairable with the car being ready for Saturday mornings qualifying session.
During qualifying, Richard Carr (Lucky Star Rhema 2) was the man to beat setting the fastest time for pole position just ahead of Van den Berg and Schriks. Lushen Ramchander (TRA / D&B Industrial Forza) was in fourth with Brandon Hills and Peter Hills (Lube Fusion Rhema 2) rounding out fifth and sixth.
Race one got off to a flyer with a spinner in the esses being MD Bester (Mangaza Consulting / Just Water Sting) with Sommerville bumping into him and damaging the 2nd radiator on Besters car. The race was red flagged and at the restart, Shaun Van der Linde (Truck City Boksburg / Len Schoen Estates Rhema 2) spun going through hanger. The first three, Carr, Schriks and van den Berg, was pulling away from the others with Brandon held up by a struggling Ramchander after he still had gearbox issues. On the last lap, van den Berg spun in hanger, copying Shaun van der Linde’s move and dropping back to seventh, but that was only after setting the new lap record of 1m06.486s bettering a long time record held by Schriks.
In the end, Schriks won from Carr, with Ramchander beating Jnr Hills. Lendl Jansen (Bull Security Forza) just beat out Peter Hills for fifth with Van den Berg, then Byron Mitchell followig in tow. Van der Linde recovered to ninth with Theo Vermaak (DOE Quality Parts Vision), Ben Pienaar (DOE Quality Parts Rhema 2) and Jeandre Le Roux (Liqui Moly Lantis) scoring the last championship points on offer. This was also the first championship points for the newcomer showing constant improvement.
Race two resulted in even further drama. This time the three leaders almost got away, but Brandon Hills and Ramchander tangled which sent Ramchander spinning and set Hills free. He started chasing the leaders and caught up, only to see Carr out braking himself into turn one with three laps to go. The battle was now on to try and see who could take the win. With Van den Berg leading over the line at the start of the last lap, Schriks got a good slipstream and tried to pass him on the outside into turn one. In the braking zone, they touched and Brandon got past unscathed to take his first checkered flag, and with that the overall victory for the day. Behind him, Schriks re-joined in second and Van den Berg in third. Perter Hills beat a recovering Carr. Van der Linde and Le Roux got their best finishes of the season. Pienaar beat out a recovering Ramchander and Mitchell. Vermaak finished in eleventh with Roy Douglas (Forza) rounding out the point scoring positions.
It was an entertaining weekend with some small incidents which created a lot of attention and also showed how hard these racers are pushing.
Brandon Hills took the top step of the podium after showing real winning pace the whole weekend with Schriks and Carr rounding out the podium.
As a result, Schriks extended his championship lead and now looks like it will be tough to be catch up to.
Hankook Formula Vee racing heads to Red Star Raceway on 26 October, so join us for a thrilling battle as Van den Berg and Jnr Hills will throw everything and the kitchen sink at Schriks to try and take more victories.
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As we enter the second half of the season with 4 races completed there has been 4 different drivers starting on pole position, 4 different drivers taking the fastest qualifying lap, 4 different race winners and get this, 3 different championship leaders… 2022 Saw a lot of changes come to the Vee’s with the move from National status to National Challenge status making it more affordable for members whilst still being able to stay on the National tour. Qualifying structure change has also brought a new twist on the swing of things with the top 6 drivers scrambled after their qualifying session resulting in the epic battles you have come to see so far this season. Still staying on the same Bridgestone rubber as the previous season also makes for closer racing amongst all the drivers throughout the grid. Coastal races are 3 heat races to give drivers more pleasure on those amazing circuits and more rewards for going all that way to race. On the Association side of things, the points structure has been changed giving driver credit for going down to the away races as well, adding valuable points to their championships for traveling. National Challenge Championship Race 1 - was held at Zwartkops Raceway in March with the Regional calendar. 23 cars took to the grid hitting off the season with a big field. Lendl Jansen taking his Rhema 2 quickest around Zwartkops but started in 3 rd place, the Bridgestone grid scramble saw Vaughn Hills on pole position alongside his father Peter giving the Hills’s a front row lockout. Lights out and go with hard racing from the first corner, in the end Gert van den Berg took the top podium spot followed by Greg Wilson and then Lushen Ramchander in the overall results. Race 2 - was held at Zwartkops Raceway again in April this time with the National tour showing the bigger categories that Formula Vee is back! 21 cars took to the grid giving the crowds some epic racing. This time around Greg Wilson dominated the field with his 2x wins and a pole position followed by Gert van den Berg and Lushen Ramchander having another podium finish. Greg taking over the top spot in the Championship from van den Berg. Race 3 – this time going down to Aldo Scribante and taking down a decent field of 15 cars. From the word go the old hand of Peter Hills topped the timing sheets in Friday practice sessions. Qualifying saw Brandon Hills put on a great display to take the fastest time; the grid scramble had other things to say giving pole position to Lushen Ramchander. Peter Hills standing on top of the podium with Lushen Ramchander taking second place and Greg Wilson just beating out Brandon Hills for third place. The month of June saw a midyear break giving all drivers some needed rest and time to work on their cars for the year ahead. Race 4 – Red Star Raceway sees Formula Vee again after not racing there in the 2021 season. The king of Red Star Gert saw him put on a magic lap in qualifying to get that needed point for fastest lap. Once again, the Bridgestone grid scramble mixing things up giving pole position to Greg Wilson. Race pace was all in the hands of Gert van den Berg and Lendl Jansen, with Jansen taking the 2x wins from Gert leaving Peter Hills and Lushen Ramchander to fight it out for that final spot in both heats one a peace. Hills took the third spot in overall over Ramchander. Association Championship As many people don’t know what the Association Championship is, it is for the drivers in the mid to rear end of the pack. Giving other drivers some recognition and something worth driving for. This season has been very tight amongst the association drivers just as it has been for the Overall championship Race 1 - Zwartkops saw Vaughn Hills put down some seriously fast times and with the addition to the new Bridgestone grid scramble he was the lucky one to start on pole position first time for him in his racing career and a first for him and his father Peter to start on the front row of the grid. With allot of action happening during both heats it brought the podium proceedings with Vaughn Hills taking first place, Henk van den Berg in second place and Roy Douglas having a solid weekend finishing in third place. Race 2 – Zwartkops brought some more interesting things happen in both championships. Sadly, Vaughn Hills has since relocated overseas but we will still have him over for racing towards the end of the year. Eric Booyens starting his 2022 campaign due to missing out the first event. Eric took over the luck from Vaughn in the first event with the Bridgestone grid scramble handing Eric second place on the grid. Racing was as tight as ever between the association drivers so when it came to the trophy ceremony Eric took the first place followed by Josef Kotze and then Theodore Vermaak in third. Race 3 – Down to Aldo Scribante we go and 3 heats giving the association drivers credit in earning points and 3 heats for that additional extra push in points. Between the 15 drivers down for the event 8 of them are fighting for the association title. 3 Drivers however made a full run away from the rest of the pack. Josef Kotze, Kyle Watt and Theodore Vermaak all three fighting it out in all three heats. Josef taking it top position over Kyle Watt and Theodore Vermaak in third. Race 4 – Red Star being a long-awaited race it gave some good battles yet again. Although Eric Booyens leaving all the association drivers in his dust; the rest of them had some serious fights on their hands. Kyle Watt, Josef Kotze and Theodore Vermaak fighting for the rest of the podium not leaving Henk van den Berg and Michael Kernick not to fall off their tails. Eric took first place with Kyle Watt in Second and Josef Kotze in third. 2022 Has been a good year to the Formula Vee Association thus far. Securing new sponsors and keeping those from the previous year. The field has grown tremendously with 27 active drivers. Midway through the season there is 5 new members signing up, and some drivers who have not yet raced this season will be joining the action later in the year. DOE Formula Vee will be joining the National tour again next month and for the first time in 7 years back at East London!!
