Defending champion back on top after Red Star
Two comfortable wins see Lendl Jansen back on top of the 2026 championship standings.

The DOE Formula Vee partnered with CIM Lubricants brigade made their way to Red Star Raceway for the second round of their 2026 championship on 15 & 16 May. Lendl Jansen (Bull Security Rhema 2) topped the time sheets in every session on Friday, before claiming pole position and taking two race wins on Saturday.
While Jansen was comfortably quickest on Friday, the top five in the chasing pack were separated by less than a second in most sessions. That group included Gert van den Berg (DOE Quality Parts & StartMyCar Rhema 2) and Brandon Hills (Mangaza Racing – First 4 Men Rhema 2), the race winners at the opening heat, MD Bester (Mangaza Racing – First 4 Men Rhema 2), Peter Hills (Mangaza Racing – First 4 Men Rhema 2), Kyle Watt (Mangaza Racing – First 4 Men Rhema 2) and and Vaughn Hills (Mangaza Racing – First 4 Men Rhema 2).
Jansen didn’t allow the overnight break to disturb his rhythm and went on to claim pole position in Saturday morning’s qualifying session from Vaughn Hills. Van den Berg had to settle for third ahead of Watt, with Theodore Vermaak (DOE Quality Parts & StartMyCar Forza) and Bester on the third row. Brandon Hills was next up in seventh, ahead of James Carter (Rhema 2). Marcel Blignaut (CIM lubricants / Mangaza Racing - First 4 Men Forza) qualified in ninth. Peter Hills, who set the tenth quickest time, was forced to start from the back of the grid after his throttle got stuck during the qualifying session. He was forced to enter the pits to try to fix the problem and missed the compulsory weigh-in as a result. Hills’ misfortune promoted Daine Stewart (Direction Management Forza) into the top ten.
Jansen led the pack away when the lights went out at the start of the first race, with Vaughn Hills, van der Berg, Watt, Bester, and Vermaak making up a six-car train. By the end of the second lap, Jansen had eked out a small advantage over Vaughn Hills, van der Berg, and Watt, who had in turn pulled away slightly from Bester and Vermaak, who were joined by Brandon Hills. While van den Berg did manage to find a way past Vaughn Hills to take second place, it didn’t take Hills long to reclaim the place. A bit further back from the final podium positions, Peter Hills was working his way up through the field from the back of the pack, moving up to eighth with a couple of laps to go. With Jansen, Vaghn Hills, and van den Berg filling the top three places, it looked like Watt was going to score a decent haul of points in fourth, but his clutch broke on the final lap, leaving him stranded at the bottom of the circuit and allowing Bester to inherit fourth. Vermaak, who was battling an overheating car after his radiators filled with grass during an off-track excursion, crossed the line in seventh behind Brandon and Peter Hills. Blignaut, in eighth, was only half a second behind Vermaak. Anton van der Merwe (VDM Orthotics & Prosthetics HR-1), in ninth, led the association championship field, just ahead of Carter.
The leading trio in the opening race resumed their battle in the second until just after half-distance when van den Berg ran wide and dropped down to eighth place. His error allowed Brandon Hills to take the final podium position behind Jansen and his brother, Vaughn. Bester was less than half a second behind Brandon in fourth. Vermaak just got the better of Watt to take fifth place, while the best that van den Berg could do was seventh. Blignaut, missing a nose cone from a first corner incident, finished in eighth ahead of Jaco Schriks, who spent most of the weekend battling mechanical issues. Carter rounded out the top ten and took the association championship honours.
In the day’s overall standings, Jansen claimed the top step of the podium from Vaughn Hills and Bester.
Zwartkops Raceway will host the next round of the 2026 Formula Vee Championship on 12 & 13 June.








