New Champion Crowned!
55th Anniversary year champion crowned
The Hankook National Formula Vee Championship crowned a new champion at the season finale at Zwartkops this past weekend.
The racing was fast and furious and in the end the championship leader going into the round managed the pressure and came out tops. Going into the weekend, Lushen Ramchander (Liqui Moly Forza) was leading the championship by 11 points from Gert van den Berg (Hankook Rhema 2).
Qualifying on Saturday morning was a close affair with the top eleven cars split by less than one second. During quali, Ramchander made his intensions clear by setting the fastest laptime of 1min08,907seconds. This put him in pole ahead of surprise Brandon Hills (Mangaza Consulting Rhema 2) and then Lendl Jansen (Bull Security Forza). In fourth was Van den Berg after having clutch failure during the session. Behind them, Greg Wilson (Forza) rounded out the top five to put three Forza chassis in the top five. Peter Hills (Mangaza Consulting Rhema 2) performed remarkably in a brand new car that turned its first wheel less than 24hours before qualifying. Visiting driver Rico Wentworth (Rhema 1,5) qualified twelfth in his first race weekend using Brandon Hills’ car and Albertyn Pienaar (DOE Quality Parts Rhema 2) was seventeenth in his first outing in dad Ben Pienaars car.
Between qualifying and the race, Van den Berg swopped clutch assemblies and Roy Douglas (Forza) swopped gearboxes as he had an issue in qualifying as well.
At the start of Race 1, Ramchander made great getaway and pulled a small lead from a chasing Brandon Hills and Jansen who had Van den Berg on their tail. The second position was taken by Van den Berg with the idea and seemingly the pace to reel in Ramchander, only to have the gearbox starting to give problems. He dropped down behind Hills, Jansen, Wilson and Jaco Schriks (Lube Station Rhema 2). All the while Ramchander was now managing his lead and ensuring he takes an easy victory. In the end Hills made a small mistake chasing Ramchander and ran off track to lose some places. This let Jansen through to grab second with van den Berg fighting to third to keep the championship undecided until the final heat. Behind him Wilson beat out Schriks. Shaun van der Linde (Truck City Boksburg Rhema 2) was just behind this duo and kept a recovering Brandon Hills behind him. MD Bester (Mangaza Consulting Rhema 2) was just ahead of Peter Hills with Vaughn Hills (Hankook Rhema 2) rounding out the top ten. Wentworth finished a credible eleventh while Jeandre Le Roux (Liqui Moly Stealth) showed pace, but had to retire after a R10 switch broke.
After the race, Van den Berg had to make a plan and the gearbox was removed for the second time during the day. The spare gearbox was installed and they were out on track without even checking the wheel alignment.
The race 2 start delivered a surprise when Brandon Hills took the lead of the race from Ramchander before turn 2. Hills led out and the top eight cars were eventually fighting for the lead. It was the perfect scenario for Van den Berg, however, the gearbox replacement was not the answer and the gear selection issues returned and worsened. The top eight battle, became seven. Meanwhile, Ramchander showed why he was leading the championship and went to the front of the pack. He then proceeded to stretch his legs and took the victory when the six cars behind him fought about second. Second to seventh crossed the line within 1,6seconds. This was a close finish with Wilson taking second and Jansen rounding out the podium. Brandon Hills was fourth with a fighting drive from Le Roux to grab fifth and Peter Hills a remarkable sixth in the cars first race. Schriks was seventh. Van den Berg fell off the back of this pack and Bester and Van der Linde passed him on the last corners to take eighth and ninth with Van den Berg tenth.
The championship came down to the last race of the season, but in the end, Ramchander did what was needed and took the win fairly easy. He makes history for the Forza chassis as well as Liqui Moly by winning the national Championship in its 55th year of running.
In the end Van den Berg held onto second in the championship with Jansen rounding out the podium.
2020, although short, was a great year for Hankook Formula Vee and 2021 promises to be even better. With 9 races planned for a bumper 2021 and about 5 new cars on the grid for 2021, the grid is growing and promising the continuation of the best racing in the country on a National Championship level!
