Redstar Action Delivered Lap Records
Theodore Vermaak • July 24, 2019
Hankook Formula Vee Championship leader Jaco Schriks (Lube Station Rhema 2) expected a battle and that was what Redstar Raceway delivered on 20 July 2019.
During qualifying, it was Gert van den Berg (Hankook Rhema 2) who set the pace and lived up to Schriks’s expectation. He was on pole for both heats and with that grabbed a bonus point. Lushen Ramchander (TRA / D&B Industrial Forza) grabbed second for heat one and third for heat two. Lendl Jansen (Bull Security Forza) slotted into third and second for the two races. Schriks who struggled with persisting brake issues on Friday, had to jump into Alan Holms ex-championship winning car for qualifying. Luckily the car was race ready, as was proven during the previous event, when Schriks also used it. At Redstar though it was only good enough for two fourth place starts. Behind them Brandon Hills (Mangaza Consulting / Just Water Rhema 1.5) and Richard Carr (Rhema 2) swapped starting positions for heat one and two. Michael Kernick (Northern Bolt & Tool / Tack så mycket Tasmin) lined up in seventh for both races with Peter Hills (Lube Fusion Rhema 2) in eighth for both heats. Vaughn Hills (Hankook Sting) and Jannie Geyser (Rhema 2) rounded out the top ten. The Liqui Moly guys was out in full force with the two new cars and consistently showed improvements.
At the start of race 1 Van den Berg had clutch issues on the grid. As the lights went out he was slow off the line and dropped behind Ramchander. Schriks passed Jansen into turn one and was now chasing after Van den Berg. At the end of the back straight, Van den Berg got past Ramchander and Schriks followed a lap later. In the process Ramchander spun and dropped down the field. Schriks could not hold onto the pace Van den Berg was setting and in the end Van den Berg won by a comfortable margin. Behind him, Ramchander had a torrid race and while recovering from the first spin, spun again to finish in eighth. Jansen rounded out the podium ahead of Carr and Peter Hills who had a hard dice on his least favourite track (something to do with lots of turns). Brandon Hills had a great race, only to drop down the field due to loss of brakes in the last laps. Kernick finished in seventh with Ramchander behind him. Geyser beat out Vaughn Hills by 0,099s with Theodore Vermaak (DOE Quality Parts Vision) and Roy Douglas (Forza) rounding out the points. Behind them the brand new Liqui Moly Lantis’s completed the race successfully with MD Bester (Magaza Consulting Sting) in between them.
Race two was a much closer affair. Van den Berg again won the race, but this time Schriks made him work for it. He tried everything to try and close the 1s gap. In the end, the winning margin was only 0,738s. The pressure from Schriks did not yield a mistake from van den Berg and he went on to set a new lap record in the process. Behind them Ramchander held onto a lonely third with Carr beating out Jansen for fourth by only 0,001s with Peter Hills in close pursuit. Kernick had a lonely race after being held up initially, but finished in a solid seventh after the troubles of previous races was hiding his true potential. Vaughn Hills beat out brother Brandon when he had continued brake problems with Geyser, Vermaak and Douglas rounding out the points positions. The newcomers, Jeandre le Roux (Liqui Moly Lantis) and Bester has a race long battle, even though it was for thirteenth. Robbie Thompson in the second Liqui Moly Lantis finished the race and all of them improved their lap times significantly during the races.
The day delivered good racing on a tight and twisty track with Van den Berg taking the bonus point for fastest lap and in the process setting a new lap record of 2min04,431s around the Redstar Raceway.
In the Championship, Schriks lead was cut to 13 points over Van den Berg with Ramchander losing out on valuable points after the race one problems.
The championship is now gathering momentum and with the battle at the front heating up. Will Schriks be able to hang onto his lead at the next race, or will Van den Berg maintain the momentum at Schriks’s home track?
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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!!
