SAT 13 MARCH | Regional Extreme Festival
The first racing of the 2021 DOE Formula Vee season took place at Zwartkops Raceway on Saturday the 13th of March as part of the Regional Extreme Festival.
Many thanks to our sponsors DOE Quality Parts and StartMyCar for making it possible as well as 1st Race and Bridgestone. Not everyone could be at the track for the practice sessions on Friday, but those who were there were busy working getting their cars prepared and enjoying track time. Drivers spent every lap they could utilize during practice to set up their cars for Saturday morning early qualifying session.
The full 21 car field lined up in the pre-race paddock to go out for qualifying. All drivers/teams made their plans to build together and use each other for some slipstreaming and create clean lines through the session. Unfortunately, 2020 Rookie of the year had a run in with a gate pole on pit exit leaving him stranded with rear suspension damage. Fastes lap in qualifying went to defending champion Lushen Ramchander, unfortunately due to a technical issue on Friday this meant that he had a 5-place grid penalty for race 1, giving Lendl Jansen the top starting position followed by Brandon Hill and Greg Wilson. After qualifying saw Hills racing rebuild Booyens broken suspension to get all 21 cars on the grid for race 1.
RACE 1 : The race was exciting, from the start Lendl Jansen grabbed first position and held onto it Brandon Hills giving him some competition during the early laps however Lendl kept and increased his lead with every lap. A struggle developed between Hills, Wilson and van den Berg which was not much upset when Hills ran wide and caught some gravel. Lushen Ramchander did not have a good race and slowly dropped back as the race went on, finishing 11th. Great battles formed throughout the field leaving the top 6 drivers battling for 2nd position behind Jansen. Midpack saw Peter Hills, MD Bester, Jeandre le Roux and Vaughn Hills fight to finish out the top 10 positions. During the latter parts race Kyle Watt was slowed by a spin and Theodore Vermaak retired due to steering issues on lap 4. The race was won by Lendl Jansen, followed in by Greg Wilson and Gert van den Berg. Henk van den Berg, Jannie Geyser, Josef Kotze, Blane De Meillon all battled in the rear of the pack from start to finish!
During the break mechanics got to fixing Luschen Ramchander’s car but was not able to be sorted leaving him not being able to start the next heat. Vermaak’s car was fixed and left him with confidence to start race 2. Usual after race prep gets mechanics and drivers to work on their cars relooking wheel alighnment and tire pressures, some suspension changes the get more out of the cars in the next heat.
Race 2 : Once again Lendl Jansen grabbed and held the lead. He was followed by Greg Wilson and Gert van den Berg. MD Bester disturbed the field a little when he got a touch by Jannie Geyser spinning him a perfect 360 and a broken nosecone. Fuming Bester charged from his recovery catching up with incredible pace. The racing for second, third, fourth and fifth place was again exciting but stayed fairly constant for most of the race until van den Berg made a bit of a mistake allowing Brandon and Peter Hills as well as Richard Carr to slip past him. Lendl was followed to the flag by Brandon Hills, Peter Hills and Richard Carr. Mid pack saw Van der Linde, le Roux, Vermaak and Vaughn Hills fight for top ten honours, Bester caught up to them finishing in 9th place. Battle of the rookies saw all of them finishing and having great battles of their own. Henk van den Berg, Jannie Geyser and Josef Kotze had some position changes throughout the race leaving David Austin, Blane De Meillon and Klinton Kane finishing off the rear of the field. The day’s racing ended with Lendl Jansen leading the charts, Greg Wilson taking second place and Brandon Hills in third place.
The day ended with prize giving with Lendl Jansen taking first for the National Championship, Second going to Greg Wilson and third to Brandon Hills.
In the Association Championship, first prize was awarded to Richard Carr, followed by Jeandre le Roux in second and M.D. Bester in third.
Rookie trophies were given to Henk van den Berg, Klinton Kane, Kyle Watt and Marcel Blignaut.
Shaun van der Linde received the Lucky Loser Trophy.
Obviously, Lendl Jansen won the Exceptional Driver of the Day award, while Rookie of The Day went to Henk van den Berg, the Lucky Draw went to Brandon Hills.
We look forward to the next race which takes place on the 14th and 15th of May at Phakisa.
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Written by Gerhard Rissik from CARtourque and Theodore Vermaak
Photo credit by Gerhard Rissik and Len Jansen
RACE GALLERY
