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!!
Lendl Jansen had the ultimate weekend down in Gqeberha. Starting on pole position to taking number 1 spot in both heats and the fastest lap and top step on the podium. Gqeberha did not see Formula Vee in 2020 due to lock down and it was evident by the good turnout of cars on the grid the drivers missed the track. A full field of 16 cars showed up on the Aldo Scribante race circuit and right out the gate on first practice the drives set quick times. Friday practice with almost perfect conditions made learning the track again all the easier. Lendl Jansen, Gert van den Berg and Peter Hills topping the time sheets in all the sessions. Saturday morning and the perfect weather from Friday disappeared. Wind gusting and making drivers work for their track positions. A tail wind made things even more interesting down the main straight. Pole position was taken by Lendl Jansen and second place to Gert van den Berg, followed by Peter Hills and Lushen Ramchander. Unfortunately, Henk van den Berg had an incident with David Austin leaving the Liqui Moly driver unable to finish qualifying, Austin however managed to make it back to the pits and tend to a bit of gearbox issues from the incident. Race 1 15 cars take to the grid with Henk van den Berg still fixing damage to his car. The drag race down to turn one and Gert van den Berg getting the best drive, Lendl Jansen right on his tail and Lushen Ramchander getting the jump on Peter Hills. M.D. Bester and Brandon Hills closely following with Shaun van der Linde and Vaughn Hills putting pressure on the front 6 drivers. Lap one completed and the respective battles settle. Top 6 drivers start to break away. Theodore Vermaak had an early off on lap two turn one taking Marcel Blignaut along with him to the flowers, luckily both drivers came back on track with no damage. Turn one lap three taking more victims in M.D. Bester spinning around leaving Shaun van der Linde tagging his right rear, both recovered and got right back to the action. Further back Roy Douglas, Theodore Vermaak and Shaun van der Linde having a tight battle for 9 th place. Ernie Vermaak, David Austin and Marcel Blignaut having their own 3-way battle for 12 th place. Albertyn Pienaar had his full share of bad luck, after having a bad start to the race he crashed out in the Chevy sweep turn 7. Lendl Jansen made his move on Gert van Den Berg and went out to take race one victory. Lushen Ramchander made a last-minute dive into Dunlop curve to take 3 rd place with Peter Hills running wide leaving Brandon Hills to take 4 th place. Race 2 all 16 cars make it to the grid. Henk van den Berg and his mechanics working hard to get the car on the track. Lights go out and it’s a drag race to turn one again. Lendl Jansen not having the best of starts losing out to Gert van den Berg, Brandon and Peter Hills. Vaughn Hills, Theodore Vermaak, Josef Kotze and Albertyn Pienaar fighting it out early on for 9 th position. Roy Douglas and Marcel Blignaut both working together to try and catch up to the fighting mid pack. Gert van den Berg and Lendl Jansen breaking away from the rest of the pack and all through the field respective battles started to emerge. Brandon and Peter Hills, Lushen Ramchander and M.D. Bester for 5 th Shaun van der Linde out on his own with the 4-car battle behind him. Ernie Vermaak and Henk van den Berg fighting over 12 th place and both giving each other a hard time lap after lap. Lendl Jansen sizing up Gert van den Berg and made his move with 2 laps to go and makes sure he pulls a gap to take home his second victory of the day. Brandon Hills pushing Gert van den Berg to the line closely followed by Peter Hills. Sadly, Henk van den Berg had to pull over on the last lap with gearbox issues. Formula Vee once again does not disappoint with the best category of the day! As tradition has it the tire podium comes out and the champagne gets ready to be sprayed over the winners and all the Vee supporters. 1 st Race voucher winners Henk van den Berg Josef Kotze Peter Hills National Championship podium 1 st Lendl Jansen 2 nd Gert van den Berg 3 rd Brandon Hills Association Championship podium 1 st M.D. Bester 2 nd Vaughn Hills 3 rd Josef Kotze Written by Theodore Vermaak Photo credit to kaykes_digital
August brought the next race at Zwartkops Raceway and the Association decided to do a tribute to fallen legend in motorsport and in Formula Vee. In honour of Ben Pienaar and Kevin Jenkins the field was full of 24 cars and amongst those was Albertyn Pienaar and Denver Pienaar. Race day started with the tribute to Ben Pienaar and awarding his family with his lifetime/honorary membership right before qualifying session took place. The weather was in typical August style cold and windy leaving tricky conditions for qualifying. This however did not stop the top contenders to build up heat into their Bridgestone tires and putting some astonishing times down. Race 1 - Gert Van Den Berg starting on pole position followed by Lendl Jansen and then Jaco Schriks in 3 rd . Lights go our and away goes the 24-car field into turn one with clean driving from all. Gert Van Den Berg getting great drive over Lendl Jansen and Jaco Schriks with M.D. Bester on their heels, Shaun Van Der Linde also getting in on the action. Jeandre Le Roux having a good start making up 3 spots with his move on the outside of turn 2. Flying down the back straight the drivers settle behind each other trying to line up late breaking on top of the hill at turn 5. Sadly, Roy Douglas spinning out in turn 4 leaving him beached in the sand trap causing a full course yellow and safety car. Bringing the field bunched up again with lap 4 and racing resumes, and Gert Van Den Berg gets a good restart pulling away from Jaco Schriks. Lushen Ramchander passing Shaun Van Der Linde and chasing to catch M.D. Bester. Further back Henk Van Den Berg, Theodore Vermaak, Jeandre Le Roux having a battle for 9 th place. After starting at the very back of the field Brandon Hills pushing his way forward to 6 th place. Vaughn Hills, Lushen Ramchander, Shaun Van Der Linde, Symm Grobler, Brandon Hills fighting it out swapping positions each corner. A spinning Andre Le Roux almost causing some issues at the top of the hill turn 5 luckily all drivers make it through unscathed. Denver Pienaar and Klinton Kane fighting it out in front of the leaders taking the checkered flag. Gert Van Den Berg taking the victory over Jaco Schriks and lonely 3 rd place M.D. Bester. Lushen Ramchander taking 4 th and Brandon Hills driving his way into 5 th . Vaughn Hills followed by Shaun Van Der Linde, Symm Grobler Henk Van Den Berg and Peter Hills in 10 th . Between the race heats the Association had a lucky draw for its members and friends with a set of Bridgestone racing tires up for grabs. Marietjie Pienaar was amongst the guests and got asked to pull the lucky number…and as luck (or irony) would have it she pulled ball number 10 and this number has been the one Ben Pienaar has raced with for the most part of his career. Henk Van Den Berg being the lucky winner! Ben 10 never disappoints. Race 2 - Missing on the grid was Shaun Van Der Linde and Marcel Blignaut both having mechanical issues. The field rushed through turn 1 and into turn 2 bunched up and fighting to get the best drive down the hill and onto the back straight. Jaco Schriks getting the jump over Gert Van Den Berg and Lendl Jansen short on his tail. Brandon Hills and Albertyn Pienaar both staring at the back of the field again due to some weight infringements after qualifying. Roy Douglas made it safely through turn 4 without spinning. Lap 1 completed, and the top 3 drivers run away from the rest of the field. Lushen Ramchander slowing ever so slightly into the clutches of Brandon Hills and Peter Hills grabbing the opportunity to put a pass on the defending champion. Theodore Vermaak, Symm Grobler and Jeandre Le Roux having a good fight for 9 th place and Vermaak feeling the pressure from Grobler and ending up in the tyre barrier. Further back in the field Kyle Watt makes a charge for Symm Grobler after just getting past a tough battle with Jannie Geyser and Albertyn Pienaar. Closely followed by David Austin and Josef Kotze. Sadly, Lushen Ramchander had to retire from the race with mechanical issues. Gert Van Den Berg taking the double victory with Lendl Jansen in 2 nd and Jaco Schriks in 3 rd . DOE Formula Vee the best racing of the day once again!! 1 st Race voucher winners Andre Le Roux Marcel Blignaut Brandon Hills National Championship overall results 1 st Gert Van Den Berg 2 nd Jaco Schriks 3 rd M.D. Bester Association Championship overall results 1 st M.D. Bester 2 nd Henk Van Den Berg 3 rd Jeandre Le Roux Written by Theodore Vermaak Photo credit to Maxine Byleveld
