Monday, July 5, 2010

Round 5 - 03/07/2010 - Lichtenburg

The 4th round of the Formula Vee National Championship was held at the extremely tight and bumpy circuit of Lichtenburg this weekend. Zaahir Essa was sporting redesigned bodywork in the company colours of Reflex Solutions and was out to increase his championship lead.

The weekend did not go to plan, however, and Peter Hills (Renexcon) was dominant with stunning pace. Starting from 3rd on the grid, Essa lost places off the start due to clutch problems which worsened throughout the weekend. By the time he had cleared the cars ahead to second place, Hills had already built a strong lead and was romping away. The rest of the heat was uneventful at the front, and Hills crossed the line ahead of Essa and Symm Grobler (Auto Mecca).

The second race proved to be a mimic of the first, with Essa again struggling off the start line and losing places. Once he had made his way through, Hills was already well clear and pulled off yet another dominant victory. Even though Essa suffered further clutch problems and was stuck in 3rd gear by the end, he still managed to maintain a gap to 3rd placed Grobler.

The once-congested leaderboard has now opened up a little after this round. The top four drivers were separated by just 8 points, but Hills and Essa have pulled a bigger gap going into the next race at Phakisa on the 7th of August, with Hills 2 points ahead.

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