Round 3 - 10/04/10 - Zwartkops

Zwartkops was host to the 3rd round of the national Formula Vee championship this weekend, which provided action-packed racing once again. The highlight, however, was the performance of Motorsport South Africa development driver Zaahir Essa (Reflex Solutions) who experienced the highs and lows of motorsport in one day.

Essa, in the Lotto-provided Rhema 2, was full of confidence after his double win in the last event, but was let down with engine failure in qualifying just after having posted a laptime quick enough for pole position. Without a spare motor, he was forced to use his older Rhema 1. Unfortunately due to the car not being at the track or even race-ready, Essa was only able to join the first heat a few laps into the race.Essa started the second heat from the back of the grid, and really showcased his current stunning form. Immediately off the start-line and during the first 3 laps, Essa attacked hard and made up positions in just about every corner, unbelievably crossing the line in 4th position. He then set his sights on the lead pack of Symm Grobler (Auto Mecca), Peter Hills (Renexcon), both Ex-National Formula Vee Champions, and third placed man Trevor Bland. Setting consecutive fastest laps to reel them in and after dispatching Bland and Hills in two corners, Essa took the lead from Grobler with a little over 4 laps to go and maintained this position to the finish.

“I can’t believe it,” Essa reflected. “I was gutted after missing the first race, but I really gave it my all in the second one. Even though the car was last started in November and I had overheating issues, everything managed to come together and I’m ecstatic to say the least.”

Essa now stands 4th in the championship, with five rounds remaining. Formula Vee heads to Aldo Scribante in Port Elizabeth on the 8th of May 2010.

Round 2 - 06/03/10 - Midvaal

The second round of the national Formula Vee Championship of 2010 was one to remember for Zaahir Essa (Reflex Solutions), which took place at Midvaal with the Execuline Historic Tour this weekend.

Essa, a development entry in the category, opened his account for 2010 with his first pole position and double victory, driving a Lotto-provided car after using an older model for the last three years.

The two wins did not come easily however, with ex-champions Peter Hills (MLS Consulting) and Symm Grobler (Auto Mecca) also competing hard for victory throughout the 12-lap races. Both heats proved to be close encounters, with Zaahir managing to lead the majority of laps, staying ahead and out of trouble on the bumpy circuit of Midvaal.


Essa was understandably elated with the result, as he came into the weekend under difficult circumstances. “It’s great to finally win a race in Formula Vee, but it was really unexpected considering I hadn’t driven in four months and I was driving a totally different car which I only had one session to get used to. It was a last minute dash to make the race, so I am very grateful to Lotto and MSA for providing the car to use, and I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the financial backing of Reflex Solutions either.”

This strong showing for Essa has resulted in him jumping to fourth in the championship, after missing the first round at East London due to financial setbacks. The third round of the Formula Vee championship takes place at Zwartkops on the 10th April.

Kyalami - 08/11/2008 - Round 10

It’s incredible to think the final round of the Pro Tour has arrived already, and the nine rounds that have passed have each been great experiences in their own way. The 10th round at Kyalami was to be no different.

The 1st race was quite boring as far as Formula Vee standards go! I was on my own most of the time, trying to keep touch with the leading bunch. Unfortunately it seemed that some damage to my front tyre (sustained at the crash at the previous round) had really started to affect the handling of the car. The understeer got increasingly worse, but I managed to come over the line for 4th place.

We managed to get a replacement tyre for the 2nd race, which turned out to be completely wet! After running the sighting lap before the race start, it seemed the track was pretty wet; wet enough I thought for a gamble to try start in 2nd gear. The 2nd gear ratio is very short in a Vee, and I think it would have worked out had I practiced such a thing before! It turned out to be a complete disaster, with me stalling the engine about five metres into the race. Luckily I was rolling enough to ease the clutch out, but by that time I was basically in last position. But from there I had one of my best races!

Everyone seemed really cautious on the slippery track, and I was passing cars very quickly. I took no risks on the brakes, as it was very easy to lock the wheels and fly straight off the track, but I was pushing hard in the corners trying to find the grippiest part of the track. It was scary at times, but it worked out great. I worked my way back up to 3rd, with the leaders way too far in front to catch. I merely maintained position for the last 3 or 4 laps in very tricky conditions, but it seemed I was lapping slightly quicker than the leaders at that point! It would have been interesting had I not stalled at the start, but the race would not have been that fun coming back through the field!

All in all, the year has been a great success, finishing 6th in the championship, and consistently challenging for podiums in the final few races. I have learned an incredible amount this year, maybe even more than last year when I first started out. To try and challenge in the top 5, let alone podiums, is extremely difficult. I am thankful for being in such a great team to provide me with that opportunity though, with a wealth of experience and knowledge to help both me and my teammate to push further up the grid.

Zwartkops - 11/10/2008 - Round 9

The penultimate round of the Pro Tour was held at Zwartkops, coming from a very eventful and successful Phakisa race. I was hoping for a similar performance, and it certainly looked very close at the top of the field during the practice sessions. I was trying yet again to find a way around the understeer, and could just about come up with a decent setup, although I lost a lot of time in the slow corners.

After qualifying 5th, only 0.1sec behind P2, it was definitely going to be a tight race. The 1st heat was very eventful, and I found myself in 3rd position most of the race behind my teammate, and fending off the challenges from behind from other drivers. The entire race was packed with incidents, and there were yellow flags on just about every lap. On about lap 8 of 12, the safety car was deployed, but the boards were not made immediately visible to the drivers. Most of the front running pack did not see anything, and I was one of them. My teammate must have seen the SC board late, and braked really hard. Unfortunately I was directly behind him at this point, with no chance of avoiding an accident. This unlucky moment ended up with both development drivers out the race, after running in potential podium positions all race!

Both cars were repaired for the 2nd heat, and we had to start from the back of the grid. It was fun getting through the pack as fast as possible, but I was caught up with a very aggressive midfield battle which took too long to clear. I ended up coming out in 6th position, with 5th place too far up the road to catch in the remaining laps.

I’m definitely happy with the improvement of performance over the last few races, although this particular race ended up with a very unfortunate incident. The last round should be quite a nice challenge at Kyalami, with the top 5 drivers being extremely competitive! I’m looking forward to it.

Phakisa 2008 TV Coverage

Race 1


Race 2

Phakisa - 13/09/2008 - Round 8

The 8th round of the Pro Tour was held at the beautiful Phakisa Freeway circuit in Welkom. I really enjoyed the track when I visited last year, and I was hoping for a good result. The handling of my car from the last round had been quite unpredictable and effectively slow, and the only changes made to the car for this round was that I finally had new tyres. These seemed to make a world of difference, as the handling became predictable. Although still suffering from a bit of understeer, this was a lot better than previous occasions.

The races went really well, and I found myself fighting hard for 3rd position with Trevor Bland. I had never been on the podium before, so I was really determined to keep this position on track. The tyres seemed to lose grip drastically through the race however, and it was quite a struggle to keep the laptimes quick and consistent enough to keep the position. Eventually I managed to hold it to the finish line, and I was really happy at my best finish ever.

The 2nd race proved to the best experience in Formula Vees that I’ve had! A few quick changes to the car (and last minute repairs, after being pushed off the track in the 1st race and sustaining damage), I found myself right in the battle for the lead. This was an interesting situation, and it proved to be quite an aggressive fight with the local boy and championship leader Dennis Johns, and teammate Courtney Steenveld. Early on, the pace was pretty good and I felt I could lead the race without too much hassle, which was quite confusing and surprising as to why the leaders were that much slower, as I didn’t feel I gained significant pace to warrant that position. Keeping the lead would have involved quite a bit of defending in places I was weaker, and I didn’t want to get too involved in that way. I chose to hang back in 3rd place until the final lap, and just see how things go if I attacked. Dennis Johns in P2 chose to fight back while sacrificing laptime, so Courtney managed to gain a comfortable gap. The rest of the lap didn’t work out to keep P2 at all, and I could only manage to finish just behind Dennis for 3rd again.

I am just really happy for my teammate that he achieved his 1st win in Formula Vee, and I can appreciate my position in what has turned out to have been a very successful Lotto development team. With two rounds remaining, I am already thankful for every lap done being a part of the team, and being a part of the Formula Vee fraternity. I look forward to pushing further on my driving and personal developments!

Haibo