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Race Report - 25/09/2010

Arno Hougaard - This past weekend was a wicked!!! I think it’s safe to say that the racing started on Friday when most of the field decided to get some running time in before the big one the next day… Like racing promises to be, the drama started on Friday when Philip just couldn’t get rid of some electrical gremlins even after spending the whole day working and having Dr Jannie try his best in the icy conditions late at night which led to his retirement on Saturday morning.
     Saturday was a day of the do or die… Dee-Jay took pole after some stunning laps with myself managing to see off the ever improving Ryno after dealing with some traffic. Willem amazingly slotted into fourth after only running two laps before putting a hole through the left piston. That just shows you there must be plenty to spare, just waiting to be unleashed… Craig and Johan traded lap times with Tanya suffering gearing problems and INSANE aka Prawno van der Merwe making he’s debut in Stacey’s car after she fell ill in mid-week.
     Heat 1: Disaster struck when Danny forgot to open the fuel tap on Tanya’s car which meant she didn’t make it to the grid. Shame, He was left really red-faced… Ryno and Dee-Jay had excellent starts whilst Willem unfortunately broke a ball joint in the bus-stop when he tried to perform some drifting himself and the problems continued down the order when the electronic gremlins hitched a ride with Johan on lap 5… I soon passed Ryno when he outbraked himself in turn 1 and Dee-Jay led to lap 6 before surrendering the first position when he’s car seemed to pick up a slight splatter. After Johan had pulled off, Craig took it rather easy end checked out the racing ahead together with Insane who finished his first race in fifth! I must say he was still getting used to having a track full of fast guys barely leaving a matchbox between each other.
     Heat 2: This was the race when things were getting down and dirty, Tanya had managed to put her power to advantage when she zoomed up just to see her steering arm break and park it against the wall. (She had the best view for the rest of the race though…) Pity as Craig and Johan probably had the dice of their careers so far with Craig getting this one over Johan. Insane was steadily improving his lap times with another 3sec per lap and doing some farming in the Engen corner just for good measure. Ryno had a quiet race with Willem just managing to avoid spinning cars and running marshals with myself and Dee-Jay trading positions for some time before my setup caught me cutting the corner and showing just how impressive a 360 can be…
     Heat 3: As much as we worked, Tanya’s day was just a day to forget when her chain broke when she left the pits. At the end of lap one, Ryno was on my outside with Dee-Jay a ruler length off my nosecone when I spun in Engen corner… I must admit, another coat of lacquer and both Ryno and I would be watching from the fence! Dee-Jay had the legs up front with Willem, Craig, Johan and Insane all falling short to the black and orange ballerina. Ryno must have had ostrich eyes when he got the checkered flag when I finishing just behind him in third. Craig and Insane attempted to do some synchronized drifting in the bus-stop and Insane did he’s best to test my reflexes when he put his outside wheels on the grass and punched the brakes, spinning right across the circuit. Afterwards he admitted to praying not to get hit but he was lucky when comparing the incident to the introduction Dee-Jay and I gave Johan on his first event…
     A special thanks to PJ Refrigeration for the sponsorship of the day as well as all the marshals for their leniency towards our “cow boys” and “cow girls” for that matter! Insane secured driver of the day for improving all the time and finishing all three races on debut. I had managed to squeeze in another stonker with 42.398sec for the best lap of the day in some windy conditions.

Race results for the day:

Heat 1: 1st – Arno Hougaard, 2nd – Dee-Jay Booysen, 3rd – Ryno Pentz, 4th – Craig Hume
Heat 2: 1st – Dee-Jay Booysen, 2nd – Arno Hougaard, 3rd – Ryno Pentz, 4th – Willem du Toit
Heat 3: 1st – Dee-Jay Booysen, 2nd – Ryno Pentz, 3rd – Arno Hougaard, 4th – Willem du Toit
Overall: 1st – Dee-Jay Booysen, 2nd – Arno Hougaard, 3rd – Ryno Pentz, 4th – Craig Hume

Race Report - 21/08/2010

Craig Hume - Saturday morning greeted the drivers with windy, wet and very cold conditions. For the front runners it would be a day to minimize mistakes and score points. For the rest it was a very interesting and a fun test in what was our first wet outing for the year.
     Qualifying was done on a cold (but dry) track. Times obviously off from the usual, but very close upfront non the less.
     Heat 1 would be a all Dico front row on the grid. As the cars lined up the rain decided to join the fun and take things up a notch. Arno (starting 3rd) decided to do some bird watching on the grid and missed the lights. He was then confused for the next lap, thinking we were doing another warm-up lap. Phillip and Arno both spun in turn 1, a bit of synchronized ballet from my point of view. The track was very slippery and there where cars spinning all over the show. Arno for one had so much fun going in circles that he decided to do it as often as possible. Meanwhile Ryno and Deejay had checked out and gone off into the distance. Craig and Phillip where fighting it out in the mid pack, but eventually Phillip was just too good in the wet conditions. Johann had decided to park the car and watch the race from the cut through, although the car actually made the decision for him. Willem du Toit fighting very hard to keep his 3rd overall position for the 2010 championship, had some hard luck when his car broke down in lap 7 and received the feared “DNF” on the score card. This isured that Ryno Pentz went up to 3rd place over all for the year and Willem slipped down to 4th position.
     Heat 2 took place on a dry circuit. The drivers would now be able to push a bit harder and a good fight was on the table. A few of the cars had now been repaired after some problems in the first heat. The race was once again an excellent spectacle for the spectators with cars fighting for position all over the track. Arno now was able to join the mix upfront and had a good race with the ever consistent Team Dico cars. Meanwhile at the back Johan's car was once again misbehaving, which lost him time in the starting few laps.
     In Heat 3,the final race of the day the weather became VERY nasty. Tanya and Johann both got excellent starts, with Tanya's new Yamaha motor showing what it can do. Watch out for the newly motored and re-sprayed car in the future. Arno decided to continue his fun in the wet from Race 1 and again spent a lot of time looking at oncoming traffic. To made things even trickier for the rest, he decided to put as much dirt from Engen corner onto the track as possible. Tanya unfortunately had gearing problems which dropped her down the order. Stacey continued her training in her car and did very well not to spin once the entire day. Meanwhile Phillip had decided to not play with Craig and went up the road by himself. Willem who had taken a gamble on “wet” tyres for the rain unfortunately had to park it when the car decided it had enough for the day. Deejay decided to have some fun it seems and spun after having crossed the finish line. I guess he wanted to know why Johann and Arno had decided to do it the entire day.
     Overall it was a excellent race day for the weather conditions. Very tricky, but also a excellent experience for all the guys involved. The fastest lap of the day went to Arno Hougaard as usual in Race 2 - lap 3 with a time of 57.341 seconds and Driver of the day was Philip Jonas. A big thank you has to go out to all the Pit-Mach’s, supporters and especially the Marshalls, without whom the day would not have been possible. Till the next round on the 25th of September, keep it safe and see you all at Killarney again!

Race results for the day:

Heat 1: 1st – Ryno Pentz, 2nd – Dee-Jay Booysen, 3rd – Arno Hougaard, 4th – Philip Jonas
Heat 2: 1st – Dee-Jay Booysen, 2nd – Arno Hougaard, 3rd – Ryno Pentz, 4th – Willem du Toit
Heat 3: 1st – Dee-Jay Booysen, 2nd – Ryno Pentz, 3rd – Arno Hougaard, 4th – Philip Jonas
Overall: 1st – Dee-Jay Booysen, 2nd – Ryno Pentz, 3rd – Arno Hougaard, 4th – Philip Jonas

Race Report - 17/07/2010

Chris van Zyl - I think everyone who attended the Short Circuit racing at Killarney on Saturday will agree that we had the most wonderful weather. Nice and sunny with no wind – perfect racing conditions! As Craig Hume said, the weather gods are on our side.
     Saturday saw two new rookie drivers making their motorsport debut in Formula M cars. Stacey Ferreira, daughter of the well-known Wayne Ferreira, who helped build the first Formula M prototype cars and also raced with them in the 1980’s and 90’s. She is only 21 years old and raced with the newly rebuild silver car with a Yamaha TZR 250cc 3XV 2-stoke motor. Thanks to Wayne, Danny and Vonnie for all the long hours in the garage the car was ready for the race. A special notice to Arno, Dee-Jay and the other guys - watch your back, as Stacey will soon be up there in front with you guys! The other new rookie driver was Chris van Zyl who raced in the pink car, made available by Tanya Oosthuizen in her absence. Chris was grateful to experience the high speed adrenaline pumping racing on the short circuit and will soon write a report on this great experience! To all Tanya’s fans, don’t worry, she will be back at the next race meeting!
     In Heat 1 going into the first corner Arno Hougaard as always pushing the limits of his cold tyres, lost control and spun out. He had to work very hard and play catchup, but after 10 laps he could only manage 2nd place, just behind the very quick Dee-Jay Booysen. Ryno Pentz had an unfortunate breakdown in the first race and could not finish. Willem Du Toit did very well to secure a 3rd place position. The rookie, Chris van Zyl managed to get a 6th place finish - good enough to get his first point on the 2010 Championship board.
     Heat 2 was a tight race between Arno and Dee-Jay as usual, but in the end Arno took the checkered flag. Ryno was right on Willem’s tail and was patiently waiting for the right time to overtake him. They were really fighting hard for that 3rd position, but in the end on the last lap Willem made a small mistake and Ryno got pass him to take 3rd place. Johann De Bod and Philip Jonas had some trouble with their cars and could not complete the race. The problems were luckily all sorted out before the start of Heat 3.
     In Heat 3 there was a big battle in the middle of the pack between Craig Hume and Philip Jonas but in the end Philip planted the knockout punch to win the fight. Craig is still a novice driver and looking better and better after every race meeting. Keep it up Craig! Arno was flying again right in front of the pack when he made a miscalculation as he entered the buss-stop section and crashed into the back of Stacey Ferreira on the 2nd last lap of the race. This accident cost him his 1st position for Heat 3 as well as his 1st position for the day. Dee-Jay once again took the checkered flag with his teammate Ryno right behind him. Willem got his well deserved 3rd place to secure his 3rd position for the day.
     The Driver of the day award went to Dee-Jay Booysen and the fastest lap of the day was set once again by Arno Hougaard with a time of 42,600 seconds. Well done to all the drivers and on behalf of myself and all the drivers, a special thank you to all the Pit Mach’s or shall I say “Fairies” as Danny Le Roux likes to call them, for always being there on the side of the track and making sure the cars are in tip-top condition.

Race results for the day:

Heat 1: 1st – Dee-Jay Booysen, 2nd – Arno Hougaard, 3rd – Willem du Toit, 4th – Philip Jonas
Heat 2: 1st – Arno Hougaard, 2nd – Dee-Jay Booysen, 3rd – Ryno Pentz, 4th – Willem du Toit
Heat 3: 1st – Dee-Jay Booysen, 2nd – Ryno Pentz, 3rd – Willem du Toit, 4th – Arno Hougaard
Overall: 1st – Dee-Jay Booysen, 2nd – Arno Hougaard, 3rd – Willem du Toit, 4th – Ryno Pentz

Race Report - 12/06/2010

Chris van Zyl - It was a beautiful, but ice cold winters day at Killarney with a rain forecast towards the evening. A total of 8 Formula M cars entered for the day’s racing. During qualifying, Ryno Pentz managed to secure pole position on the grid with his best lap time 2 seconds faster than the rest of the drivers. Heat 1 provided some exciting racing when Arno Hougaard, at the time in 3rd postion, wiped out on Engen corner in the first lap. He lost some valuble time and dropped down to last place. Within 5 laps he managed to pass all the drivers in front of him and was back in 4th place, right behind Willem du Toit. Willem did his best but Arno passed him on the outside on Engen corner in lap 8. In front it was a battle for 1st and second place by the two Dico Auto Electical sponserd cars driven by Dee-Jay Booysen and Ryno Pentz. At the end Dee-Jay made it look very easy and took the checkered flag. In Heat 2 and 3, Arno Hougaard made light work of the competision and took the checkered flag both times with Dee-Jay Booysen on his tail. Heat 3 had some more action when Tanya Oosthuzen and Philip Jones showed some marvelous driving skills as they battled it out for 5th position. They also received and shared the “Driver of the Day” trophy. Arno Hougaard did the fastest lap for the day with a time of 42.838 seconds.

Race results for the day:

Heat 1: 1st – Dee-Jay Booysen, 2nd – Ryno Pentz, 3rd – Arno Hougaard, 4th – Willem du Toit
Heat 2: 1st – Arno Hougaard, 2nd – Dee-Jay Booysen, 3rd – Ryno Pentz, 4th – Willem du Toit
Heat 3: 1st – Arno Hougaard, 2nd – Dee-Jay Booysen, 3rd – Ryno Pentz, 4th – Willem du Toit
Overall: 1st – Arno Hougaard, 2nd – Dee-Jay Booysen, 3rd – Ryno Pentz, 4th – Willem du Toit

The 2009 Championship Summary

Arno Hougaard - 2009 saw Arno dismantle the ageing "Dico Domination" by Dee-Jay right from the first race. The bullet-proof 400's just weren't walking the walk all the way to the top although they always seem to be the standard-setters when it comes to wet conditions. Two thirds through the season, Willem was right in there with Ryno, ready to make the most of any slip-up that could come his way, but it simply wasn't to be as he himself suffered mechanical problems during his efforts to climb up the ladder when the heat came on. Tanya competed in her first full season and gained some valuable experience and made a couple of upsets along the way coming oh-so-close to getting her first podium. Phillip suffered from some illness that kept him out of the hunt whilst Konrad had some misfortune with his strange modifications to the look of his car that just didn't pay off. Craig joined up to get some butterflies out of the system and prepare himself for what was to come in 2010...

2009 Championship Results: