Monday, September 20, 2010

Round 7 - 18/09/2010 - Kyalami

The penultimate round of the Execuline Formula Vee championship was held at the legendary Kyalami circuit where title contenders Peter Hills (Renexcon) and MSA development driver Zaahir Essa (Reflex Solutions) needed to make a convincing impression on the points table to hopefully secure what has been an epic 2010 championship battle.

At one second a lap under the existing lap record, Hills and Essa fought tooth and nail for the lead of both heats. Essa was clearly suffering from a lack of power as Hills lead most of the laps with ease, but in the closing laps of the first race Essa managed to sneak in front. After a tough duel on the last lap, Hills found his way back in front to take the victory.

The second race proved to be a copy of the first, however a slight hold-up with a backmarker in the second last lap allowed Essa to really attack for the lead. After some aggressive defending from Hills, Essa could not avoid him into the final lap and lost his nosecone and brake master cylinder. Despite the lack of motor and brake power, he still found a way to dive past Hills in the final few corners and cross the line in first place.

“That was an intense weekend,” Essa revealed. “We just could not fix a nagging misfire that has been bugging me since the last race in Welkom, and it’s not something you can drive around. I tried everything I could on-track to fight for the lead with what I had, and it really was great racing. I now have to focus on getting the maximum performance for the final race.”

Essa managed to achieve a new lap record at Kyalami with his Lotto-provided Rhema 2 and gained an extra point for his effort, but he still lies a somewhat distant 7 points from Hills going into the final race at Zwartkops on the 16th of October – which still promises to be a great climax to a fiery season.