tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47135211500226632912011-07-29T10:51:59.546+02:00Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.comBlogger451100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-56208156707212883652011-02-21T11:10:00.002+02:002011-02-21T11:14:34.678+02:00

The opening round of the 2011 National Formula Vee championship took place at the fast and flowing circuit of Phakisa this weekend when the category rejoined the Pro Tour. Runner up to the 2010 championship and MSA development driver Zaahir Essa (Reflex Solutions) arrived with high hopes in his Lotto-provided Rhema 2 vehicle.Essa seemed to struggle with setting up the handling of the car and

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-560494086404472402010-10-18T10:32:00.003+02:002010-10-18T10:41:05.513+02:00

The final round of the Execuline Formula Vee championship held at Zwartkops was to be the arena for the head-to-head championship duel between MSA development driver Zaahir Essa (Reflex Solutions) and ex-champion Peter Hills (Renexcon). Hills lead Essa by 7 points going into the weekend and, to make things more interesting, multiple ex-champion Alan Holm (Office Direct) was making a return to the

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-89964861525518046662010-09-20T11:30:00.004+02:002010-09-20T11:35:34.524+02:00

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

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-67649252121603116512010-08-12T08:12:00.003+02:002010-08-12T08:16:03.676+02:00

Welkom was host to the 6th round of the Formula Vee national championship last weekend. The Phakisa circuit is one of the favourites among drivers and spectators. Development driver Zaahir Essa (Reflex Solutions), one of the 2010 title contenders together with Peter Hills (Renexcon), turned out to be the centre of drama for both heats on the Saturday in his Lotto-provided Rhema 2.Struggling

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-86955003551239030562010-07-05T11:17:00.002+02:002010-07-05T11:48:25.233+02:00

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,

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-54367540194244550002010-05-10T12:03:00.001+02:002010-05-10T12:08:20.801+02:00

The 4th round of the Execuline Formula Vee championship took place at Aldo Scribante in Port Elizabeth this weekend where the raging championship battle continued with the top four drivers being separated by only eight points. Following through from his previous successes this season, MSA development driver Zaahir Essa (Reflex Solutions) put his Lotto-provided Rhema 2 on pole position for the

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-56004550762842019142010-04-12T09:26:00.002+02:002010-04-12T13:32:29.384+02:00

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

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-35398311506951876972010-03-08T13:11:00.003+02:002010-03-08T13:17:20.768+02:00

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

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-85767822872747816502008-11-29T12:10:00.003+02:002009-12-28T09:37:43.103+02:00

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

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-38175204369460283502008-10-19T21:50:00.006+02:002008-10-19T22:08:56.474+02:00

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

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-90757225940762436352008-10-03T01:38:00.005+02:002008-10-03T01:43:22.865+02:00

Race 1Race 2

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-45417466593405289172008-09-15T13:39:00.002+02:002008-09-15T20:02:40.885+02:00

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

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-75687166180115254232008-08-18T00:58:00.001+02:002008-08-18T01:00:46.320+02:00

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-90297291947913298962008-08-08T23:27:00.001+02:002008-08-08T23:29:45.581+02:00

Coming from an exciting and very fast weekend at East London, the next round of the Pro Tour was just 3 weeks later at the other speedy circuit of Kyalami. My car seems to be in a somewhat developmental stage, with certain parts and modifications being attempted to try and get it to handle like the newer spec cars. This unfortunately did not gel perfectly at one race (or ideally between races),

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-36320024921354372342008-07-14T23:46:00.005+02:002008-07-14T23:53:09.829+02:00

The 6th round of the Pro Tour was held at the extremely fast East London GP circuit, and it is great fun in a Vee! I had reasonable success last year, and was looking forward to this race after some modifications were done to improve my handling. After a couple of practice sessions however, I was struggling with the balance in the infield section, and eventually had to settle for a car that

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-67189471972744212222008-06-24T21:11:00.004+02:002008-06-24T21:39:27.613+02:00

First indications: rocking engine!! I certainly noticed a dramatic improvement instantly. The top 2 or 3 drivers still have better grunt, but this new engine overhaul at least allows me to stay in the slipstream...Throughout the sessions I was struggling with some pretty chronic understeer, I lost an insane amount of time in the slow corners on the circuit, probably 95% of the laptime lost to the

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-86482323412219842852008-06-13T18:16:00.006+02:002008-06-14T10:59:24.145+02:00

The next race at Zwartkops is coming up fast...the next 3 races are spaced 3weeks apart from each other. Crazy stuff. I also now have the least amount of money in the bank ever, and owe a lot of people money :P Hectic times. Just gotta survive this somehow....I'm really not using simracing to its full capacity to help with my Formula Vee racing....maybe a couple years ago. I just race in a local

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-79012727207595373222008-05-12T19:47:00.007+02:002008-05-15T20:09:15.840+02:00

Things were not looking great coming into this race. My car was not up to standard, and there just isn't enough money to work on these things.Before things got underway, I had a long chat to my race mechanic about my lack of power. There's a lot that needs to be worked on to get my engine to similar standard as front-running guys :( It will cost a hell of a lot of money, so this is never going to

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-44938440670447916502008-05-12T19:29:00.003+02:002008-05-12T19:43:54.314+02:00

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-16705065569382407202008-05-07T22:54:00.004+02:002008-05-07T22:59:30.577+02:00

Ha!This is the most unprepared I've ever been for a race. Things just went really quiet for whatever reason. From the last race, my engine was quite low on power, was overheating, the throttle cable was stuck open, gearbox had a big leak, my rake angle is wrong.....and well, nothing has been fixed to my knowledge. I hope Dean has done something, but all I know is that I do have 4 wheels.I'll have

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-84720346458552490282008-04-14T22:30:00.011+02:002008-04-14T23:09:23.248+02:00

Round 3 of the Pro Tour saw yet another visit to Kyalami. I enjoy this circuit, but I'm just too slow for whatever reason hehe. Reasons I have come to see after this weekend....New tyres were great! Thanks to Symplexity again, the car really felt like a new beast. I could brake so much later (and steadier) than before, and just chuck the car into the corners. I struggled quite a bit with

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-19320348797740216872008-04-03T09:17:00.003+02:002008-04-03T09:26:18.935+02:00

Things are looking okay, heading into Round 3 of 2008. I definitely still need a major sponsor, but hopefully now my new tyres give me a good chunk of pace back. To be honest, it surely cant perform miracles, but I need to really push now to get into the top5. Getting there is going to be really difficult, there are a lot of fast drivers. I'm currently sitting 7th in the championship close behind

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-89142818540195662242008-03-12T16:08:00.005+02:002008-03-14T11:02:39.775+02:00

Thanks to Pieter K and Symplexity for helping me out with a much needed new set of tyres for the next round at Kyalami, and additional help for the rest of the season. Their actions will really help motivate me to push on further, and the struggle to keep a dream going has been eased up a bit :) The search still continues for further aid!http://www.symplexity.co.za/Thanks a million guys.

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-692688146624796502008-03-09T13:49:00.003+02:002008-03-09T13:52:51.013+02:00

Article on FSR describing my real racing combined with simracing.

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-87020757171543887102008-03-09T13:24:00.009+02:002008-04-03T09:16:03.416+02:00

And so it was that the 2nd round of the Pro Tour was to be a tale of tyres for me. It was pretty damn hot in Port Elizabeth. The Friday practice sessions really took it out of me, and my poor race fitness was showing as by the time we came to quali, I hardly had any energy left. The car handled poorly from the start. The track surface was incredibly abrasive, and I had a really difficult time

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-66895292087242226502008-03-03T23:09:00.004+02:002008-03-03T23:35:04.974+02:00

Well the next race is upon me, and I have not really prepared that much mentally for it. I have been extremely busy in life, and it looks like the next few months will be quite intense. Racing will have to take a back seat? Hope not.I phoned Dean, and chatted to him about my car. Seeing as I have no sponsors on board yet, even after some intensive searching, I will not have new tyres on my car. I

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-79079192645156760402008-02-06T00:57:00.000+02:002008-02-06T01:12:34.104+02:00

I keep losing it, it seems. Until I realise I am off the path.Getting caught up in life is so easy. Getting caught up in the difficulties of racing....there is no money. Thinking of the sacrifices made, priorities and what could be saved if you choose to not risk everything just for something like a set of new tyres, or a chance at improving the condition of the car. What's it all for anyway? Is

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-2082528999862793202008-01-28T11:24:00.000+02:002008-01-28T23:53:05.556+02:00

Sigh.I was amped, but it was quite disappointing. I was struggling with the brakes all weekend, it seemed something had gone amiss in my front suspension after eliminating several possibilities and wasted practice sessions.These cars are violent under braking, usually if you brake too hard, the wheels start vibrating and shake the entire front end of the car like crazy....so you have to ease on

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-75903883432544112852008-01-23T22:21:00.000+02:002008-01-23T23:23:18.223+02:00

What have I been doing wrong in 2007? Basically everything, it's been a shocker and I'm ashamed to admit it.With these low powered cars, concentrating on exit speed is KEY. KEY KEYKEYKEYKEYKEYKEYKEYKEYKEYKEKYKEYKEYI followed an ex-champion around the track in the final session of the year, and I wanted to vomit. I haven't been using all of the track. Sounds daft, but there's always more, even use

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-66415478852942287762008-01-23T22:08:00.001+02:002008-01-23T22:20:49.314+02:00

We all have our own way to focus before every race. If you see me with earphones on sometime before a race, please leave me the f#%k alone.I have different songs for different moods....I play the 1st few songs usually, though.Queen - We Will Rock YouDr Stephen Baysted - GTR_Monza_Grazie (from GTR2)Booker T & the MG's - Green OnionsMuse - Piano ThingRob D - Clubbed to Death...and currently on the

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-87265110733188262782008-01-23T21:55:00.000+02:002008-01-23T22:05:51.363+02:00

Hello there.I haven't realised the amount of people that read this blog, and I haven't really had the time to update it. Apologies. I'll try keep this going every race, and as brief as I can! (hehe)I finished my 1st season in racing on quite a high....getting competitive, knocking on top5 for quite a while...just wished I had sponsors to get things constantly repaired :P I finished the 2007

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-77904767282580368112007-09-05T00:29:00.000+02:002007-09-05T00:31:32.233+02:00

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-78096740505554501742007-05-20T18:11:00.000+02:002007-05-22T00:08:27.189+02:00

Wow. What can I say about this track.....absolutely - insane. It is SO FAST, I loved it!!!! WOWNESS :P These Formula Vee cars got up to 220kph....and my neck is sore from trying to keep my head from getting sucked out the car :)Practise and QualifyingArriving at the track, us newbies got bombarded with stories of Potter's Pass, how crazy it was, the dangerous crashes there, the minimal run-off

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-53027810680310805902007-05-04T22:31:00.000+02:002007-05-04T22:44:22.684+02:00

The next race date is coming up fast...East London on the 19th May...the original Grand Prix circuit. This picture of the track layout is all the knowledge I have of this circuit. I can only remember seeing a couple corners of it on TV, it's not in any game that I can practise on, and I can't find any onboard footage. So this will be a whole new experience.....I only have 3 practise sessions to

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-33338795351345942382007-04-16T18:03:00.000+02:002007-04-16T22:05:40.206+02:00

Looking back at my races, I see that I would be pretty much nowhere if I had gone into Formula Vee without any simracing experience (have not done karting at all).I don't need any help with racing lines, I can figure it out by myself. What's fast in the game is fast on track - it works. I was taught to be patient....don't let any emotions get in the way, and maybe even channeling the emotions to

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-40914125404200103642007-04-14T01:15:00.000+02:002007-04-16T17:51:06.752+02:00

Well, after my race at Kyalami, I thought I would have driven enough to make a few observations between real and sim racing.There's the poop factor. You are travelling in a race car at some speed, and although you're in a controlled environment, you are always on the limit (wouldn't be much of a race if you weren't) and things can go wayyyy wrong in an instant - you're in control, and you have

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-66592197547593817122007-03-26T17:05:00.000+02:002007-04-16T22:45:39.767+02:00

QualifyingRight. Saturday is here and its qualifying for the 1st session....so I really had to be mentally prepared before I went out for this one. Which I think I was! I got my mind in order, had some things to try out as I still don't know the circuit enough to be fully on the limit.... So I went out and started to try different gears for some corners, and 2nd gear was still giving me grief as

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-76199074186019751832007-03-25T14:59:00.000+02:002007-03-26T18:38:33.502+02:00

I slept nicely that Thursday evening. I felt I really got nicely focused for what to do, and seemed pretty calm going to the track. Just tried to keep focusing and to not get nervous. What did get me a little nervous was how wet the roads were...it had obviously rained early morning, and was drizzling a bit on the way there.....sure it’s fun and everything being on a wet track, but let me learn

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-5419808300169910642007-03-19T12:24:00.000+02:002007-04-16T22:40:47.182+02:00

Sooooooo many times now I've been asked the question....why? Plain and simple....no other other words to the sentence....just...."Why?"In discussions with people, they think it's cool I've started racing, blah blah blah. But when they find out I spend so much money on it, and dont get paid if I win a race, or any return at all for that matter.....then there's a 10 second pause, with the most

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-57359938642720746692007-03-12T21:48:00.000+02:002007-03-20T12:29:31.298+02:00

Oohhhh yes.Kyalami. Home of South African racing. The history behind it....and MAN what a track....looks hella fast. Race is in 2 weeks....and I'm feeling generally uneasy hehehe...I know where the corners go, played it in a computer game, but I know that means nothing. Plus the race meeting has minimal practise sessions, just 'coz Kyalami is so damn expensive to rent.....so I won't have much

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-29564505077463566672007-03-05T23:23:00.000+02:002007-03-06T00:08:12.288+02:00

just so i remember it.crossing the start/finish u approach 200kph. watch the 200m board flash past and get ur mind set for the whole braking thing. the 150m mark is a pole with the red flag on it....slam brakes as u flash past it, almost instantly downshifting to 3rd gear. car begins dancing around, and u gotta make slight wheel corrections. under braking i couldnt see much, with the vibrations

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-48553096142050405132007-02-19T21:05:00.000+02:002007-02-21T13:21:58.955+02:00

Heat 1i missed driver's briefing. oops. nobody freakn told me to go :P couldnt have been that important anyway rite...yeeeeeeeee it was race time. no matter how glum things looked, this was my 1st race and it was gonna rock. i just wanted to have a cool dice with sum1, dance around the track, etc etc. been waiting for this my whole life ya know...my noob teammies were nervous as hell. werent

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-4895184050803497902007-02-19T16:58:00.000+02:002007-02-21T13:21:09.626+02:00

i had a nice big fat breakfast before going to the track on saturday....because i knew i end up getting too tired from driving to eat properly at the track. what a big mistake that was :\ i dont know if it was nerves or what, i dont think so lol, i just ended up getting sick and thought i was gonna chunder any second. i managed to hold it down until the 1st session. so everyone was there in full

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-77595106782161318142007-02-15T17:36:00.000+02:002007-02-19T16:52:11.152+02:00

ok so its race time. i live in durban, so its quite difficult for me to keep travelling for the races. thanks to ajt for helping me out with storage and every damn thing u have done for me.....anyway, so i wont be getting any practise going to each race meeting. with my studies i have no time to travel inbetween races just to practise the track, i just gotta rock up there race weekend and figure

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713521150022663291.post-86440735315030952942007-02-15T14:34:00.000+02:002007-02-19T16:56:43.693+02:00

elo der.okee so the blog diary thingy has begun. my name's zaahir, and thought i'd wanna start thinking aloud hehe. yay :/aweh so i'm 22, a mechanical engineering student at university of kzn, and i enjoy listening to and playing music (guitar), drawing, art, and MOTORSPORT. i luuuv racing, is the only thing worth loving without ending up getting hurt :P emotionally, anyway. starting this blog

Zaahir Essahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804896021423726996noreply@blogger.com2