With round five of the 2014 season completed, the South African Single Seaters (SASS) have just three events left for this year. There are two national championships that fall into this category, the Formula Volkswagens (FVW) and the Midas Formula 1600s (F1600).
One of the regular SASS competitors raced this weekend, but not in South Africa, is Jayde Kruger who contests the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship. Kruger competed in the Snetterton race weekend on Saturday and Sunday – one race on Saturday with a further two on Sunday.
Kruger was top of the time sheets in qualifying and set off in pole. First lap contact with Ashley Sutton resulted in a sixth place finish but Kruger fought back in the following two races to finish fourth and second.
Back in SA, the faster Formula VW series sees a 12 point gap between the leading pair post-Phakisa with a return to form for defending champion Robert Wolk. From the outset Wolk set the pace, fastest in qualifying and winning the first race. Nicholas van Weely – points leader – turned the tables in race two to take the chequered flag and relegate Wolk to a second-place finish.
Van Weely suffered a setback in race one when he found himself stuck in sixth gear. When he managed to get his FVW out of sixth, he completed the race using just first to fifth which hurt his lap times – and he finished in fourth.
Wolk’s race victory and second place finish – in combination with Van Weely’s misfortune in race one – has closed the gap between them and the last three rounds will demand every bit of talent each can muster as they jockey for the title this season.
The F1600 category might not be as quick as their FVW counterparts – or be able to show off with wings and other aerodynamic aids, but that does not mean the racing action is any less exciting.
Scott Temple and Keegan Campos are no strangers to wheel-to-wheel racing with the pair fighting it out regularly on circuit – and they are the regulars at the top of the standings. With a margin of 12 points favouring Temple, this is another championship that will go down to the wire. Temple currently has the upper hand, winning both races at Phakisa.
The fight for third place is hotting up as well. Graham Hepburn is the current third-placed racer in the F1600 series, but Bevan Williams has put him on notice, two third-place finishes at Phakisa see him narrow the gap to Hepburn to just nine points.
