The Formula Vee 40th Anniversary races, to be run at the Altech GP Masters and Altech F1X2 race meeting, at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit on the 12th and 13th November 2005, will be a real Race of Champions. The forty car field, includes nine Formula Vee Champions, with no less than thirteen Championships to their credit.
Representing South Africa, will be the 1978, 1984 and 1996 South African National Formula Vee Champion, Gawie Gouws, in the No111 Mantis Vee, the 1997 and 1998 National Champion, Anthony Taylor, in the No77 Rigidek Rhema 2, the 1999 National Champion, Peter Hills, in the No5 Vacuform Rhema 2, the 2000 title holder, Dennis Johns, in the No7 Rhema 2, the 2004 National Champion, Symm Grobler, in the No1 Auto Mecca Rhema 2 and the newly crowned 2005 South African National Formula Vee Champion, Alan Holm, in the No2 JBS Lasersprint Rhema 2. In addition to this impressive list, of current and ex South African Formula Vee Champions, the field also includes the 1991 German Formula Vee Champion, Reiner Badura from Wilhemshaven, the 1995 British Formula Vee Champion, Andres Serrano and the 1997 and 2003 German Champion, Joachim Lutz from Ulm who will be doing the Saturday race, in the No1 Auto Mecca Rhema.
Up against this elite group of Champions, will be a host of other talented South African and overseas Formula Vee competitors, including the current crop of teenage Karting graduates, Andre Van Der Merwe, No72 Acc Airconditioning Rhema 2, Kyle Bennett, No16 Tata Rhema, Trevor Bland, No14 AC DC Dynamics Rhema and Laurent Calkoen, No66 Autoquip Mail & Guardian Vision. Where overseas drivers are sharing cars, with South African drivers, the overseas drivers will race the cars in the Saturday race, while the local competitors will be behind the wheel of their cars, for the Sunday race. These overseas drivers, include Manfred Benninger, from Ulm, Dirk Schubert, from Köln, Harry Ohs, from Münster, Dr Nico Prey. from Schlier and Arno Sommer, from Hemmingen, in Germany
Making it’s debut at the race, will be the No56 Bearing Man car, designed and constructed by a team of University of KwaZulu Natal Engineering students, as their fourth year engineering project. For the Kyalami event, they have nominated Claude Janisch, son of the 1986 South African National Formula Vee Champion, Ken Janisch, to drive the car for them. Also included in the field, will be representation from the official Motorsport South Africa Development Program, in the form of Benny Phetla, in the No9 Lotto Vision and Devan Moonsammy, in the No130 Lotto Rhema. A number of competitors will also be making the long haul, from Cape Town, to compete in the event and these include Doug MacDonald, No11 Rhema, Chris Danks, No 23 Stalcor Rhema 2, Romanie Smithdorf, No24 Lantis, John MacDonald, No41 Lantis, Nian DuToit, No42 Lantis and Calvin Beekman, No44 Laser.
The category usually produces close competitive racing and with such a large field, the Formula Vee 40th Anniversary races, taking place on both the Saturday and the Sunday, are not to be missed.
