Formula Vee SA

Photo by: Paul Schiemer

From the Brundage Archive

 

Based on this idea, other cars were built and this eventually led to the formation of a Formula Vee Racing Association, in America, on the 18th January 1963 and the category is still well supported in that country, today. From these humble beginnings, the Formula spread across the United States and the rest of the World, arriving in South Africa in 1965. At a meeting of interested persons, the Formula Vee Association of South Africa was formed and on the 15th May 1965, three Formula Vee cars competed at a Club Race Meeting, at Kyalami. Six weeks later, the first Formula Vee race in South Africa, was run at the same venue.

One of the first South African Formula Vees

In it's first year, the Formula was restricted to 1200cc air cooled Volkswagen Beetle engines. Then for the 1966 season, Formula Vee was granted Transvaal Championship status. This first Championship, was won by Dave Charlton, driving a Peco Vee and with assistance from Volkswagen S A, he was sent to represent South Africa in a Formula Vee race, at the Nurburgring in Germany. Unfortunately he crashed early in the race. The following year, 1300cc engines were introduced and run together with the 1200cc cars, in two separate classes. Once again a Transvaal Championship was run. This time, it was Tony Jeffries in a Capital Vee who took the honors, at the end of the season. Again the Champion was given the opportunity, to represent South Africa overseas. Tony was sent, to compete in an International Vee race in the Bahamas. Ninety six cars, from fourteen countries, entered the event, which the Americans declared a Formula Vee World Championship race. Not only did Tony qualify for the 200 mile final but led for most of the race, in his Pretoria built Capital Vee. In the end, he won the race by 13,2 seconds, from the Austrian Champion Dieter Quester, with Jochen Rindt finishing third and Dr Helmut Marko fourth. These three drivers, all went on to become top class drivers. Dieter Quester won the European Touring Car Championship, four times. Jochen Rindt posthumously won, the Grand Prix World Championship, driving for Lotus, while Dr Helmut Marko, also became a Grand Prix driver.

Dave Charlton and Tony Jefferies

 

In 1968, Formula Vee attained South African National Championship status for the first time. That year, it was Meyer Botha's turn, to represent South Africa overseas and he was sent to Daytona, in the United States of America. In the final, he worked his way up to sixth place, after starting near the back of the grid but then he made contact with another competitor and was flipped out of the race. Fortunately, he escaped with no more than a broken nose but that put paid to any chance, of repeating Tony Jeffries' success, from the previous year. The last of these overseas trips, saw Terry Townsend represent South Africa at the Nurburgring in Germany.

 

A number of top South African drivers, competed in Formula Vee, during it's early days. These included, Cooper works Grand Prix driver Tony Maggs, six times South African National Driving Champion John Love and top Formula One and Sports Car driver Peter De Klerk.

John Love

 

Many ex Vee drivers have also moved on, to compete successfully in other categories, in this country. They include National Driving Champions, like Dave Charlton and Tony Martin. Formula Ford Champions, like Desire Wilson (Randall), Roly Nofke, Braam Smith, Basil Mann and Heinrich Lategan and Formula GTi Champions, like Basil Mann, Marco Dos Santos, Etienne Van Der Linde and Johan Smith, while ex Vee drivers Malcolm Cochrane and Tony Scott, have also won the Formula GTi Class B Championship. Judy Charlton (Witter), became the first woman to win an SA National Championship, when she took the Formula Vee title in 1973 and she then went on, to share the 1977 Group One Championship, with Sarel Van Der Merwe. More recently, Marco Dos Santos and Heinrich Lategan, have also distinguished themselve as privateer entries in the South African Touring Car series, while George Ferreira won the 2001 SA Vodacom Sports Prototype Championship Darren Murphy claimed the 2003 SA Junior Production Car Championship and Lee Thompson won the 2007 National Polo Cup Championship.

 

There have also been a number of South Africa’s ex Formula Vee drivers who went on to compete successfully overseas, as well. Tony Martin won the Daytona 24 Hour Sports Car Race, Basil Mann won various European Formula Ford 2000 Championships and Rad Dougall won both British Formula Ford 2000 Championships, in 1977. He then moved on, to compete in the European Formula Two Championship, finishing fifth in the Championship, in 1979. Dave Charlton had a few Grand Prix drives, overseas and in 1980, Desire Wilson became the first woman, to win a Formula One race, while competing in the British Formula One series. Prior to that, she had also won Formula Ford 2000 races. in England and also went on, to win some Sports Car, World Endurance Championship races, sharing the De Cadinet Ford, with Alain De Cadinet. She also had a once off drive in a works Tyrrell, at the South African Grand Prix (a non Championship event that year, due to a dispute between the FIA and FOCA). Desire then moved to the United States of America, where she also raced Champ Cars, for a while. Toby Scheckter also went on, to compete overseas, as did his brother Thomas who became a Jaguar Formula One Team Test Driver, before moving to the United States of America, where he became a regular Indy Car driver. After finishing second, in the 1997 British Formula Renault Championship, our youngest National Formula Vee Champion, Etienne Van Der Linde, went on to win the 1998 Formula Opel Euroseries Championship and Wesleigh Orr, spent the 2007/2008 A1GP season, touring the World, as the A1 Team South Africa rookie driver, after he had, had a few outings in the Mexican Formula Renault Championship, prior to that.

 

Over the years, South Africa's Formula Vee drivers, have had thousands of spins, hundreds of crashes and been involved in more, close multi car battles, than you could possibly imagine. Eventually, the long reign of the trusty Volkswagen Beetle Air Cooled motor, came to an end an in 1990, the Water Cooled Volkswagen Golf 1300cc motor, was introduced. This move, proved to be a resounding success and a new chapter, in the history of Formula Vee racing in South Africa, was opened. For the first year, the new motor was run alongside the old Beetle motor, for a one year transitional period. The first race. with the new motor, was at Kyalami on the 27th January 1990, were ex Moto Cross rider Iain Pepper, became the first driver to score National Championship points, with the new motor. A week later, Alan Kernick became the first driver to win a race with the new motor, when he won the second round of the 1990 National Formula Vee Championship, at Welkom's Goldfields Raceway. Then the young Free State driver Heinrich Lategan, set the first lap record with the new power unit, at Midvaal. By the end of the year, Heinrich had also become the first driver, to win a South African National Formula Vee Championship, in a car powered by a Volkswagen water cooled engine. He also had the distinction, of becoming the first competitor from the Orange Free State, to win the title. More recent changes, to the regulations, have seen the introduction of a new Cam Shaft and Twin Carburetors and the introduction of disc brakes, while in 2004, the category upgraded the motor to 1400cc, after Volkswagen SA stopped production of the 1300cc unit and in 2005, the category moved away from road tires, for the first time in it's history, with the introduction of the Dunlop Formula R Semi Slick.

Anniversary events were organized, for the 21st and 25th Anniversaries, of the category in South Africa. Then in 1995, the 30th Anniversary event, wrote another chapter in the long and distinguished history of Formula Vee racing in South Africa. A number of overseas competitors came over, to South Africa to compete in the event, including five times American Champion Bill Noble, German double Champion Urwin Gasser, the 1997 German Champion Joachim Lutz, the 1995 British Champion Andres Serrano, and an Australian Champion, Daniel Orr. In addition to them, another American driver, another British driver, three more Germans and a Swiss driver, made the trip to South Africa, for our 30th Anniversary.

A couple of years earlier, four South Africa drivers had competed in the American 30th Anniversary, at their own expense, including the only person at that time, to have won the South African National Formula Vee Championship three times, Gawie Gouws. Then in 1996, no less than nine South African drivers, more than likely, the biggest contingent of South African drivers to have raced in an overseas event, went to Germany for their 30th Anniversary, run on the new Nurburgring Circuit. The South African contingent distinguished themselves, with Victor Marcon, Symm Grobler, Peter Hills and Jack Tocknell, finishing second, third, fourth and fifth, in their race and Gawie Gouws, being the second of the British spec cars to finish, in his second heat.

Nurburgring 1996

Rob Opeka competed at the American 35th Anniversary event, in 1998 and in 2000, a small contingent of German drivers, came to South Africa, for the South African 35th Anniversary. The following year, six South Africans competed at the German 35th Anniversary event, the last race meeting, to be run at Hockenheim, before the circuit was changed dramatically, for the 2002 German Grand Prix.

Hockenheim 2001

 

In 2005, South Africa celebrated the 40th Anniversary of the category, with another Anniversary event, which once again included overseas participation, from Germany and was run at the Altech Grand Prix Masters event, at Kyalami. A week later, the annual Formula Vee Two Hour Endurance event, at Zwartkops, also formed part of the 40^th Anniversary celebrations and once again, a contingent of South African Formula Vee drivers visited Germany in 2006, to compete in their 40^th Anniversary, at the Nurburgring.

The category continues writing new pages, to it’s long and illustrious history, with Alan Holm equaling Gawie Gouws’ three National Championships and becoming the first driver in the history of South African Formula Vee Racing, to achieve that in three consecutive seasons, with Gawie having one his three Championships, in three different decades. The South African Formula Vee Development Program, is also making its contribution, to the record books, as well. The Formula Vee Motorsport South Africa National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund supported development program, is bearing fruit and in 2008, seventeen year old Courtney Steenveld started writing his name, in South African Formula Vee history. Racing at his home circuit in Cape Town, two days after his father’s funeral he became the first South African Formula Vee development driver, to lead a National Championship race and the first development driver, to finish a National Championship race, in the top three. A few days before his eighteenth birthday, he became the first development driver, to win a National Championship Formula Vee race, at Phakisa and went on to finish third, in the 2008 South African National Formula Vee Championship, the first time that this has been achieved, by one of our development drivers. Courtney is continuing to make history in 2009 becoming the first development driver to start a National Championship Formula Vee race from pole position and the first development driver, to head a South African National Championship point’s log. The season still has a long way to go but after round two, of the 2009 South African National Formula Vee Championship, at Midvaal, Courtney was at the top of the log.

After all these years, in South Africa, the Formula still continues to fill the roll of a low cost, entry level, National Championship Formula, providing close, exciting, action packed racing. The ideal platform, from which to launch South Africa's motor racing stars of the future.