Sharonlea father and son racers deliver at the championship round of the Historic Single Seaters
Michael Kernick, and his father Alan, displayed good performances at the Historic Single Seaters championship round, despite Michael having car issues.
After a short break, Michael Kernick and his team were back for the second championship round of the Historic Single Seaters Association at Zwartkops Raceway.
Read more: Local racer has a few hiccups at Zwartkops Raceway, but looks forward to future races
The Sharonlea based racer was in the 1965 Capital Formula Vee in the Historic Formula Vee class. His father, Alan Kernick, raced the 1984 Tempest Formula Ford in the historic Formula Ford class.
The qualifying round was slippery and tricky because of the rain. Michael managed to qualify first in class by two seconds, while Alan went out and qualified seventh overall, and fifth in his class.
“I was very surprised as I didn’t think I had driven that fast. I thought I was only second fastest,” said Michael.
In race 1, the track was dry as the rain had stopped. Michael had a good start and kept the lead of the Formula Vee class, battling with Tony Beecher. Unfortunately, one of the other cars broke an engine and spilled oil all over the track, resulting in the race being stopped on the second lap.
On restart, Michael managed to keep the lead up and opened a gap from Beecher, until his car broke down. Refusing to give up, he stopped at the pit and worked on it, ending up finishing in last place.
“I knew it was going to be a tough race to win. On lap 2, while in the lead exiting turn 6, I heard a clunk, and the car had lost drive. I quickly worked out what was wrong and pulled into the pits. I wasn’t about to give up. I managed to finish the race and have quickest lap in class, 1.5 seconds quicker than Beecher, who won the race.”
Also read: Sharonlea racer impresses at Zwartkops Top of the Hill Challenge
Alan drove like a champion and finished third overall and second in the Formula Ford class.
Michael started last in the Formula Vee class for race 2, and had work to do to catch up. He had a good start and climbed back into the lead of class. He won the Historic Formula Vee class by five seconds, and got quickest lap of class.
He explained that he was very surprised by his performance, and was not expecting to have such a comeback. “I managed a good start. Going behind Beecher, I got a good exit, got passed him, and pulled a gap. I thought to myself: ‘If I keep my head down, I can maintain the gap’. As the race went on, I pulled a bigger gap from him, before he made a mistake. That took some pressure off, and I was able to focus on driving.”
Starting in third place in race 2, Alan managed to get to 4th place in the Formula Ford class.
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