Gert wins national title
He received a national award for being the 2016 National Formula Vee Champion
SECUNDA – Gert van den Berg, local driver, won the 2016 Hankook SA National Formula Vee Championship at the recent Sasol Race Day held at the Zwartkops Raceway in Pretoria.
Gert was leading the close fought championship by three points going into the last race weekend.
The National Formula Vee Championship is a tightly regulated category that celebrated 50 years of national championship status this year.
The category is based on Volkswagen components and the most affordable national motor racing category for circuit racing.
Regulations are strictly applied and after each race, the cars are checked for compliance to the rules and regulations.
Van den Berg has been competing since 2011 and had various degrees of success, ranging from third to seventh in the previous championships.
He said there is no word that can express the joy he has after winning the tittle.
“It was a great reward winning the title from three other ex-champions in the field, especially since it was such a close fought championship.
“The hard work and dedication paid off and the feeling of achievement is immense, knowing that I have done all the work on the car myself.
“I thank my wife, Mellet, for her support and my mom and dad for travelling from Bloemfontein to all the races to assist at the track.
“Special thanks to my current sponsors and Goldwagen Secunda and Tyremart.”
Van den Berg said this year it was different for him and he showed real pace from the first race weekend of the year.
In the final event, he had to keep a close eye on three previous champions as the first four competitors were split by 10 points going into the last event and 32 points up for grabs.
He managed to qualify in third position with the top 11 competitors split by one second.
During the two heats, he managed his closest competitors perfectly and finished the day in second position overall, after setting the fastest lap of the day during race one.
With this result, Van den Berg secured the national championship in its 50th year.
As recognition, he was invited to the Motorsport South Africa National Awards banquet to which only the national category champions are invited.
During this event, he received his national award for being the 2016 National Formula Vee Champion with stars like Dakar hero Leeroy Poulter and Moto3 World Champion Brad Binder in attendance.
Van den Berg said the challenge for the future is securing a sponsorship based on the results achieved and to defend the national title next year.
Due to funding constraints and work commitments, he will not be able to move up to the next category, however his goal is to participate in some overseas Formula Vee races in the following years.
