Dean Venter (Turnfab Engineering / Manitou Mygale) went to Phakisa having won three of the last four races in the 2016 Investchem Formula Ford championship. He continued this rich run of form when he claimed pole position and then won both races at the sixth round of the series on Saturday, 10 September 2016.
The top three on the championship log filled the first three places on the grid. Venter was comfortably quickest in the qualifying session ahead of Andrew Horne (Xena Chemicals / Budd Power Royale RP31) and David Jermy (Matt Nash Motorsport Van Diemen). Jeff Gable (Taylon Motorsport Van Diemen) was fourth ahead of Dalan Holton (Copperlake Brewery Van Diemen) and Paul Schultz (Knottsberry Foods Mygale) although Schultz did not make it to the start as his motor expired just after he set his quickest lap time. Allen Meyer (Van Diemen) and Joe Nash (Matt Nash Racing Swift) rounded out the top eight.
Venter make no mistake at the start of the first race and slowly pulled away from the chasing pack. This was initially led by Horne then Jermy got past before Horne re-claimed second and set off about trying to chase down Venter.
Venter, however, had things under control at the front and went on to win by 4.4 seconds from Horne. Jermy’s race came to a premature end when he spun at the hairpin and was unable to restart his car. This promoted Gable to third, a position he held until the flag.
Meyer and Nash had a race-long battle for fourth that eventually went the way of Meyer by less than two tenths of a second. Holton finished in sixth with Alex Vos (Ecurie Zoo Swift) and Steve Venter (Turnfab Engineering / Manitou Swift) in seventh and eighth respectively.
In race two Horne wasn’t going to let Venter get away again and hounded him all the way through the eight-lap race but just didn’t have that final little bit to find a way through. Venter kept him at bay to take his second win of the day, this time by only 0.16 seconds.
Behind the leading duo a three-way fight for the final podium position developed. Initially the chase was led by Gable but his motor lost power and he dropped down the field eventually having to settle for sixth. Meyer then took up the reins with Jermy, who had to work his way up from the back of the grid after his first race misfortune, and Nash in close attendance. They crossed the line in that order with just over half a second covering the three cars. Holton and Vos were seventh and eighth.
Venter’s two wins gave him the overall victory on the day with Horne and Gable filling the other podium positions.
Going into the final two rounds of the championship Horne’s advantage has been reduced but he still leads the way by 17-points from Venter. Jermy has dropped down to third, 15 points behind Venter. Ian Schofield, who missed the Phakisa race due to business commitments, is still in fourth place on the log with Gable and Holton in fifth and sixth respectively.
The penultimate round of the Investchem Formula Ford Kent championship takes place at Zwartkops Raceway on Saturday, 8 October 2016.