SA’s next F1 champ? SA driver does a Scheckter in Sweden

A racing driver from Johannesburg, Michael Kernick, rewrote history recently at Sweden’s Anderstorp Raceway by becoming the first South African to win a race there since Jody Scheckter’s Grand Prix win in 1976.

At the wheel of an historic Ford GT40 in a race for classic racers, Kernick beat the rest of the field of old cars, setting the five fastest laps in the process and won a second race against a much tougher field with four other GT40s.

Elated

“I am speechless and in disbelief; it was a real dream come true,” said an ecstatic Kernick.

 “It was mega to be the South African to change that. I am the first South African to win there since F1 world champion Jody Scheckter.”

The weekend started with two short practice sessions, where he tested the historic Formula Vee from 1971 in the rain. On Friday, there were two practice sessions for the Gt40 (pre-1965 race) and two for the historic Formula Vee races.

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Racing in the rain

He said having both practice sessions in the rain was fun. “The car was absolutely wild in the wet; I have never driven anything so wild before, it was so much fun and to be the quickest in those conditions was amazing. I really didn’t expect it. Doing 200km/h in the wet and getting wheel-spin was really exciting.”

In the qualifying session in the GT40, he was in the pole position by two seconds for the first race. In the dry-weather Formula Vee race 1 he finished 10th.

In the Pre-1965 race in the Gt40 he dropped to second, but managed to win. He triumphed also in the second race. In the second Formula Vee event, he moved from 12th to 5th at the finish.

“The two wins were mind-blowing – never did I think that would happen. It’s really nice for my family, being the first Kernick to race overseas,” he said.

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