Camps Bay racer Julian van der Watt went to Kyalami with one mission in mind and that was to break Investchem Formula 1600 SA title rival Dewald Brummer’s iron 8-race winning streak grip on the series, and while he never quite achieved that in a bruising first race, he did beat Brummer in the second to keep his title hopes alive.
“It’s been a very difficult last few races because Dewald has a couple of guys backing him up and making it difficult for me to beat him all on my lonesome,” Julian explained. “But I think I have cracked it and Kyalami’s second race has proven that.” Julian had ended up fourth in a re-started first race red-flagged after an incident and while he was always right in there for the win, the race cards did not play into his hand and he ended up fourth after a fraught race.
The second race saw more wheel-to wheel action between van der Watt, Brummer, Luis da Silva and Andrew Horne, but Julian managed to play the joker and broke free over the last two laps to bring home a hard-earned win for the first time in ten starts since his last victory. “Most importantly I am not the bridesmaid anymore,” Julian, who had ended up second for eight straight races leading up to Kyalami smiled.
“But it was great to win again – I have a hell of a lot to do to beat Dewald and his gang next time out in their own back yard at Zwartkops in the final round at the end of November, but I will give it my best shot.”
Julian meantime steps back into his DD2 kart for Saturday’s Western Cape Karting Finals, which should see just as close racing with his hometown rivals Jonathan Thomas, Chad Daniel and Tristan de Nobrega. “I need to practice my moves and my karting mates are the best test dummies for that – I can’t wait for Saturday!”
Watch Julian fighting Dewald on the first race and the second race – click the bold blue words to access the videos on Facebook.