Anders du Plessis

Page last edited 10 days ago
From F1 Fanatic Wiki
(Redirected from Anders Du Plessis)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Anders du Plessis
Nationality 23px-Flag of South Africa.svg-1-.png South African
Born (1993-10-10) 10 October 1993 (age 30)
Cape Town, South Africa
Virtual World Racing Series career
Active years 2015-2017
Team(s) Needell Grand Prix, Perfection Racing
Entries 72
Championships 0
Wins 0
Podiums 3
Career points 161
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 0
Best finish 16th (50 pts) in 2017
Previous series
2015-2017 Virtual World Racing Series
2014 FV3 Series
Championship titles
N/A None

Anders du Plessis (born 10 October 1993) is a virtual racing driver from South Africa who most recently competed in the 2017 Virtual World Racing Series.

Personal life

Born in Cape Town, du Plessis was already destined for a life in motorsport - his mother, Leah, had major success in karting and was set to move to Europe to move to single seaters, before a crash in one of her races saw her lose her leg. His father, Faf, had shown promise and wanted to pursue a career in sportscars, but a lack of sponsors ended his dreams. As a result, when du Plessis grew up, he was expected to carry the mantle and make his way up to the top ranks of motorsport. Du Plessis himself admitted that he never had a love for racing, instead wanting to explore his love for music and wildlife photography. However, "The expectations from my family and friends lay heavily on me. I was never forced down the racing path but there was this unspoken hope of my parents that I'd become a racing driver."

Following the conclusion of the 2017 Virtual World Racing Series and having hung up his gloves, du Plessis began to look towards focusing full time on his old passion, music. After reconnecting with some childhood friends, they now have formed the heavy metal band Saffa, where he plays as the lead drummer. The band has had several hits since then, including Here I am and Home again. Du Plessis has also expressed an interest in nature journalism, but currently plans on focusing on his music career.

Career

Early career (2014-2017)

Despite his apprehensions for motorsport, du Plessis had success on the karting circuit and began to race single-seaters on a junior level in South Africa. While initially he held off committing fully to that career, he eventually enrolled for the 2014 FV3 Series.

FV3 (2014)

Driving for Higgs Grand Prix, du Plessis saw early success when he emerged triumphant in the first sprint race of the season, beating teammate Ellenør Haugland, but it proved to be a false dawn. A lack of meaningful results in feature races were the main takeaway from du Plessis' career and while he wasn't terrible - finishing 11th in the end - there was no desire on Higgs Grand Prix's side to continue with the South African, instead choosing Haugland to represent them at the 2014-15 Formula Virtual 2 Winter Series. Nevertheless, his parents encouraged him to seek a move into the second tier of motorsport, claiming the more powerful cars may suit him more.

VWRS (2015-2017)

Needell Grand Prix snapped up du Plessis for 2015, and initially things went well for him. He took his maiden tier 2 podium in the second race of the season and was 3rd in the standings after the first three races, much to the delight of his family and friends. However, like FV3, it proved to be another false dawn. Du Plessis managed little more than inconsistent points scores throughout the season, and despite a move to Perfection Racing for 2016, it yielded little more bar a shock podium in Brazil. Du Plessis would later admit that his inability to build on that early promise stemmed from his apathy to improve, saying I never really had the desire to adapt my driving style, or understanding how to improve the set up of the car. Racing was something I had to do, like a day job. It wasn't something I truly enjoyed.

By 2017, his last allowed tier 2 season, du Plessis had decided enough was enough, confirming his retirement mid season from full-time racing to pursue his other interests. A few weeks later, he put in "probably the best race of my life" in Belgium when he fought with Sebastian Bergkvist for the win, eventually finishing 2nd. However, he was under no illusions that his racing exploits yielded little, as "I was never really a racing driver, just a kid trying to pretend I fitted in."

Later career (2018-)

Following his retirement from full-time racing, du Plessis has moved back to South Africa and occasionally races touring cars, as well as mentoring up and coming racers. Since motorsport has taken a smaller part in his life, the South African has said he's "begun to enjoy it more", adding that while he'd never go back to it full time, he was content to take part in the odd race when desired.

Racing record

Career Summary

Season Series Team Name Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2014 FV3 Series Higgs Grand Prix 18 1 0 1 2 55 11th
2015 VWRS Needell Grand Prix 24 0 0 0 1 63 17th
2016 VWRS Perfection Racing 24 0 0 0 1 48 18th
2017 VWRS Perfection Racing 24 0 0 0 1 50 16th

* Season in progress.

Complete FV3 Series results

(results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Pos. Points
2014 Higgs Grand Prix GBR
FEA

13†
GBR
SPR

1
ESP
FEA

5
ESP
SPR

Ret
POR
FEA

Ret
POR
SPR

18
FRA
FEA

Ret
FRA
SPR

16
GER
FEA

12
GER
SPR

5
AUT
FEA

11
AUT
SPR

6
NED
FEA

8
NED
SPR

3
BEL
FEA

Ret
BEL
SPR

Ret
ITA
FEA

13
ITA
SPR

Ret
11th 55

† — du Plessis did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete VWRS results

(results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Pos. Points
2015 Needell Grand Prix AUS
1
Ret
AUS
2
2
IND
1
5
IND
2
17
RUS
1
18
RUS
2
16
FRA
1
15
FRA
2
Ret
MEX
1
5
MEX
2
8
USA
1
9
USA
2
18
BEL
1
19
BEL
2
16
GBR
1
18
GBR
2
18
BRA
1
12
BRA
2
11
URU
1
Ret
URU
2
6
SIN
1
Ret
SIN
2
8
ABU
1
21
ABU
2
19
17th 63
2016 Perfection Racing AUS
1
17
AUS
2
20
IND
1
19
IND
2
15
GBR
1
10
GBR
2
14
ESP
1
Ret
ESP
2
15
MEX
1
Ret
MEX
2
4
USA
1
15
USA
2
9
BEL
1
8
BEL
2
12
ITA
1
Ret
ITA
2
Ret
CAN
1
Ret
CAN
2
17
BRA
1
6
BRA
2
3
RUS
1
Ret
RUS
2
19
ABU
1
18
ABU
2
21
18th 48
2017 Perfection Racing AUS
1
Ret
AUS
2
10
JPN
1
14
JPN
2
19
BRA
1
15
BRA
2
14
USA
1
Ret
USA
2
16
ESP
1
15
ESP
2
8
NED
1
8
NED
2
7
CAN
1
15
CAN
2
Ret
MEX
1
20
MEX
2
19
GBR
1
8
GBR
2
6
BEL
1
2
BEL
2
15
RUS
1
21
RUS
2
20
ABU
1
19
ABU
2
14
16th 50