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• 2007

Honda Cadet event at Rye House - 2008

5th October:
After Geri's debut at Rye House last month, we decided that maybe the standard in the Honda Cadet series was too high without getting in some more testing first. However, we had sent off the entry form for this round so decided to attend. One lesson learned from the last round was that it was too tiring for Geri to compete in the Grand Prix at Rogue Racing on the Saturday morning, then drive over to Rye House for testing in the afternoon, and then back again to race on the Sunday! So no testing this weekend, just straight into race day - and a very wet and windy race day at that.

For this round, the Honda Cadet class were running as the 6th class during the day, so despite arriving around 8:15am, there was plenty of time to get Geri ready. Scrutineering was a painless exercise and the kart was set up on wet tyres with the front wheels spaced right out. For the 3 warm up laps Geri tried to get the hang of the conditions but looked apprhensive, a lap time in the 62s was well adrift of what the other drivers were doing.

Heat 1:
Geri lined up at the very back for the first heat, the track was very wet but at least it had temporarily stopped raining. Once again we had support from Graham from Rogue Racing and we volunteered his girlfriend Katie to be Geri's umbrella girl! None of the other kids had one of those.

The first start was a false start, just as well as Geri must have been 4 or 5 lengths behind the kart in front of him despite us telling him to stay tucked under the bumber. He told us later he couldn't see, couldn't tell where on the track he was as his visor was misting up. At the second attempt, Geri was a lot closer and even looked to pass a kart or two on the way into Stadium, but too much caution saw him come out of Stadium in last place and gradually the pack pulled away from him. For all this, a starting position of 18th had translated to 15th by the end of lap one, 2 karts had spun off coming out of Stadium and Geri had done well to miss them, unfortunately they were already out of the race. Another kart spun later on the lap and took a while to rejoin. Slowly it was gaining on Geri, but Geri was a long way in front. The gap was coming down a couple of seconds a lap, but on lap 6 kart 82 was reeling Geri in. As he closed in, Geri ran onto the grass and the positions was lost - only he was still 15th as another driver spun out the same lap. Coming into the last lap, the leader was gaining on Geri but he made it across the line just before he could be lapped and finished 15th with a best lap of 57.26. See full lap chart.

Heat 2:
No change in the track conditions, but Graham lowered Geri's tyre pressures and moved the rear wheels further inwards in the hope of promoting better turn-in. We had tried to get Geri one of the "turbo-wiper" contraptions to aid his vision, but the shop didn't have one. We were able to give him a nose shield which prevented his visor from misting for the rest of the day. Geri started this race in 15th of 18 and we set him a target for a lap in the 55s. ANother bad start saw Geri drop to 17th by end of lap one, but one of those starting behind him for this heat was Connor Jupp who was in all-conquering form. Geri kept kart 19 behind him for a couple of laps and looked to have his measure, pulling away on some sections of the track and lsoing ground on others. But on lap 3 Geri went flying off backwards into the tyres at Pylon allowing 19 to get by. Two other karts fell off on lap 3 so Geri actually gained a place rather than lose one. He pushed on trying to get back in touch with 19, but on lap 7 Geri fell off again having gained back a second or so. On his final lap, again Geri was being chased down by the leader but made it to the line before being lapped. According to his lap timer, Geri did 55.99 that lap, but unfortunately for him, his official lap time was 56.03! See full lap chart.

Heat 3:
The final heat of the day was the wettest - the rain was pouring down. From the start we could barely see the drivers, there was so much spray. Geri started from 17th feeling confident he could get the better of 19 in this heat, but 19 was starting from 15th place. Geri held his position going into Stadium before falling back to last place coming out. At the next hairpin Geri was still in contention with the pack but 19 spun right in front of him. Geri was only able to go outside to avoid the crash, but that put him on the grass and the pack was gone. Geri recovered first as 19 gave chase. Half way round the thrid lap with Geri's lead over 19 no more than a couple of lengths, it was Geri's turn to spin. 19 went outside but there was nowhere to go except forwards into the tyre wall. Unable to move from here, 19's race was over. 85 had started 5th but was falling back quickly, on lap 3 he spun right round exiting Stadium and ended up beached in a puddle - so Geri wasn't last. 85's race appeared over until he got out of the kart, moved it and got back in to resume - only to spin off in exactly the same place a couple of laps later. At least this time he was able to resume, but a lap down. Once again, the leader was closing on Geri on his final lap, and once again Geri reached the line first. Three heats and Geri didn't get lapped at all - much better than last time out here. Considering the conditions, Geri's fastest lap of 56.36 suggested a better performance from him. See full lap chart. Check out some video from this race and see just how wet it was!

Final:
All 18 drivers qualified for the final, unlike last time, the final was only over 10 laps rather than 15. Geri started in 17th, but the rain had stopped. The track was still wet but better than it had been all day. Geri was getting the hang of the starts and moved up to 15th during the first lap, but fell back to 17th on the next lap. 85 was still behind Geri, and Geri seemed to be pulling away but a combination of 85's best lap and Geri spinning put Geri back down to last. Geri recovered and got back in front of 85 the following lap before spinning off again on lap 7. Geri pulled away massively from 85 over the next two laps, but unfortunately the extra two laps and the two spins meant Geri was lapped in this race, so Geri's race only ran to 9 laps. But Geri had broken into the 54s and posted a couple of 55s thus showing more of an improvement than the front runners. Geri is still 4 seconds off the pace though, hopefully some testing over winter can find most of that time. See full lap chart.

Next time out for Geri is in three weeks time when he returns to Whilton Mill. After a good run last time and finding some drivers to compete with, Geri is looking forwards to it.

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