Junior Grand Prix at Rogue Racing - 2009
4th April:
Geri is a Manchester United fan, recently their goalkeeper set a new British record for games without conceding a goal, but has conceded in each of his 5 games since that record ended. The team recorded 10 straight Premier League wins before losing to Liverpool, and then lost the very next game to Fulham as well. So it was going to be interesting to see how Geri would respond to having been beaten last month after 11 straight Grand Prix successes!
Last month Geri was complaining of pains in his leg - we realised afterwards that his boots are now 18 months old yet he has outgrown his trainers 3 times in that period, so figured that may have been the cause. So he raced in trainers to see how he got on.
After some bumper entries so far this season, to have "only" 17 drivers compete for the April Grand Prix almost seemed like a backwards step, but in truth its a more manageable number. Among the notable absentees were Jack and Harry Macaulay, and Guy Grigsby, along with Ben Fryers and William Tregurtha (currently 6th and 8th).
The first grid draw (done by the computer software) was a farce, Geri was only down to race twice, another driver down to race four times! When the replacement grid came out, the basis was different to last month, but at least all drivers got 3 heats. Looking at Geri's draw, in heat one he would start third with Luke behind him in 4th and Matt Hayes on pole. In heat three Geri would start in 6th with William Barker in 3rd, and in heat seven Geri would start from pole. This looked the best draw Geri has had this year, so we decided to play his joker - his points from today would count double.
Heat one, Matt Hayes on pole from Tom Holland, Geri, Luke Doig, Carl Donellan and Thomas Row. Geri slid straight past Tom from the start going into the first corner, by the end of lap one it was Matt, Geri and Luke all bumper to bumper with a gap back to 4th place. Geri went past Matt on lap 2 to take the lead as Matt clipped the wall, and Luke followed him through to keep Geri under a lot of pressure. So far it looked like Geri was struggling and sure enough, on lap six Luke dived inside Geri coming round the final corner and took over the lead. We're pretty sure that this is the first time Geri has ever lost a lead - in the past its been a rule, if Geri gets to the front, Geri wins or gets punted off! Two laps went by before Geri pulled off an audacious move at the end of the upper straight going wide left into the hairpin and then cutting back inside Luke. Completely the opposite line Geri usually uses. Geri held on to win the heat with a best lap of just 27.45, unusually for Geri not the fastest lap of the race. That went to Luke who finished 2nd with a best lap of 27.40, with Matt third (27.89), then Thomas (28.00), Carl (28.55) and Tom (29.77). Geri came off the circuit again complaining of a painful leg - maybe the Tae Kwon Do sessions on Friday night are too much for him, maybe he's just not driving as much as he used too. Either way, we had a job on our hands refocusing him.
Heat two, and championship leader Brandon Wilson's turn - his grid draw was a match for Geri with him taking up the same grid positions, one race later. So, Jordan Donegan on pole from Ben Humphrey, Brandon Wilson, Elliot S, Ben Sissons and Alex Milton. Brandon matched Geri's start in the previous race, up into second place by the first corner and running side by side down the first straight with Jordan before Jordan got the better of Brandon to retain the lead. After a couple of crashes on lap 5 which slowed all the karts, Brandon got by Jordan to take the lead and went on to win by 5 seconds from Jordan who got stuck behind a backmarker. Brandon won with best lap of 27.51 from Jordan (27.94), Ben Humphrey (29.88), Alex (29.34), Elliot (30.42) and Ben Sissons (33.29). Maybe Geri wasn't so slow after all?
Heat three and Geri was back out on track again, this time lining up in 6th place behind Sam Conn, Carl Donellan, William Barker, David H and Matthew Hopcraft. With Geri playing his joker, a good result was going to be a necessity. It didn't look too good when going down the first upper straight, Geri tried to pass Matthew having got a better launch out of the first corner, only for Matthew to squish Geri along the wall to prevent him getting by! On lap 3 Geri was still running 5th and struggling as he got pushed into the wall again at a lower hairpin, and again on lap 5 in the same place. So half way point of the heat and Geri was still in 5th! Time for a comeback - Geri got up to third place coming out of the last accident as he got away best, and up to 2nd the following lap as he caught and passed Carl using his new hairpin overtaking place. But he was a good 5 seconds behind Sam at this point with 4 laps to go. 5 seconds was 3 the following lap, then Geri was right on Sam's bumper before Geri moved into the lead on lap 8. After that, Geri drove off into the distance setting a new fastest time of the day (27.03) and winning by over 5 seconds from Sam (29.22), Carl (28.46), Matthew Hopcraft (28.51), William (27.44) and David (28.31). Two wins out of two from Geri, and Geri to start his final heat from pole - and he has never lost a race he started from pole. All of a sudden it was coming good again.
Heat four, Daniel Truman on pole from Ben Sissons, Matt Hayes, Luke Doig and Brandon Wilson - Brandon was last but there were only 5 in this heat! From the very start, the race was red lighted and restarted. At the end of lap one, Daniel led from Matt, Luke and Brandon but by lap 3 it was all change as Matt now led from Brandon and Luke in the first three places. Brandon was pushing hard trying to pass Matt and the pair of them slowly started to pull clear of Luke as a result. But Matt held on to win with best lap of 28.03 from Brandon (27.68), Luke (28.21), Daniel (27.83) and Ben (31.54).
Heat five, Thomas Row on pole from Matthew Hopcraft, Jordan Donegan, Tom Holland, Elliot S and William Barker. But Thomas was too keen and drove off prematurely which resulted in him being demoted to the back of the grid and everyone else moving up one place. Matthew was now on pole and made the most of it as he held off Jordan to remain out front. Jordan fell back as a result of a couple of crashes before getting back up to 3rd. Tom spun on lap 5 before getting back up to 3rd, on lap 8 Matthew led comfortably from Tom and Jordan with William gaining fast on the pair in front. But on the final lap it all went wrong for Matthew as he span the kart and threw away the race win. Tom went on to win (27.72) from Jordan (28.01), William (27.64), Matthew (27.53), Thomas (28.68) and Elliot. After five heats with most drivers now having raced twice, the leader board was Geri 16, Brandon 15, Matt Hayes and Jordan 14, Luke 13, Tom 11, Matthew and Carl 10.
Heat six, Alex Milton on pole from Luke Doig, Sam Conn, Ben Humphrey, David H and Matt Hayes. Alex held off Luke until the end of the first lap, after which there was only ever going to be one winner. Luke was seven seconds clear by the time he caught up with David (running last) on lap 8 but the lead was sufficient for Luke to show intelligence and simply follow David round for the final 3 laps rather than risk an overtaking move. On the penultimate lap Sam got by Alex to leave the final order as Luke (27.69), Sam (29.01), Alex (28.59), Matt Hayes (27.89), Ben H (29.49) and David H (28.71). Luke now topped the leader board with 21 from Matt Hayes (19) and Geri (16), but Geri still had a heat to run.
Heat seven, Geri on pole from Elliot S, Daniel Truman, Carl Donellan and Jordan Donegan. Jordan made short work of the karts in front and was up to second by the end of lap 3, but already 5 seconds behind Geri, although this reduced to 3 seconds the following lap as the yellow lights came on. Geri got back on with it to win (27.22) by 6 seconds from Jordan (27.46), Carl (28.08), Daniel (27.44) and Elliot (29.19). Geri had been running in kart 15 and said it was hesitating out of corners - Luke had come third in the same kart back in heat 4 and said the same, but it remained in use. Geri now led with 24 points (and was guaranteed pole in the first semi final) from Luke and Jordan (21), Matt (19), Carl (16) and Brandon (15), but Brandon still had his final race to run.
Heat eight, Brandon on pole from Tom Holland, David H, Thomas Row, Sam Conn and Ben Sissons. Brandon never looked like he was going to lose this one, he was 2 seconds clear by the end of lap 1. 5 seconds clear after two laps and then just pulled away at a second a lap. Sam was struggling at the back unable to pass Ben Sissons even though he was capable of going much faster. Brandon came through to lap Sam at the end of lap 6 and pass Ben at the start of lap 7 before going on to take an easy win. After Brandon took the chequered flag (27.32), the yellows came on so the winning margin was 13 seconds from Tom (28.11), David (28.51), Thomas (28.49), Sam (30.08) and Ben S (31.18). The top six were now Geri (24), Brandon (23), Luke and Jordan (21), Matt Hayes (19) with Tom and Sam equal 6th on 18 points.
Heat nine, the final heat. William Barker on pole from Alex Milton, Matthew Hopcraft, Ben Humphrey and Daniel Truman. William just drove off on what looked like an easy win, but once Matthew had made it through to second place at the end of lap 2, Matthew started to catch William slowly. But he couldn't go quick enough and William won (27.57) from Matthew (27.70), Ben H (29.05), Alex (28.74) and Daniel (27.81). The final leader board read Geri (24), Brandon (23), Luke and Jordan (21), Matt (19), William, Tom and Sam (18), Matthew (17) and Carl, Alex and Ben Humphrey (16).
Semi final one: Geri on pole from Luke Doig, Matt Hayes, Tom Holland, Matthew Hopcraft and Ben Humphrey. Geri and Luke got a good start and ran together while Matt and Tom squabbled over 3rd place. Geri was ekeing out a lead but this was lost as the yellow lights came out on lap 3 so Geri had to build up a lead all over again. With two laps to go Geri caught up with Ben and Matthew running at the back, but he didn't have the luxury of being able to follow them to the finish as Luke was gaining fast. As they passed by the backmarkers, Luke got alongside Geri but this time couldn't make the move stick. Another win to Geri along with a new FTD (26.97) from Luke (27.25), Matt (27.85), Tom (27.91), Ben H (29.08) and Matthew (27.80). With points now deciding grid places in the final, Geri's maximum points meant he would start the final from pole.
Semi final two: Brandon Wilson on pole from Jordan Donegan, William Barker, Sam Conn, Carl Donellan and Daniel Truman. Jordan got a poor start, barely moving off the line and by the end of the first lap had fallen from 2nd to 5th. By the end of lap one, the order was Brandon, William, Carl, Sam, Jordan and Daniel. By the end of lap two Brandon had opened up a 2 second lead with William 3 seconds ahead of third placed Carl. Brandon came round to lap Sam on lap 10 (of 12), William was unable to pass so easily leaving Brandon to take an easy win after having had his lead held at 2 seconds. Brandon won (27.01) from William (27.45), Carl (27.77), Jordan (27.31), Daniel (27.55) and Sam (29.20).
The final: Geri on pole from Brandon Wilson, Luke Doig, William Barker, Carl Donellan and Matt Hayes. With Geri on pole, Brandon was never going to have it easy, but Brandon was also in kart 15 which had seemed just that fraction slower. Very slowly Geri started to pull away from the three kart train behind him - Brandon, Luke and William. It took until lap 12 for Brandon and Luke to finally get clear of William but Geri was piling in the fast laps and had just set new FTD of 26.92 before finishing with laps 13 and 14 in 26.83 and 26.80 to take an emphatic win from Brandon (27.10), Luke (27.16), William (27.48), Matt (27.78) and Carl (27.71).
So Geri back to his winning ways and how. Maximum points from the 5 races and the points doubling joker played to boot. A good morning's work and Geri now resumes the top of the standings from Brandon. But without the double points Brandon's 38 point haul and previous 4 point lead would have kept him 1st.
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