Junior Grand Prix at Rogue Racing - 2009
7th February:
If last month was thought to bring out a bumper entry of 19 drivers, this month took everyone by surprise as 25 drivers signed on for the Rogue Racing February Junior Grand Prix. Not even the snow covered roads had curbed the drivers' enthusiasm.
Heat one and Geri was on pole, a chance to leap straight to the top of the leader board. Behind Geri was Tom Holland, Patrick Harper, Thomas Row, Karl Bonney and Ben Fryers. Geri got off to a flyer and was already 3 seconds clear of the pack by the end of the first lap, the rest lining up as Karl, Tom, Ben, Patrick and Thomas. From here, Geri was pulling away at around 1 second per lap from Karl. Tom and Ben were staying with Karl but Patrick and Thomas fell away from the pack. Geri caught up with Thomas on lap 8 but as they approached the hairpin onto the bottom straight, Thomas span and blocked the track trapping Geri behind him. By the time the marshals were able to respond Geri's 10 second lead had been cut back to nothing, luckily Geri was able to get moving immediately as Thomas' kart was moved without allowing the following karts (Karl and Ben) to take any further advantage. Geri then pulled away to win the first heat of the day while Karl span on the final lap demoting him to third and giving second place to Ben. Geri started the dat with FTD of 27.56 while the others' best laps were Ben 28.76, Karl 28.60, Tom 28.44, Patrick 30.20 and Thomas (1 lap down) 31.64.
Heat two, the grid lined up as William Tregurtha, Carl Donnellan, Ben Humphrey, Conagh Whitlock, Joe Sheraton and Brandon Wilson. As Geri's major challenger last time out, all eyes were on Brandon. After lap 1 he was up to 4th with the order being William, Carl, Joe, Brandon, Ben and Conagh. It took until lap 3 for Brandon to find a way past Joe, by now he was some 4 seconds adrift of second placed Carl. Brandon took two seconds off that in the next lap so was just two seconds behind Carl who in turn was 3 seconds adrift of William. Brandon caught Carl on lap 5 and got by on lap 6 at the end of the top straight. At the back Ben and Conagh were running bumper to bumper in their own provate little race. But at the front William held on to take the win from Brandon with Carl third, then Joe, Conagh and Ben. Fastest laps were William 27.64, Brandon 27.60, Carl 28.52, Joe 29.64, Conagh 28.76 and Ben 29.38.
Heat three and it all kicked off. A new driver, Callum Bradley was on pole from Jack Macaulay, Geri, James Morrison and Harrison Mann. Normally the driver in second moves across to close off the gap to the third driver, but Jack was slow and Geri went straight through the gap into second from the start line. Geri hugged the inside of the corner up the ramp and was side by side at the top with Callum, with Geri on the inside. As they turned the corner Callum was unable to hold the line and span off to the left into the wall allowing the other karts to pass, and out came the yellow lights for a couple of laps. Geri was leading from Jack and caught up and lapped Callum on lap 4, Jack was able to get by as well. After 5 laps Geri was 1 second clear of Jack at the front but another yellow light incident saw Jack move up onto Geri's bumper. Once the yellows went off, so did Geri doing all his hard work again to build up a cushion in front of Jack, with third place James being 8 seconds behind at this point. On lap 8 Geri put the hammer down with a 27.08 to stretch his lead over Jack but as the yellows came on at the start of lap 10, Jack again pulled up on Geri's bumper. A sprint to the finish ensued, Geri had the race under control but as he came round the final hairpin to cross the line, Jack drove straight through Geri pushing him off the track and allowing Jack to take the win. A protest was made immediately, but no-one from Rogue Racing had seen the incident so the result was left to stand. Geri was upset at being cheated but not as upset as his team. Geri had again lowered the FTD with fastest laps being Jack 27.40, Geri 27.08, James 28.96, Harrison 29.76 and Callum (1 lap down) 30.56.
Heat four saw another new driver on pole, this time it was Jack Bradley from Harry Macaulay, William Tregurtha, Tom Holland, Ben Sissons and Patrick Harper. This race finished (with fastest laps) with a win for Tom (28.04) from William (27.80), Harry (29.28), Patrick (29.64), Jack (30.68) and Ben (34.52).
Heat five, and more controversy. Matt Hayes was on pole from Michael Langran, Callum Bradley, Carl Donnellan, Matthew Hopcraft and Ben Humphrey. Matt was sitting out front holding off Michael until the final corner, when in a carbon copy of the incident with Geri and Jack, Michael just drove through Matt pushing Matt into the tyres and almost across the pitlane. The marshals responded immediately preventing Michael from crossing the line until Matt was able to get back across the line and take the chequered flag. The race order finished Matt (28.16), Michael (27.92), Carl (29.12), Matthew (29.56), Ben (29.60) and Callum (30.00). However, after the race the drivers were congragated and read the riot act over their conduct and Michael's points for second place removed.
Heat six lined up as Sam Conn, Karl Bonney, Jack Bradley, Jack Macaulay, Thomas Row and Geri at the back, Geri in need of a big result to get back to the top of the leader board. The karts all came together at the first corner but with nobody falling off, Karl Bonney got away to lead while Sam Conn was proving more difficult to pass. Things were looking more normal by lap 4 as Jack M moved up to second with Geri in third place a couple of seconds down. But as the yellow lights once again came on, Jack extended his lead over Geri by another two seconds in a lap. A crash caused the race to be red lighted on lap 8 before being restarted with a win for Karl (28.56), Jack M (27.60), Geri (27.44), Jack B (30.08), Thomas (31.60) and Sam (30.88). So just 21 points for Geri this time round.
Heat seven gave us Jordan Donegan on pole from Joe Sheraton, Matt Hayes, Harry Macaulay, Conagh Whitlock and William Tregurtha. Jordan and Matt raced around at the front before Matt squeezed through at the end of lap 5 to take his second win of the day. The race ended Matt (27.68), Jordan (27.68), Harry (28.60), Conagh (27.80), Joe (29.08) and William (27.76).
Heat eight saw Luke Doig in his first race of the day, starting on pole from James Morrison, Sam Conn, Michael Langran and Callum Bradley. Luke was already 3 seconds clear by the end of lap 1 while Michael had dropped to 5th. By lap 4 Luke was 7 seconds clear and went on to win by 8 seconds (with a best lap of 27.84) from James (28.04), Sam (30.28), Callum (29.48) and Michael (29.92).
Heat nine gave us Ben Fryers on pole from Ben Sissons, Jordan Donegan, Karl Bonney, Tom Holland and Jack Bradley. Jordan took a comfortable win just lapping Jack as they crossed the finish line. Fastest laps were Jordan (28.44), Tom (28.16), Ben F (28.48), Karl (28.12), Jack (30.36) and Ben S (32.76).
Heat ten with Brandon Wilson on pole from Matthew Hopcraft, Luke Doig, Joe Sheraton, Carl Donnellan and Matt Hayes. The drivers remained in formation until lap 2, Matt was on the move passing Carl and Joe before Luke came off worse in a passing manouvre at the beginning of the bottom straight. While Luke was complaining, he dropped back to 5th place, but was back up into 4th the following lap. By the end of lap four, the order at the front was Brandon, Matt and Luke but all spreading out. Brandon (27.36) went on to take a comfortable win from Matt (27.84), Luke (27.76), Carl (28.52), Matthew (28.68) and Joe (29.64).
Heat eleven - Harrison Mann on pole from Thomas Row, Ben Fryers, James Morrison, Jack Macaulay and Samm Conn. Jack moved up to 4th at the start of the second lap and got by James at the end of the lower straight on lap 3, leaving James parked in the wall. Coming off the last hairpin on lap 7, Jack moved up to second but was 4 seconds behind Ben who had been running alone out front. On lap 9 Ben got slowed trying to lap Sam allowing Jack to close right up, but Ben was able to hold on to take the win from Jack, James, Harrison, Sam and Thomas.
Heat twelve gave us Patrick Harper on pole from Conagh Whitlock, Brandon Wilson, Ben Sissions, Harry Macaulay and Jordan Donegan. A flying start saw Brandon move into second into the first corner, and into the lead halfway down the straight on lap one. Brandon (27.72) took the flag at the end of the race as he lapped Ben, with a gap back to Conagh (27.80), Jordan (28.88), Harry (28.84), Patrick (28.80) and Ben (33.04).
The final heat, heat thirteen. Ben Humphrey on pole from Harrison Mann, Matthew Hopcraft, Michael Langran and Luke Doig. Luke moved up to third on lap one and into the lead on lap 7, going on to win by a long way. Strangely the finishing order, Luke, Michael, Matthew, Harrison and Ben was the reverse of the starting order.
All heats run, and the points were: Brandon 23, Matt 23, Jack Macaulay 22, Luke 22, Geri 21, Jordan 21, Ben Fryers 21, Tom Holland 20, Karl 19, James 19, William 18 and Carl 17. In a difference to the norm the semi-finals were run the opposite way round, with the poleman Brandon starting the second semi-final instead of the first as expected.
Semi final 1 - Matt on pole from Luke, Jordan, Tom, James and Carl. James spun early on the first lap and resumed some 14 seconds down from Carl and Tom who were battling over 4th place. Up front Matt was leading with Luke right on his bumper and Jordan maintaining a watching brief a few lengths further back. Luke made his move on Matt on lap 8 but didn't break free from Matt until lap 10 when Luke ran 27.44 to Matt's 27.80. Luke set his fastest lap of the race (27.36) on the final lap as he won by a second from Matt (27.60), Jordan (27.36), Tom (28.32), Carl (28.56) and James (28.48).
Semi final 2 - Geri uncharacteristically starting 3rd on the grid behind pole sitter Brandon and Jack Macaulay with Ben Fryers, Karl and William behind him. Brandon could be seen to be complaining about the steering on his kart while sat in the pit lane pre-race but nothing was seen to be amiss. Going down the upper straight for the first time, Brandon felt the kart was steering left and he spun at the hairpin at the end of the straight. The othert karts all passed Brandon leaving him in 6th place before the race was stopped. Brandon's kart was checked over again but he then was allowed to position at the front before the restart - it was not clear whi this was so. From the restart it was Brandon, Jack and Geri running bumper to bumper, being in close proximity to both drivers made it harder for Geri to make any move on Jack because Brandon would be occupying space Geri needed. But Geri put all the problems of earlier behind him and passed Jack on lap 9. He was however unable to pass Brandon before the end of the race, so Brandon won from Geri, Jack, Ben, Karl and William. Geri's fastest lap of 27.40 was enough to give him third on the grid rather than 4th, but he was still going to have to go some to extend his winning sequence.
The final - Luke on pole from Brandon, Geri, Matt, Jordan and Jack. There was a coming together at the end of the first straight which dropped Luke back to 4th, but Geri managed to escape from the carnage in the lead. By the end of lap one, the drivers were in two groups, Geri, Brandon and Jordan at the front with Luke, Jack and Matt a way back. Geri was pulling away from Brandon at between 0.5 and 1 second per lap, by lap 6 he was 3 seconds clear with Jack and Luke fighting over 5th place at the back. Geri had already crossed the finish line at the end of lap 14 (but with no flag being shown) by the time Jack pulled into the "sinbin" with a failing clutch, by the time the marshals reacted and switched on the red lights, Geri was crossing the line again (15 laps completed). This was to cause the next controversial issue. At the time the lights came on, Geri was well clear of Brandon who was just in front of Jordan. Luke was well back from these with Matt in close attendance. By the time the race was restarted, with Jack in a new kart, Brandon had driven up and down and back up the track to close up on Geri, Luke and Matt were right behind Jordan. There was confusion as no-one had any idea how long the race would continue to run for, it was scheduled to be just 14 laps after all. Geri just pulled away from Brandon (again) while Jordan was defending his position from Luke with Matt and Jack right behind. On what proved to be the final lap (lap 19) Geri had already been shown the chequered flag as Jordan was pushed off the track at the hairpin coming off the down ramp, Luke moving through to take third place leaving Jordan down in last. The race finished Geri (setting a new and final FTD 27.04) taking his 11th consecutive win from Brandon, Luke, Matt, Jack and Jordan. However, after some valid protests, a compromise was arrived at where Luke and Jordan were both awarded trophies and the points for 3rd place.
Despite taking the win, Geri finished the day with just 36 points, Brandon took 38 which now puts him in first place overall. Its early days, and as we know, Geri will not be contesting the entire season, but will enter the March round in an effort to complete the "Geri slam" - a full year of victories. With Geri planning to leave the way clear, Brandon's early good form is makinghim look to be the man to beat for 2009.
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