Junior Grand Prix at Rogue Racing - 2008
5th July:
Geri's first event as a nine year old - and he was hoping that getting older wouldn't make any difference to his driving! Could Geri make it four in a row?
Turnout was disappointing, with only 11 drivers entering this round, the most notable absence being Jack Macaulay who was off racing outdoors elsewhere. But Luke was here to make sure Geri wouldn't have things all his own way, and a number of other drivers are getting faster every month.
Geri started the first heat from pole, with the grid behind him reading William Barker, Guy Grigsby, Carl Donnellan, Luke Doig and Brandon Wilson - so an early chance to gain some points on Luke (and vital because Luke would start in front of Geri in their other two heats). Luke was wasting no time to move up the field taking Carl for 4th place coming out of the first corner, but now he was stuck behind the formidable Guy (Geri says he's the hardest driver to overtake). William, Guy and Luke covering second to fourth ran in close formation for the first 5 laps but on lap 6 Luke and Guy came together, Guy came off worst falling back to 6th while luke remained in 4th. Geri was out front with a clear track but was surprisingly slow with a fastest lap of just 27.30. As he came in sight of the chequered flag he came up behind 6th placed Carl, rather than take any chances trying to overtake Carl, Geri just followed him around the last corner to take the first win of the day. William was second about 5 seconds back, while Brandon had taken full advantage of the incident between Guy and Luke to finish 3rd after starting 6th. Luke had to settle for 4th place while Guy got back past Carl on lap 8 to take 5th.
Geri was out again in heat two, this time the grid lineup was Matt Hayes, Luke, Geri, Tom Robilliard and Harry Macaulay (present despite his brother Jack's absence). A close first lap for the front four, but Geri ran wide coming into the last corner hoping to get a better run out, and Tom took full advantage diving inside him demoting Geri to 4th. But Luke was struggling to get past Matt, so Matt, Luke, Tom and Geri were running nose to tail. Geri got past Tom on lap 3 taking a wide line up the ramp and outbraking Tom into the hairpin at the end. Luke was going to be a harder proposition, but Matt was keeping Luke behind him and preventing him from getting away. On lap 8 Geri dived inside Luke into the final corner while being tapped from behind by Tom, and Geri moved up into second place. But Matt managed to defend the last two laps to take the win from Geri, Luke, Tom, and Harry, with the front first all nose to tail across the line. 2 heats and already Geri was on 15 points. But to show that Geri was slow for a reason in the first heat, fastest lap of this heat was Tom on 28.28, with both Geri and Luke doing 28.30, and Matt 28.32. The track was just slower than we've ever seen it.
Heat three and a chance for Geri to take a quick rest. Conagh Whitlock started on pole from Tom Robilliard, Matt, William, Tom Holland and Guy. Matt spun on the first lap and went back to 6th place and by the end of lap 2 Tom R and William were out front already 5 seconds clear of Conagh back in third. Guy was having a tough day, another crash on lap 4 saw him back in 6th place. As the final lap started, Tom R was leading William from Matt and Tom H, with Guy some way back but chasing hard and Conagh back in 6th. Another yellow incident on the final lap saw Tom H overtake the three karts in front of him and cross the line first. But as punishment for overtaking under yellow lights, he was demoted back to 6th leaving Tom R to take his rightful win from William in second (again), Matt, Guy and Conagh. Fastest lap of the race went to William on 27.40.
Just the one heat break for Geri as he was back out in heat 4. This would be his most difficult heat as he started from 6th behind Brandon, Tom H, Conagh, Luke and Carl. Third should be possible but anything better would mean not hanging about getting past the less experienced Carl, Conagh and Tom so that Brandon and Luke didn't get too far away. Geri gained a placed coming out of a crowded first corner but as he went to pass Conagh at the end of the first lap, Conagh spun and Geri was trapped. Back to 6th place and a long way back from the other 5. It took Geri until lap 6 to get back into 5th place, the following lap he was up into 4th as he passed Conagh more safely this time. Luke was a long way ahead in 3rd place completely unable to get past Tom Holland. Luke made a bid to pass on the final corner but Tom got second by no more than 3 inches - Brandon had crossed the line to win some 5 seconds earlier. Geri set fastest lap, but again a slow 27.40. With Geri's heats over, he was sat on top of the scoreboard with 20 points to Luke's 17, but there were still drivers who could pass that in the two remaining heats.
Heat 5. Brandon so far had a third and a win, 14 points and was in striking distance of Geri. Starting third behind Harry and Carl, with Tom Robilliard and Matt behind him, Brandon had to have a good chance of the win and 8 points. And he didn't mess about, he was out front and 4 seconds clear of Harry, Matt (up from 5th), Tom and Carl by the end of lap 2. It was all chase behind Brandon on lap 3, Tom was now second from Matt and Harry! Brandon went on to win comfortably from Tom and Matt who in turn were 10 seconds ahead of Harry, this win sending Brandon to the top of the leaderboard on 22 points. Fastest lap of this race went to Tom on 27.72.
Final heat, William had two second places so far, so 14 points and could equal Brandon at the top of the board, another second would be enough to pass Geri for second place and the other pole position start in the semis. The grid lined up Guy, Harry, Tom Holland, William and Conagh. Any hopes Geri might have had that William would struggle (thus leaving him on pole in the 2nd semi final) didn't last a lap, by then William was already in second place and Geri would be starting his semi-final from 2nd. William closed up to within a second of Guy before falling back a couple of seconds under a yellow light. Guy was never going to be easy to pass and took the win, leaving William second for the third time in three heats, but William just eclipsed Geri's FTD from heat one with 27.28. Conagh was third in front of Tom and Harry.
With the heats completed, the leaderboard read Brandon 22, William 21, Geri 20, Tom Robilliard 20, Matt 20, Brandon 20 (fastest laps deciding their order), Guy 17, Luke 17, Tom Holland 15, Conagh 14, Harry 13 and Carl 10.
Semi final 1, Brandon on pole from Geri, Matt, Luke, Conagh and Carl. The front four ran in close formation, no-one able to overtake and everyone concentrating on not losing a position. After three laps Brandon and Geri had eked out a second lead from Matt and Luke, this small breathing space being enough for Geri to slingshot up the ramp and down the upper straight passing Brandon and taking the lead on lap 5. Luke wasn't giving up and passed Matt on lap 5 to ensure his place in the final. Even with a clear track in front of him, Geri still could only post 27.10 but it was enough to retake FTD and surely enough for pole in the final? He only beat Brandon by a second as he would just not let Geri get away, but Luke closed right up on Brandon at the end and only narrowly failed to get second place. Matt struggled back in 4th while Conagh set his best of the day at 27.98 on his way to 5th from Carl.
Semi final 2, William on pole from Tom Robilliard, Guy, Tom Holland and Harry. William just drove off from pole in pursuit of a sub 27.10 lap. He won the race comfortable but could only record 27.40. Guy managed to get past Tom R with 3 laps to go, with Tom H and Harry bring up 4th and 5th. But this was a slower semi final than the first with all three finalists taking second place on their row of the grid for the final.
So Geri on pole for the final again - with William, Brandon, Guy, Luke and Tom Robilliard lined up behind him. The final turned into a procession, no-one overtook anyone else all race long. Geri eventually managed to pull out a 5 second gap back to William, but William, Brandon and Guy were separated by 0.9 seconds with Luke very close behind in 5th having dropped Tom a little further back. Geri lowered the FTD to 27.04, but this is still woefully slow compared to his other rounds this season - it was just slow for everyone today.
William top scored on the day with 38 points, then Geri on 36, Brandon 35. Guy and Tom R on 29, Luke having an out of sorts day scored just 27 but will surely drop this as one of his lowest rounds come the end of the season. Geri is out front, but take away two results and Geri leads Luke by just one point with 5 more events to go. Its still all to play for, one bad round for Geri could turn things on their head.
