Junior Grand Prix at Rogue Racing - 2009
4th July:
A week of oppressively hot weather preceded the July Grand Prix, but thankfully temperatures had fallen a few degrees by the Saturday, just enough to make conditions more bearable. Still hot though!. Whether this had an effect on numbers is hard to tell - but an entry of only 15 is the lowest entry this season.
The big surprise was no Matt Hayes, along with Geri, Matt has been an ever-present since the very first Grand Prix. Now it's only Geri. Also no Jack Macaulay and still no Brandon Wilson. But Luke Doig was here and a number of other drivers are getting quicker, so Geri could hardly expect an easy ride.
Heat one, and for the third month running, Geri started in the first race on pole, this time from Daniel Truman, Jordan Donegan, Jack Bradley, James Morrison and Ben Humphrey. Geri got away well and by lap three was leading Daniel by 2 seconds with Jordan a couple of seconds further back in third, then a big gap to the race for 4th place. James spun on lap 6 bringing on the yellow lights but by the end of the following lap, Geri had stretched out his lead over Daniel to three seconds with Jordan the same gap behind in third. On the last lap James spun again leaving him to just cross the line before Geri, and this finish almost 30 seconds after the chequered flag was shown. Geri won with a fastest lap of 27.42 from Daniel (27.92), Jordan (28.21), Jack (29.10), Ben (29.06) and James (28.85).
Heat two, joker playing Harry Macaulay on pole from James Morrison, Matthew Hopcraft, Callum Bradley, William Tregurtha and Thomas Row. An excellent start from Matthew saw him launch straight down the inside on the first corner and into the lead. At the other end of the top straight, Callum spun coming down the ramp and fell back to 6th place. William and Thomas were squabbling over 4th and 5th swapping places everywhere, neither able to make the position their own. William moved up to third passing James but then James spun and fell back to last, letting Thomas back into 4th where he could resume the battle with William. Up front, by lap 7 Matthew had pulled out a 6 second lead over Harry, but disaster struck Harry on lap 8 as he got bumped out in the battle for 2nd and fell back to 4th. Matthew took the win with best lap of 27.80 from William, 8 seconds behind (27.75), Thomas (28.20) 2 seconds further back, then Harry (28.61), Callum (28.29) and James (28.25).
Heat three and Geri is back out again. This time it's Tom Holland on pole from William Tregurtha, Geri, Ben Sissons and Will Barker. Despite Geri's best efforts, by the time they reached the hairpin, rather than gain any places, he had fallen to 4th but had regained 3rd place by the end of the lap. Tom had a big lead over William. Coming down the ramp on lap 2 and Geri passed William to move into 2nd place, but three seconds behind Tom. Geri caught up with Tom at the end of lap 4, but it took until the hairpin on lap 6 for Geri to make his move and take the lead. AT the end of the lap Geri lapped Ben going up the ramp, but Ben spun twice on laps 8 and 10 bringing out yellow lights and allowing Geri to catch and lap him again just before the end of the race. Geri (27.35) won by 4 seconds from Tom (28.13), William (27.68), Will (27.93) and Ben (31.12). Two wins out of two for Geri and a new FTD.
Heat four, Ben Humphrey on pole from Ben Sissons, Harry Macaulay, Daniel Truman, Luke Doig (also playing his joker) and Jordan Donegan. By the top of the ramp Ben Sissons' tentative start saw him drop from 2nd to 6th while Ben Humphrey was out front. Luke moved into second place as he crossed the start line at the end of lap 1. Ben H and Luke pulled clear by a long way before Luke made a passing move on lap 4 which brought out yellow lights and dropped Ben H to last place. Harry moved back into the lead but was soon caught by Luke, they were running bumper to bumper. Luke passed Hary on the inside at the end of lap 7, Harry almost waved him through. Meanwhile Jordan and Daniel were battling over 3rd place but each gained a place as Ben Sissons spun again at the end of the final lap and Harry spun to a halt trying to avoid a crash. Luke (28.30) won from Jordan (28.42), Daniel (28.16), Harry (28.49), Ben Humphrey (28.88) and Ben Sissons (30.90).
Heat five and Luke is out again. The grid lined up Thomas Row, Luke Doig, Tom Holland, James Morrison, Jack Bradley and Matthew Hopcraft. Thomas showed his improved form by holding his lead from Luke for the first three laps seemingly with ease. But at the end of lap 4 a wild slide from Thomas saw him spin across the line, Luke also spinning as they momentarily blocked the track. Luke recovered quickest to take the lead, later on lap 5 Matthew moved past Thomas into second place and set about chasing after Luke, 2 early crashes by James having helped Matthew get to third from sixth on the grid. Luke (27.96) held on to win from the closing Matthew (27.77) by a kart length with a final lap spin dropping Thomas (28.13) back to fifth behind Jack (28.76) and Tom (28.76) with James (28.41) bringing up the rear. Luke now joins Geri at the top of the leader board on 16 points from Matthew on 15, but Geri's faster lap leaves him in 1st.
Heat six, Geri starting from sixth on the grid behind Will Barker, Jack Bradley, Ben Humphrey, William Tregurtha and Callum Bradley. A flying start saw Geri into 4th place coming off the hairpin and hopeful of maintaining a winning run going back 7 races now. Jack spun and the yellow lights came on leaving the front five drivers running nose to tail to complete the first lap. By the end of lap 2, Geri had moved into 3rd place with Will Barker leading from William Tregurtha. Geri was wasting no time, he overtook Willaim for 2nd place coming round the inside of the hairpin on lap three and was now 2 seconds behind Will. Geri was giving chase and closing in on Will, at the same time leaving William further behind, although William would close up again under a later yellow. Geri caught Will and took an inside line going up the ramp running side by side with Will, at the top of the ramp Will hadn't conceded the position but hit the wall bringing out the red light as the marshals checked Will was OK. From the restart Geri (27.39) led to the finish to win from William (27.80), Callum (28.11), Will (27.79), Ben (28.83) and Jack (28.92). Geri now had 24 points so would sit on pole in one of the semi-finals, he had also now won 8 races in a row.
Heat seven, Jordan Donegan on pole from Callum Bradley, Thomas Row, Ben Sissons and Harry Macaulay. Jordan moved into a four second lead after four laps with Callum, Thomas and Harry running together in 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Ben spun on lap 5 bringing on the yellow lights, but positions remained the same. Jordan was leading by 7 seconds on lap 7 and finally lapped Ben on the last lap having followed him round for a lap. Jordan (28.25) won from Callum (28.29), Thomas (28.29), Harry (28.79) and Ben (31.96).
Heat eight, the final heat. Matthew Hopcraft on pole from Will Barker, Luke Doig, Daniel Truman and Tom Holland. The first three laps were a procession, all 6 drivers running in a little train before Luke was able to push past Will on lap 4 and move into second place. By lap 7, Matthew and Luke had pulled out a 3 second lead over the next three drivers who were still running together. Matthew (27.95) held on to win by inches from Luke (27.73), Will (28.01), Daniel (27.80) and Tom (27.82).
The top twelve on the leader board at the end of the heats read: Geri 24, Luke 23, Matthew 23, Jordan 21, William 20, Daniel 18, Callum 17, Will 16, Tom 16, Thomas 16, Harry 15 and Jack 14.
Semi final one: Geri on pole from Matthew Hopcraft, William Tregurtha, Callum Bradley, Tom Holland and Harry Macaulay. Geri stormed off into the lead and was already 1.3 seconds clear with a 27.7 lap from a standing start, by lap 5 he had extended the lead to 3 seconds from Matthew and William who in turn were 4 seconds clear of the remaining three drivers. Matthew finally broke away from William on lap 10 but William closed back up at the start of the final lap. Geri (27.43) won by 7 seconds from Matthew (27.81) and William (27.57) who were nose to tail across the line and qualified for the final. Fourth to sixth places went to Tom (27.96), Callum (28.19) and Harry (28.39).
Semi final two: Luke Doig on pole from Jordan Donegan, Daniel Truman, Will Barker, Thomas Row and Jack Bradley. Daniel spun at the hairpin on the first lap dropping him to last place, in chasing back he crashed again at the bend off the bottom straight. The hold up allowed Luke and Jordan to lead by 10 seconds after only two laps and already a lap up on Daniel who rejoined from his second incident right behind Jordan, and spent the rest of the race trying to unlap himself. Will was holding off Thomas for 3rd place with no little contact going on! Luke (27.52) started to pull clear of Jordan (27.82) on lap 5 and went on to win by 5 seconds, with Will (27.96) third, some seven seconds further back, then Thomas (27.87), Jack (28.61) and Daniel (27.66).
Final - Geri on pole from Luke Doig, Matthew Hopcraft, Jordan Donegan, William Tregurtha and Will Barker. Geri and Luke made a break for it, as they crossed the line for the end of the first lap, Luke reminded Geri he was there, but then inch by inch Geri could be seen to be pulling away slowly. On lap 5 Geri set a new FTD of 27.19 to finally break free, by the following lap he now had a 2 second lead over Luke. Matthew was running a lonely race in third while Jordan, William and Will were running bumper to bumper in the final three places. Geri was running .2 to.3 faster each lap, 2 seconds becane 3 seconds, and finally Geri crossed the line to win by 4 seconds from Luke (27.47), Matthew (27.56), Jordan (27.72), William (27.87) and Will (27.89) with what was the slowest FTD in 18 months of Grand Prix!
Luke's 38 point haul doubled with his joker brings him up to 310 points but Geri leads with 339, a 29 point lead to take into the final 5 months. Matt Hayes remains in 3rd on 196 despite not coming out this month while Tom Holland (189) and Jordan Donegan (187) move up into 4th and 5th. Geri has now won 10 races in a row (and 17 of his last 19), done the clean sweep twice in a row and for the fourth time this year in seven races. Certainly he has benefitted when the grid draw has been kinder.
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