Junior Grand Prix at Rogue Racing - 2008
7th June:
Geri had won the two previous monthly Grand Prix at Rogue Racing, could he make it three in a row? Thirteen other drivers arrived for the June event to try and stop him.
Geri was out in the first heat, starting from 3rd on the grid behind newcomer Lewis F and Ryan Hubball, with Luke Doig, William Barker and Matthew Hayes lined up behind him. Lewis spun at the hairpin off the top straight on lap 1 and Geri was able to come out of the corner in the lead with Luke also passing Ryan to take 2nd place. Geri slowly pulled away from Luke up front but a yellow light on the last lap allowed Luke to close to within a second before Geri started the day with a win from Luke, William, Matthew, Ryan and Lewis. Geri set fastest lap of the race at 27.22s.
Heat two saw the returning Tom Robilliard start on pole from William Barker (already getting his second race of 3), Guy Grigsby, another newcomer Conagh Whitlock, Jack Macaulay and Brandon Wilson. At the back Jack and Brandon were trading places for 5th and 6th but Brandon managed to get past Conagh on the last lap to take 4th leaving Conagh 5th and Jack Macaulay starting the day with a 6th. Up front Tom have moved up from 3rd to 1st demoting William (despite setting fastest lap of the race at 27.34s) and Guy back into 2nd and 3rd.
Heat three and Matthew Hayes started on pole from Jack Macaulay, Lewis F, David H, Harry Macaulay and Alfie S. Within the first lap Matt and Jack had pulled 3 seconds clear of the remaining pack, Jack chased Matt all round for the whole race but was unable to prevent Matt from taking the win, although a backmarker stopping right on the finish line as the fla came out meant Matt had to push him over the line! David finished 3rd some way back from the front two with Lewis, Harry and Alfie taking the final placings. Fastest lap of the heat was Jack on 28.46, just 4/100ths faster than Matt, but hardly surprising as they were never more than a couple of feet apart.
Geri was back out in heat four and would have his work cut out starting from 6th on the grid with Luke directly in front in 5th. Poleman was Brandon Wilson from Harry Macaulay, Tom Robilliard and Ryan Hubball. A first lap incident saw Brandon and Tom pull 8 seconds clear of the remaining four drivers with Geri trapped in last. Another incident in the same place the following lap saw Geri still trapped in last while Luke broke free. Geri got moving as the marshals cleared the spinners in front of him but was already 4 seconds behind Luke, and over 10 seconds behind the leading pair. Geri put the hammer down to catch up with Luke and set new fastest time of the day at 26.80s. Unfortunately for Geri, laps were running out and although he did finally pass Luke for 3rd place, the race had run one lap too long and he was put back to 4th in the results with Luke 3rd, Tom second and a win for Brandon.
Heat five had Alfie on pole from Luke, Matthew Hayes, William Barker, Conagh Whitlock and Guy Grigsby, but Luke was in the lead halfway round the first lap, and three seconds clear by lap 4. William was up into 2nd by now and caught up with Luke on lap 6 as Luke got trapped while lappping Alfie. Again the race overran, Matt unfortunately had moved from 3rd to 1st on the extra lap and was put back to 3rd behind winner Luke and second place William, with Guy, Conagh and Alfie taking the final three places.
Heat six and Geri was on pole. He knew he needed to win to head the points after the heats, and he didn't fail despite a slow start that nearly saw him beaten to the first corner. This was Geri's slowest race of the day with a best lap of just 27.24s, equalled at the end by Jack Macaulay who moved up from 4th to 2nd while he and Brandon Wilson were lapping Lewis on lap 8. Brandon followed Jack home in third but had the fastest lap of the race at 27.18s with Conagh 4th, David H 5th and Lewis 6th. The win would guarantee Geri pole in the first semi-final by dint of fastest lap so far - Luke and William were also sat on 21 points, Luke got pole in semi final two in the same way.
In the final heat, Tom Robilliard could also have amassed 21 points with a win, but was starting from last place on the grid behind Guy, David H, Alfie, Harry and Ryan. Tom was up to 5th on the upper straight on the first lap, and by lap 3 was up to 3rd with Guy out front and David chasing hard. A spin on lap 6 let Tom catch right up and Guy pull away with an unassailable lead. On the final lap Tom got by David to take second and Ryan moved up to 5th as Alfie spun.
With the heats over, just one point covered the front five drivers - Geri 21, Luke21, William 21,Guy 20 and Tom 20. The remaining drivers were as follows: Matthew 19, Brandon 19, Jack 17, David 16, Conagh 13, Ryan 12, Harry 12, Lewis 11 and Alfie 9. With 14 drivers present, the organisers decided that each semi-final should consist of 7 drivers so the final two did not miss out.
Semi-final one saw Geri on pole from William, Tom, Brandon, David, Ryan and Lewis. Geri knew that pole in the final depended on setting a faster lap than Luke could manage in his semi-final assuming the polemen both won. But the race was punctuated with yellow light incidents almost every lap so it seemed, and if the lights were out Geri was already passing backmarkers which again took the edge of the lap times. Finally he got a reasonably clean lap and set 27.04 which should have been enough. Despite the stop-start nature of the race, he was in control at the front with William chasing hard but never getting within a length before Geri was finally able to break free and win by 5 seconds. As in the earlier races, the marshals missed the scheduled end of race and an extra lap was run - Geri used it to set 26.94 as a new marker for pole. William finished seocnd with Tom third to take their slots in the final, ahead of Brandon, Lewis and David.
Semi-final saw saw Luke on pole from Guy, Matthew, Jack, Conagh, Harry and Alfie. After a false start the race was stopped on lap two as the timer wasn't working. From the restart, Guy had a bite at Luke on the upper hairpin on lap 1 but Luke managed to resist and slowly started to pull away. Jack moved up to third in a crash coming off the upper hairpin that held up the final 4 drivers who lost 11 seconds to the leading three (Luke, Guy and Jack). But by the end of lap 2 Luke had pulled out a 4 second lead on Guy who had Jack climbing all over him. It all went wrong for Guy on lap 4, Luke had already struggled to lap Alfie allowing Guy and Jack to close the gap, but Alfie spun as Guy tried to pass and knocked Guy very hard hurting him. The race was stopped but by now Jack was a long way past. Once the marshals had checked Guy was OK, the race was restarted leaving Luke to take an easy win from Jack and Guy who would be in the final, then 4th to 7th were Matthew, Conagh, Harry and Alfie.
The final - Geri on pole from Luke, William 3rd from Jack, and Guy 5th from Tom. Geri got a good start and was leading by 0.6 seconds from Luke at the end of the first lap, William was third with Jack right on his bumper a further second back, with Guy and Tom behind them. Jack would chase William round all through the race, daylight barely visible between the two karts, but William held his nerve to take the final podium position some 8 seconds off the winner. Tom was unable to pass Guy (Guy is surely the hardest person to pass, Geri certainly thinks so) leaving Guy 5th and Tom 6th. But the real race was going on up front!
Geri took the first lap honours, but Luke wasn't giving up without a fight and gained 1/4 second on lap 2 with his fastest lap of the day (so far) 27.00. On lap three there was just 2/100ths difference as the gap remained the same. Geri started to put the pressure on with 26.96 on lap 4 and 26.80 on lap 5 to ease the gap back out to 0.8 seconds. A 27.00 on lap 6 made that a full second lead but Luke showed he didn't plan to concede and did 26.90 on lap 7 to pull the gap back to 0.6s. Geri responded with 26.80, 26.92, 26.96, 27.00 in an attempt to break Luke and bring the gap up to 1.5 seconds. But Luke wasn't finished and set his best ever lap (26.84) on lap 12 to Geri's 26.96. Honours were even on twelve at 27.08 but Geri finished the last three laps 26.78 (FTD), 27.00, 26.90 to Luke's 26.96, 27.20, 26.96 to take his third consecutive Grand Prix event win. Geri sends his congratulations to Luke for pushing him hard all the way to the finish, the previous two successes were easier wins than this one.
Geri top scored on the day with 37 points to Luke's 36, William 34, Guy 30 and Jack and Tom on 29, so Geri now passes Jack at the top of the leader board. With six events still to go and two lowest scores to drop, its still anybody's title. Luke has missed an event but his consistent high scoring means Geri will still have to outscore Luke by at least six points over the second half of the season to win the 2008 title - today he gained just a single point.
One other driver parent was heard to say "sometimes its hard to remember Geri is only 8" when most of his opponents are 11-13, but this is Geri's last race as an 8 year old as he will be 9 on Wednesday!
