Junior Grand Prix at Rogue Racing - 2009
6th June:
The most important round of the season at Rogue Racing with double points on offer for all drivers. Geri needed to get back on track after last month's disastrous crashing out in the semi-final. After a run of 11 consecutive Grand Prix victories, Geri has only won one of the last three.
19 drivers arrived to enter this month's Grand Prix but the big surprise was the absence of Brandon Wilson, Geri's closest challenger. Jack Macaulay had missed the last two rounds but was back today, and of course last month's winner Luke Doig was here, so no easy ride for Geri despite Brandon's absence.
Heat one and Geri was straight out on track and starting from pole position. Behind Geri was Matt Hayes, Jack Macaulay, Luke Doig, William Tregurtha and Daniel Truman so a chance for Geri to take points of his two main rivals straight away. By the end of the top straight on the first lap, Jack was already past Matt where Geri was hoping Matt may hold Jack up a bit, but already there was a long gap back to 4th place after an incident at the back which put Luke down to last place. Two laps in and Geri was a second clear of Jack up front and Matt in third place was slowly falling back, but still well clear of 4th place. Geri put the hammer down to win comfortably by 4 seconds from Jack with Matt a further 8 seconds behind Jack in third place. A disastrous start for Luke who finished 6th. Geri set an early marker for FTD on his final lap of 27.27 from Jack (27.59), Matt (28.47), Daniel (27.75), William (27.87) and Luke (27.71).
Heat two saw Chris Bradley on pole from Callum Bradley, Michael Langran, Alex Milton and James Morrison. The drivers maintained position for the first lap, but Callum made a move to pass Chris going up the ramp at the start of the second lap which didn't quite come off. The following lap and Callum was in front. Michael had been running third but when the yellow lights on lap 5 were for a crash that sent him back to 5th place. Alex took the lead on lap 6 having just passed Chris, now Alex led from Callum with Chris holding off James just a second behind the lead pair. On the very final corner in sight of the finish line, Callum managed to get inside Alex to take the win by the narrowest of margins. Callum's fastest lap was 28.96 to Alex's 28.92 with Chris (29.39), James (29.40) and Michael (28.26).
Heat three, Will Barker on pole from Sam Conn, Patrick Harper, Matt Hayes, Carl Donellan and Tom Holland. Will and Sam made good starts and got away from third placed Patrick from the start with Will slowly pulling away from Sam. On the second lap Matt passed Patrick going up the ramp quickly started the chase after Sam, finally catching Sam on lap 7. For the last 4 laps, Matt tried to find a way past Sam, but had to settle for third as Will took an easy win by 8 seconds. Carl was looking for 4th place just behind Matt but span out on the last lap and into 6th place. Will's fastest lap was 27.89 from Sam (28.69), Matt (28.42), Tom (28.03), Patrick (28.61) and Carl (28.25).
Heat four and Geri was back on track. This time it was Jordan Donegan on pole from Daniel Truman, Geri, Callum Bradley, Jack Macaulay and Matthew Hopcraft. A bad start for Geri as Daniel moved across to block Geri's move down the inside and Callum was able to go round the outside putting Geri back into 4th. But Daniel crashed on the second lap partly blocking the track, the drivers came through with Jordan, Geri and Jack together in the first three places. Geri wasted no time getting away from Jack as he took the lead from Jordan before the end of the lap. Matthew was up into 4th place and gaining on the battle for second between Jordan and Jack, while Daniel was more than half a lap back in last place. Geri again had a quiet race out front, pulling away gradually while Jordan managed to hold off Jack and Matthew caught right up with them. Geri won with best lap of 27.34 from Jordan (27.80), Jack (27.88), Matthew (27.59), Callum (27.85) and Daniel (27.88). Geri commented after the race that his kart had no brakes and that was why he was slower than in the first race - the kart was withdrawn two races later.
Heat five, William Tregurtha on pole from James Morrison, Chris Bradley, Sam Conn, Michael Langran and Harry Macaulay. James got by William on the first lap which ended with the karts in two pairs of three, James, William and Sam up front and Harry, Chris and Michael some way back after a crash that slowed them. James led until lap 5 when he span down into 3rd place allowing William and Sam to get by. Chris almost span into the sin bin 2 laps later leaving him way behind in last place. William caught and passed Chris on the final lap to win by two seconds from Sam who followed Chris across the line. William's fastest lap was 28.64 from Sam (28.36), James (28.34), Harry (28.38), Michael (28.20) and Chris (29.18 and a lap down).
Heat six saw Alex Milton on pole from Tom Holland, Will Barker, Daniel Truman, Patrick Harper and Luke Doig - starting last and with just a 6th place so far, Luke had it all to do. Alex got spun round by Tom as they came across the line at the end of the first lap, demoting Alex to last place. By the end of lap 2, Tom led from Will by 3 seconds. Alex span again on lap three bringing on the yellow lights after which Tom's lead was now 4 seconds from Will, Daniel and Luke running in close formation. Luke finally passed Daniel on lap 9 but was three seconds behind Will. Tom went on to win by 5 seconds lapping Alex who was followed across the line by Will, just a second ahead of Luke. Tom's best lap was 27.81 from Will (28.11), Luke (27.47), Daniel (27.86), Patrick (28.69) and
Alex (28.65).
Heat seven and Geri's final heat. Could Geri make it three wins in a row? He would have to work for it starting last of 5 behind Carl Donellan on pole, from Matthew Hopcraft, Jordan Donegan and James Morrison. Geri wasted no time, he passed James going round the up ramp from the start and was into second place by the end of the top straight. Surely the win was on? Carl ended lap 1 a second ahead of Geri but Geri moved alongside Carl coming down the ramp on lap 2 and took the lead as Carl ran wide into the wall, putting Carl down to last place. At first Matthew was able to stay within a second or so of Geri while third place James was 5 seconds further back, but Geri finally made a break on lap 6 as Matthew slid his kart coming across the line. Geri went on to win by 3 seconds and set a new FTD of 27.22 from Matthew (27.32), James (28.35), Jordan (28.19) and Carl (28.59). 24 points from 24 guaranteed Geri pole position in semi-final one as no-one else had won both their first two races.
Heat eight, Jack Macaulay on pole from Harry Macaulay, William Tregurtha, Tom Holland, Chris Bradley and Matt Hayes. Jack was always going to be favourite here and just drove away from Harry in second place. Matt took six laps to find a way past Chris and into 5th place while Tom was closing up on Harry in second place. William spun out of 4th down to last leaving Matt free to chase after Harry and Tom. Jack won by seven seconds with best lap of 27.79 from Harry (28.36) who just held off Tom (28.01) and Matt (28.25) with Chris (28.90) and William (27.64) bringing up the rear.
Heat nine, Michael Langran on pole from Luke Doig, Alex Milton, Matthew Hopcraft, Will Barker and Callum Bradley. Michael and Luke pulled away and were 3 seconds clear of Alex at the end of lap 1, and five seconds clear at the end of lap 2. Matthew passed Alex on lap 3, but was 5 seconds behind Luke. Luke took the lead on lap 5 and by the end of lap 6 Luke led by 2 seconds from Michael who was in turn 2 seconds clear of Matthew. Matthew was the fastest driver on track and gaining on Michael as Luke slowly pulled further clear. Will was stuck back in 6th unable to find a way past Alex while Callum was having a lonely race in 4th. Luke (27.59) went on to win by 4 seconds from Michael (27.97), Matthew (27.37), Callum (27.56), Alex (28.49) and Will (28.35).
The final heat, heat 10. Patrick Harper was on pole from Carl Donellan, Harry Macaulay, Jordan Donegan and Sam Conn. Carl passed Patrick on the way up the ramp from the start, but with all karts together, Harry ended up parked in the wall at the start of the top straight leaving him in last place. Jordan was trying to pass Patrick on lap 5 but couldn't get by. Carl was pulling away from Patrick up front while Patrick and Jordan were leaving Sam behind back in 4th place. Suddenly Sam stopped on the ramp on lap 9 and the red lights came on, Sam's kart had run out of fuel! A replacement kart later and the race finished the final lap with Carl (28.34) winning by three seconds from Patrick (28.42) and Jordan (28.09) who finished nose to tail. Despite changing kart, Sam (29.39 in the second kart) still finished fourth ahead of Harry (28.43).
At the end of 10 heats the points table read: Geri 24, Jack 21, Tom 19, Sam 19, Matthew 18, Jordan 18, Will 18, Luke 17, Callum 17, Matt 17, James 17 and Harry 16 to make up the 12 semi-finalists.
Semi-final one, Geri on pole from Tom Holland, Matthew Hopcraft, Will Barker, Callum Bradley and James Morrison. James and Callum were squabbling at the back and brought the yellow lights into play on the first lap. Geri just led Tom over the line at the end of the first lap, already Will and Matthew were some way back as Will moved up into 3rd. Geri made his break on lap 3 lapping a full second faster than Tom, by lap 6 Geri was 5 seconds ahead. Geri lowered the FTD to 27.13 on lap 7 and then ran a sequence in the 27.1-27.2 laps to race clear and win by 10 seconds. Matthew fell to 5th after a crash with Will on lap 10. The race order finished Geri (27.13), Tom (27.72), Will (28.06), James (27.76), Matthew (27.75) and Callum (28.07).
Semi final two, Jack Macaulay on pole from Sam Conn, Jordan Donegan, Luke Doig, Matt Hayes and Harry Macaulay. Jack was already 2 seconds clear of Sam, Jordan and Luke by the end of the first lap but Luke passed first Jordan and then Sam on lap 2 to move into 2nd place. Matt moved up to 4th on lap 3 by which time Jack was 3 seconds ahead of Luke. On lap 4 as Matt came up behind Sam going across the finish line, Sam's kart slid and Matt was unable to avoid smacking hard into Sam, injuring Sam's knee. Sam pulled out of the race as the red lights came on and was unable to resume. From the restart, lap 4 ended with Jack 3 seconds ahead of Luke, in turn 3 seconds ahead of Matt. Luke was the fastest man on the track and was gaining on Jack, the gap was just 2 seconds after lap 6. Harry and Jordan were in close combat fighting over 4th place. Jack held on up front to win from Luke with just a kart length gap between them while Matt finished third 10 seconds back. Jack's best lap of 27.60 didn't trouble Geri's semi-final best so pole to Geri for the final. The others in the race finished Luke (27.21), Matt (28.10), Harry (28.10) and Jordan (28.09) with Sam a non-finisher.
So, the final and Geri has won all four races so far. Could he make it all five for the third time this year? The grid lined up with Geri on pole from Jack Macaulay, Luke Doig, Tom Holland, Will Barker and Matt Hayes. Geri wanted to prove last month - being beaten from pole by Luke - was an aberration. By the end of lap 2 the final was over barring a silly error. Geri was already 2 seconds ahead of Jack, Luke and Tom. Will and Matt couldn't stay with the pace and were 2 seconds down on 4th by lap 3. Once again Geri lowered the FTD on lap 6 to 27.09 and was now 4 seconds clear of Jack, Tom and Luke. On lap 12, Jack finally broke free from Tom, on the final lap Luke got past Tom to take the final podium position. The final ended Geri (27.09), Jack (27.46), Luke (27.52), Tom (27.47), Will (27.78) and Matt (28.30).
A clean sweep for Geri, and with the maximum points being doubled, as well as Brandon's absence, a good day for Geri all in all. Taking all points scored so far into account, Geri leads the championship with 289 points from Luke 234, Matt 197 and Brandon 180. Take away the two lowest scores so far and its Geri 226 from Jack 171, Luke 170 and Brandon 154. There are still six months ago, but its a big lead to lose.
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