Junior Grand Prix at Rogue Racing - 2008
1st March:
After the disaster which was the February event, we were hoping for a return to the podium for Geri who amazingly has not made the podium in either of the first two rounds.
All 13 entrants were given stern warnings that overly aggressive driving would not be tolerated, unfortunately the definition of this seemed to be inconsistent. 13 entrants meants a strange looking race rota with the same drivers racing mostly against each other. Once again, the draw did Geri no favours. His luck must turn for the better some time soon.
Race 1 saw Geri's best starting position of the day in second somewhat tempered by Jack Macaulay being on pole. Geri tucked in behind Jack from the start, unable to repeat his passing move at the top of the ramp this time. Slowly Jack and Geri pulled clear from the pack with Jack looking the slightly quicker, but once again as soon as the yellow lights came on, Geri slowed more than the kart in front, losing almost 2 seconds in one lap alone. As Jack caught up with the 2 backmarkers, Geri closed back in such that all 4 drivers went into the final corner together. Geri attempted to pass Jack on the inside and they crossed the line with Jack no more than 10cms in front to win a slow race, Jack's fastest lap was 27.44 to Geri's 27.76. Brandon Wilson finished 3rd from Harry Law, Ryan Hubball and Nathan Beck with only Harry moving up from his grid position. Somewhat controversially, Geri was adjudged to have pushed Jack - no advantage was gained and with 2 backmarkers in the way, this was a harsh decision as all karts would have slowed more than expected. Geri's punishment was a 2 point deduction, effectively dropping him to 4th. More controversy followed as Jack drove into the back of Geri in the pitlane and was also deducted 2 points.
Race 2 was a walkover for Tom Robilliard who started second on the grid, winning from David Woodford (started 5th) by about 14 seconds, from Adam Payne, David Humpston and William Barker.
Race 3 saw Geri starting from 4th with Jack 3rd and Luke Doig in second. Matt Hayes started on pole but Luke soon got by. Geri got up to 3rd, passing his nemesis Jack, but a coming together at the start of the bottom straight saw Jack come off best getting past Geri and Matt, Geri losing ground. A fight back from Geri saw him set fastest lap of the day so far at 27.36 but he still finished 4th, with Luke winning from Jack by 5 seconds. Brandon and Harry finished 5th and 6th from reversed grid positions.
Race 4 saw Tom Robilliard start from 4th on the grid, but with 3 newcomers in the race, he was significantly quicker than the rest and recorded another easy win despite a fastest lap of only 27.68, with Adam Payne finishing 2nd from 5th and David Woodford, Nathan Back and Ryan Hubball taking the final 3 places.
Race 5 saw Geri back out, starting 5th with Luke 4th and Jack finally behind him from the start. William Barker started on pole and held on to that place all race long. With one lap to go Geri was still struggling back in 4th stuck behind Luke who in turn was struggling to pass David Humpston, but on the final lap, Luke went one way to try and pass David, Geri went the other and passed them both to move up into 2nd, Luke got through to finsih 3rd and David went backwards as Jack also got through to finish 4th, Matt Hayes finishing 6th.
Race 6 saw Tom Robilliard starting from 5th with the 3 newcomers again, he romped through to win his 3rd heat from 3 with a fastest lap of just 27.84, from Harry Law, Brandon Wilson, Ryan Hubball, David Woodford and Nathan Beck. No offence to Tom, but with his draw a number of the other drivers would likely have won all 3 races too, as it was, Luke, Geri and Jack took points off each other.
The final heat saw Adam Payne win from pole with Luke Doig in second from 4th, from David Humpston, Matt Hayes and William Barker.
After the heats, the points were Tom 24, Luke 21, Jack, Adam and William 20, Geri 19 but with Geri and Jack docked 2 points, it read Tom 24, Luke 21, Adam and William 20, Jack 18 and Geri 17.
The first semi final saw Tom line up on pole from Adam, Jack, Brandon, Harry and David Woodford. At the end of the upper straight on lap one, Jack lunged into the two karts out front leaving Tom parked in the wall and his 100% record gone, Adam was also taken out of contention. Despite the recklessness of this move, nothing was said or done. Brandon took full advantage of this to lead the race and held on to take the win although Jack in second set a new FTD of 27.20, Harry Law coming through to take third and the last slot in the final, from Tom, David and Adam.
The second semi-final saw Luke on pole from William, Geri, David Humpston, Matt and Ryan. Luke got away cleanly, but Geri became embroiled in a battle to get past William with Matt Hayes all over him. Another bad move saw Matt shove Geri out of the way to move up into 3rd just before the start-finish line. this move allowed William to get away from the 3rd place battle although he couldn't catch Luke. Geri repassed Matt (cleanly) then set the two fastest times of the day (26.88 and 26.96) in a succession of quick laps as he chased down 2nd place, but he was too far back.
So to the final, with Luke lining up on pole from Brandon, William, Jack, Geri and Harry. A tall order for Geri to do well from the back row of the grid, but a good start saw him resist Jack's attempt to squeeze him into the wall, Geri's speed carried him through and dropped Jack to last place. The chase was on, but as Geri got up to third, Jack was up in 4th. Another yellow saw Jack close onto Geri's bumper, while the front runners pulled another second clear. Geri resisted Jack's attempts to pass and moved up into 2nd place finishing 2 seconds behind Luke who took his second win of the year. William was just behind Geri for 3rd and a hard charging Jack equalled Geri's fastest time of the day on his final lap with Harry and Brandon taking 5th and 6th.
So back to the podium for Geri, done the hard way. A bit more consistancy from the organisers might put a stop to the overly aggressive driving, and better control of speed under yellow lights would be useful as Geri slows far more than anyone else! At least we are heading in the right direction, up into 3rd overall but with a score which will surely be dropped at the end of the year. Luke is some way clear already and is going to take some catching. Sometimes its hard to remember that Geri is still only 8, his main competitors range from 10-13.
