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Junior Grand Prix at Rogue Racing - 2008

4th October:
14 drivers entered the October round, including 3 newcomers - Jordan Donegan, Sam Conn and Daniel Ewens. After a run of decent warm days, October brought cooler conditions. A late arrival time meant that Geri was drawn to start 4th, 5th and 2nd on the grid in heats 1, 4 and 5 of 7.

So Geri lined up 4th in heat one behind new boys Jordan and Daniel, and William Barker with Jack Macaulay 5th and Alex Milton 6th. As the lights were switched on, Jordan drove off so was forced to start the race from the back. At the proper start, Geri dived left of Daniel in front while William had a clear run to lead from Geri into the first corner. Jack quickly found his way into 3rd but some way back from William and Geri and seemingly unable to stay with them. Geri overtook William on the 3rd lap coming off the top straight but took a couple of laps before he began to shake William off. Jack was still struggling, losing a second or two a lap from the leaders, his kart seemingly restricted from full throttle. On lap 6 Geri caught and lapped Alex, although William also passed Alex, the damage was done and Geri went on to win by 7 seconds setting an early marker for FTD at 27.13 seconds. William was second with best lap of 27.74, then Jack (28.96), Jordan (28.64), Alex (30.33) and Daniel (31.38) and two laps behind Geri.

Heat two and the starting order was Matthew Hayes, Jack Macaulay, Brandon Wilson, Carl Donnellan, Harry Macaulay and Sam Conn. Carl crashed on the first lap and had to change karts bringing about a red light (stopped race). Matt led Jack, on lap 4 Jack tried to pass Matt on the inside going across the start/finish line but Matt squeezed Jack along the wall to defend his position. Jack tried again at the end of the top straight both on lap 6 and 7, but both times Matt came out the other side still in the lead. Another try on lap 9 cost Jack 1/4 second giving Matt enough breathing space to hold on and take the win with a best lap of 28.21 from Jack (28.16), Brandon (28.31), Harry (29.11), Sam (29.88) and Carl (28.80).

Heat three lined up with Alex Milton on pole from Harry, Jordan, Tom Robilliard, Luke Doig and Guy Grigsby. Luke moved up to 4th through the first corner, and was up to 3rd at the end of the top straight as Jordan crashed. This caused the yellow lights to remain on for the first 3 laps. luke collided with Alex on lap 4 which allowed Tom to repass Luke, but Luke recovered before the end of the lap. But Luke couldn't get past Alex in second place which was allowing Harry to extend his lead at a rate of 2 seconds per lap. On lap 9 Guy got past both Luke and Tom after another crash and then passed Alex into second, but too late to chase after Harry who won by 12 seconds with a best lap of 28.84 from Guy (28.60), Alex (30.10), Luke (27.67), Tom (28.23) and Jordan (28.83).

Heat four, and Geri was back out, this time starting fifth behind Sam, Luke, Matt and Daniel with William at the back. Geri knew a good start was vital to not allow Luke the chance to get away, and by the end of the top straight on lap one was up to 3rd before getting caught in a crash that left him parked in the wall at the end of the straight. As his kart was straightened out and the yellow lights went out, Geri shot from 6th to 4th before the next corner! On lap three Geri powered past both William and Matt along the top straight and into second place, but Luke was already 7 seconds ahead. Luke lapped Daniel on lap 7, Geri passed Daniel on lap 8 but was only closing at 1/2 second a lap. On lap 9 Luke came up behind Sam but couldn't pass him, Geri closed in 3 seconds on that final lap but needed another to catch Luke. Luke won with a best lap of 27.37 from Geri (27.19), Matt (28.00), William (27.68), Sam (30.01) and Daniel (30.87).

Heat five and straight back out on track. Geri had been complaining of not feeling well when he got up and seemed to have a sore throat. What we didn't tell Geri was that he had tonsilitis! He started heat five from second, behind Guy with Alex, Jack, Carl and Brandon. Jack fell back to 5th on the first corner but was then part of a crash bringing out a red light on lap 1. Guy still led Geri (just) but Jack came out of the incident in 3rd and slowly crawled round to where Guy and Geri were parked up. Brandon followed suit in fourth. Geri reacted first when the lights went out and got straight into the lead. The positions were now Geri, Carl, Jack, Brandon, Guy and Alex. Jack swiftly moved into second place and both Geri and Jack lapped Alex on lap 3. Geri pulled away slowly to win from Jack by 3 seconds with Brandon a further 5 seconds back in 3rd. In a slow race, Geri fastest lap was just 27.43, Jack (27.69), Brandon (27.64), Carl (29.17), Guy (27.69) and Alex (30.13). But as Geri came in, he was plainly in distress, holding his stomach and crying. He had been feeling sick for a few laps and just hung on in. With 23 points on the board, Geri had already guaranteed being top points scorer in the heats, and thus pole in the first semi-final. The worry was would he be well enough to race - at least there were two heats left before Geri went out again.

Heat six, the line-up was William, Carl, Sam, Harry, Tom and Jordan. William went on to win the hat easily with a best time of 27.54 from Tom (27.71), Harry (28.41), Jordan (28.24), Sam (29.99) and Carl (29.67).

Final heat, the grid was Brandon, Tom, Guy, Luke, Daniel and Matt. Luke needed to win to move into second place. On the first lap Guy and Luke moved past Tom. Daniel crashed and pulled out of the race on lap 7, in the final three laps it was all change as Luke got the front and won from Tom, Brandon, Guy and Matt.

After the heats, the points were Geri 23, Luke 21, William 20, Jack 20 and Harry 19.

Geri went out to the semi final under instruction to pull over if he felt unwell. He was on pole from William, Harry, Tom, Guy and Alex. Tom spun out on the first lap while Geri led from William. Geri was only pulling away slowly, and lapping a lot slower than he normally would. In the middle of the race Geri managed 27.37, far slower than his best of the day (set back in heat 1) and probably not enough to win pole for the final. The yellow light came on at the end of the 10th lap causing Geri to slow before crossing the line - that lap was 27.52 so may have proved faster. Geri finally won with the best lap of 27.37 from William (27.69), Tom (27.71), Harry (28.07), Guy (27.87) and Alex (30.88).

Semi final two, Luke on pole from Jack, Brandon, Matt, Jordan and Sam. Jack passed Luke going into the hairpin at the end of the top straight on lap 1, Luke ending up crashed into the wall dropping him to 5th. He tried to chase back but was unable to pass Jordan until the final lap of the semi final, too late to qualify for the final. Jack won with a best lap of 27.27 (thus earning pole for the final), from Brandon (27.37), Tom, Luke, Jordan and Sam.

The final, and for the first time in months, Geri was not on pole. With him still feeling (and looking) unwell, maybe this was the end of his winning streak?

The final lined up with Jack on pole from Geri, Brandon, William, Tom and Matt. A flying start saw Geri feign going outside Jack in to the first corner but then launching down the top straight quicker than Jack, passing him down the inside halfway down the straight. Jack spent the next three laps trying to stay with Geri, a tap here and a tap there not making any difference. Then Geri started to eke out a small gap, but on laps 6 and 7 Geri did 27.07, then 26.87 (the two fastest laps of the day) while Jack could only respond with 27.52 and 27.73 - almost 1.5 seconds gained in 2 laps. Geri continued to pull away at a rate of around 1-2 tenths a lap to take his 7th consecutive GP win by over 3 seconds from Jack, and score 39 points from 40 in the process. Brandon finished 3rd from William, Matt and Tom.

With Geri scoring 39 points and Jack 35, Geri has extended his lead at the top of the standings by 4. Luke's 26 point haul means he now falls to third place. Two rounds to go, the points are Geri 351, Jack 303, Luke 300, but only the best 10 rounds from 12 are taken into account. Take away the two worst scores each and its now Geri 297, Jack and Luke 274! Its not over yet, but Geri will have to have a disastrous final two rounds not to win the 2008 series.

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