Cadet race at Whilton Mill - 2008
28th September:
Another busy weekend with testing at Whilton Mill on the Saturday, before returning to the circuit on a foggy Sunday morning. On Saturday we were on our own, and didn't it just show. We got to the circuit in good time and even got Geri to the pitlane in good time for the first session. But we couldn't get the kart to start! While double checking everything I could think of, someone else came over and showed us that we need to prime the fuel pump by blowing the fuel through the tube. A lesson learned, since Geri last drove the kart, Rogue Racing had changed the fuel tank from one on top of the engine to a more normal centre mount tank. And we didn't know what difference that made! Geri just got out on track as the chequered flag came out.
Things got better through the rest of the day, there were a few novices out there and Geri found that he could compete with one or two of them. We noticed that his Honda seemed to pull out of corners well and gain on the novice driven Comers, but just as Geri looked like he would make a pass near the end of a straight, the Comer seemed to get a second lease of life and accelerate away. But as the sessions went on, Geri found he could pass one or two of the karts and once passed, was able to pull away. So we were optimistic that he wouldn't be completely outclassed as he had been earlier in the month at Rye House.
An early Sunday start, but this time we had Graham from Rogue Racing on support duty for the day. Whilton Mill run mixed Cadet races, but we had already realised Geri would be racing the only Honda in a sea of Comers and WTPs. At least we managed to sign on and pass scrutineering on Saturday, and stay in bed for an extra 30 minutes!
The 3 lap warm-up session didn't go quite to plan, we barely managed to get to the pit lane in time, a problem with parking up at the far end of the paddock where we couldn't really hear the announcements. And just like yesterday, Geri was let down by idiot parents! This time we tried to start the kart without turning the fuel tap on, so of course it ran out of fuel about 1/3 round the first lap. Things could only get better!
With a massive Cadet entry, it was going to take 5 heats for each driver to run in 3 heats, Geri was drawn in heats 1, 2 and 5.
Heat 1:
Twenty-six starters in the first heat, as a novice Geri of course starts from near the rear. In this heat he was second novice of 4, so started in 23rd place. One novice failed to start, but as the heat got on the way, Geri fell back after the first corner and found himself heading uphill in last position. Geri got his head down and gave chase, slowly he started to reel in the next kart, no. 17 and managed to pass him. In the closing stages of the race, the leader came round and just managed to lap Geri before the end of the race. Geri's best lap of this heat was 59.32s, a little disappointing after he had run a string of 58s when taking his test a few weeks ago, and got down to 58.24 on Saturday. But for the first time, Geri was not last, being classified 24th of 25 finishers.
Picture courtesy of Pixelero
Twenty four starters this time, four novices and Geri starting 23rd. A better start, he came out of the first corner 4th from last before falling back a couple of places. But he was gaining on no. 53 (who he had caught many times on Saturday during the testing) and soon got by. Then Geri set after no. 22 and caught and passed him too! This was going really well for Geri, but then a WTP kart who had spun caught Geri going into Christmas and caused Geri to fall off backwards, allowing 22 and 53 by. Geri had a big gap to make up but again showed his character by getting on with the chase. On the final lap, he had closed up wo about 1/2 second behind when the two karts in front of him collided. Geri just managed to get round and take back the places he had earned earlier. He finished 20th of 23 finishers with a best lap of 58.87s.
Heat 5:
After a long break, it was time for Geri's final heat, heat 5 (race 20 of the day!). Geri started 24 of 25 with 4 novices. Again it was Geri battling to pass 53 who got by at the start, but Geri once again got the better of him and slowly pulled away. Geri was visibly gaining on kart 80 (not a novice) whose kart seemed to scraping the ground, but in the end Geri just ran out of laps finishing 1 second behind. So 22nd of 23 finishers and 3rd novice. But the fastest lap was coming down as Geri did a 57.74 on lap 6, and then 57.54 on his final lap. Nearly two seconds improvement since the first heat.
Picture courtesy of Pixelero
With the large entry, there was to be an A and a B final, predictably Geri was in the B final along with the other 7 novices (all Comers), and starting from 17th of 20 karts (so he had outscored 3 karts during the heats!). Geri had seen the Pixelero van and asked if he could have a picture so we told him he had to earn it. We always worked on the rewards basis when Geri first started karting. We told him he had to break into the 56s, 56.99 would be enough. From another poor start Geri started to make progress catching and passing 25 and 16 (having held off 53 and 82 from the start). He was chasing after the front three novices, 38, 22 and 17 who were embroiled in a battle of their own. He was trying to get close enough to take advantage if they had a coming together, but in the end followed them across the finish line just 1.8 seconds adrift, and 10 seconds clear of the next kart behind. And Geri being Geri recorded exactly 56.99 on his final lap to earn his pictures!
All in all, a more successful day's racing that the previous one at Rye House. Geri's confidence was building up after having some good battles in the last two races (and coming off best in both). We have decided to enter the two remaining Whilton House races this year, but will probably just enter one more at Rye House (October) before retiring from that series to test away from the pressure. The standard in the Honda only races at Rye House is just too good and we don't want to risk Geri getting an inferiority complex by pushing him too soon. We are confident with decent track time and practice, Geri will be competitive at both circuits for 2009. Send comments to: webmaster@nyssaracing.com
