Round 1 2007

February 24th/25th Morgan Park Raceway

Wilson wins, Bonwick Smashes Lap Record

Round 1 was an absolute cracker & showed the spectators what Gemini Racing is all about.

Qualifying saw Benn Wilson on a flyer taking poll followed by Brett Phillips in the 2006 car of Rod Dawson. Next was Ash Jarvis followed by current HQ Champion & Gemini Rookie Gary Bonwick who had only tested for the first time in a Gemini for 15 Minutes on Friday. 5th saw Mel Thompson followed by Dan Bowden, Jake Brackenridge, Gavin Pates, Ben Tomlin & rounding out the top 10 with a phenominal effort was David Lawrence another rookie racing for the first time in circuit racing. Next saw the sister & brother pairing of Rebecca Dawes & Michael Dawes followed by John L’Estrange (Rookie), Brian Smallwood, Jason Hore (Rookie), Dion Jarvis, James Carroll (Rookie), Victoria Whitley, Gerry Van De Linde. Ryan Cochran (Rookie), Lindsay Yelland(Rookie), Tracey Whale (Rookie) & Phil Nichol.

 

Race 1 saw mixed results with Benn Wilson away to a good start where he led from start to finish. Benn was followed closely by Brett Phillips until lap 4 when Phillips was passed by Ash Jarvis & on the same Lap Gary Bonwick smashed the lap record pushing hard on the tail of Jarvis/Phillips & on lap 5 made his move up into second place. Jarvis & Phillips finished in 3rd & 4th respectively holding steady for the remaining laps. in 5th place was Jake Brackenridge who was a steady performer all weekend followed by Gavin Pates with both drivers capitilising on Mel Thompson 7th & Dan Bowden dropping back to 8th. 9th saw Rebecca Dawes in her beautifully repainted coupe with another steady performance, 10th was Phil Nichol who climbed after starting at the rear of grid with Dion Jarvis 11th after passing first time Gemini racer & highest rookie finisher David Lawrence in 12th. In 13th position was James Carroll (Another Gemini Virgin) followed by Victoria Whitley, Ryan Cochran, Gerry Van De Linde in his newly built Gemini coupe & Lindsay Yelland. Brian Smallwood was penalised 30 seconds & put back to 19th, followed by Michael Dawes who had carby trouble & Tracey Whale who was doing very well being another Gemini Rookie. Jason Hore, John L'Estrange & Ben Tomlin all DNF'd with various car troubles.

Race 2 was another great race which saw Wilson & Bonwick lined up side by side on the front row. The opening lap saw Bonwick get the jump by half a car, not enough to close the door & being on the outside had to battle to stay on the track at turn 2. Jarvis & Phillips both tucked in behind the front pair until lap 3 when Phillips passed Jarvis. On lap 5 Philips made a bold move which didn't come off, relegating him way back in the field with Jarvis back up into 3rd until he ran out of fuel on lap 9. Dan Bowden after a shocking couple of races moved up to 3rd to salvage something from this round with Phil Nichol 4th & Jake Brackenridge 5th with another consistant finish. The huge surprise of this race was David Lawrence into 6th after passing Dion Jarvis 7th on lap 7. A phenominal effort considering this was David's first time circuit racing let alone the fact he had never driven a Gemini nor driven at Morgan Park prior to Friday afternoon. Up into 8th spot was Mick Dawes who had solved his carby issues, followed by Ben Tomlin with a smashed windscreen & Brain Smallwood rounding out the top 10. Mel Thompson made her way up to11th after a big off on lap 2 which put her to rear of the field, she was followed by Ryan Cochran battling hard, Gerry Van De Linde & Lindsay Yelland with another superb performance in his first ever race meeting in any form of motorsport. 15th saw L'Estrange, 16th Bec Dawes after an off, 17th Brett Phillips, 18th Victoria Whitley, 19th Jason Hore, 20th Ash Jarvis with Tracey Whale & James Carroll both showing battle damage after big shunt. Gavin Pates DNF'd after 7 laps.

Round 1 was a superb example of Gemini Racing at it's finest. There was everything from Gary Bonwick smashing the lap record, Benn Wilson taking 2 race wins & Dan Bowden reversing his form. Both Brett Phillips & Ash Jarvis were snapping at the heals of Wilson & Bonwick all weekend & further back in the pack we saw some great battles & my highlight was the Jarvis/Lawrence battle with Dion Jarvis hopping out of his car & shaking the hand of David Lawrence in what I feel typifies this category & DIon is a fine example of this. Other highlights were the appearance of Gerry Van De Linde in his finely turned out Gemini, the great effort of Rebecca Dawes to respray & turn out another great Gemini, as well as the following Rookies for 2007. Tracey Whale, James Carroll, Jason Hore, John L'Estrange, Lindsay Yelland, Ryan Cochran & David Lawrence, all making up 30% of the field!!!!!

I would also like to thank Darin at Digital Realism for for his great photos, they are the best I've seen at Morgan Park. Please support him as he is doing a fantastic job. See all the great pics at www.digitalrealism.com.au

 

Round 4 2007

August 25th/26th Morgan Park Raceway

Phillips takes pole & Race 1 Win, Wilson takes Race 2 win

Round 4 was another great show put on by the Gemini driver with Benn Wilson cracking the lap record in the last scratch race.

Qualifying saw Brett Phillips dominate taking pole with 1:17.5226 followed by Benn Wilson, Ben Tomlin, Mick Dawes & Gary Bonwick who had pitted for a few minutes for a minor fuel system adjustment. Next was Dan Bowden followed by Jake Brackenridge, Mel Thompson, John L’Estrange & rounding out the top 10 was Dion Jarvis. Next saw Robbie Walker, Rebecca Dawes, Jason Hore, Lindsay Yelland, Gerry Van De Linde, Dominic Martensin the ex-Jarvis car, Tracey Whale & Neil Pollard another Gemini Rookie making up the field.

Race 1 saw Benn Wilson away to a good start where he led from the first lap until lap 10 where Phillips retook the lead & finished with the win. The front pair fought a tough battle with Phillips eventually making a move & ending up on top. They were closely followed by Ben Tomlin with a consistant effort, Dan Bowden who drove well to hold off Gary Bonwick who was snapping at his heels for the majority of the race. In sixth was Mel Thompson who was followed & pushed all the way by Jake Brackenridge & Michael Dawes. Next was Dion Jarvis, Rebecca Dawes, with Robbie Walker holding off an ever improving Lindsay Yelland, who was closely follwoed by Jason Hore. In fourteenth was John L'Estrange, in front of Dominic Martens, Gerry Van De Linde, Tracey Whale & Neil Pollard who was battling electrical problems.

Race 2 was another great race which saw Phillips & Wilson lined up side by side on the front row. The opening lap saw Wilson take the lead & on lap 2 Phillips regained the lead until the flip flop, where he spun off leaving Wilson in front & taking the race win from there. Ben Tomlin pushed Wilson all the way & followed by Jake Brackenridge who has improved out of sight. Next saw Mick Dawes, his sister Rebecca Dawes, Dion Jarvis, Rob Walker, Jason Hore, Melissa Thompson slipping back & John L'Estrange making up the top 10. In 11 was Dom Martens, who followed by Gerry Van De Linde, Dan Bowden who had served a drive through for his shattered windscreen, Tracey Whale & Lindsay Yelland coming home. DNF's from Brett Phillips (Loss of power), Gary Bonwick (Electrical) & Neil Pollard (Electrical)

Reverse Grid Handicap

In a new concept for Gemini racing, a Reverse Grid Handicap was organised with great success.

Tracey Whale led the field from start to finish, starting off a 5 second lead at one stage improving it to a 9 second lead before the field started to wind her in. Tracey completed the race in 1st, but unfortunately a minor defect un-benowns to her made her illegable for victory & Jason Hore was awarded 1st. 2nd saw Benn Wilson, who was flying & going under the lap record, followed by Mel Thompson, Dom Martens, Neil Pollard, Rebecca Dawes, Michael Dawes, John L'Estrange, Jake Brackenridge, Ben Tomlin, chased all the way by Gary Bonwick, Lindsay Yelland, Gerry Van De Linde & Dion Jarvis with a DNF.

Congrats to all that competed, the racing was fierce with a lot of battles throughout the field. The spectacle of the Reverse Grid handicap had the whole crowd on their feet. Bad luck to Tracey, although we still feel she deserved the win!

 

THE GOLDEN HOLDEN CLASSIC

Nov 11, 2007

Rod Dawson & Ash Jarvis have taken honours in the innaugural Golden Holden Classic held at Qld Raceway, Willowbank, Qld.

In a first of it's kind, Qld Raceway was host of a special format that saw racing between 9 Geminis & 11 HQs

Each car featured paired drivers which saw 2 qualifying sessions, 2 scratch races, & a 1 hour race with driver change.

The scratch races were a mixed bag with Ash Jarvis (Gemini) winning in the Driver 1 race followed closely by Brad Shomberg (HQ) & Tony Shanks (HQ) . Next saw 2007 Australian HQ Champion Gary Bonwick (Gemini), Ian Mundell (HQ), 2006 Gemini World Champion Rod Dawson (Gemini), Cameron Stanfield (HQ), 2007 Qld HQ Champion Darren Aspinall (HQ) , Rowan Stanfield (HQ) & rounding out the top10 Nick Cresswell (Gemini).

 

To be continued