Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2015 10:54:39 GMT
Going into the final round of the JJ South, the leading pack arrived at the Aviators Arena knowing they just needed to keep their consistency to claim their spot in the JJ Grand Prix series.
Russell Ganz led the series on 97, followed by Ross How on 93, Lee Bryant on 89, Niall Lowriston on 88, TJ Imbert on 87 and Wayne Josephs on 86. Sitting outside the top six, Jordan Trott and Kelly Kallstrom, both on 77 points, knew they would need a great performance and a fair slice of luck to break into the leading group.
Genz came out in heat one and set his stall out early, leading from start to finish to show he was in no mood to surrender his lead. Kallstrom kept his top six hopes alive finishing second.
Realistically, Imbert would be one of the riders who needed to slip up to lose his GP qualifying spot but he showed no signs of nerves, beating home favourite Ashley Wakerley to win heat two. Unfortunately for the Iwade rider, second would be his best finish of the day.
Lowriston blew away the opposition in the third, looking very comfortable to take the win by some margin, with Trott the next rider home to keep tabs on his narrow chance of making the top six.
Second in the series How was another who kept up the consistency level to win the fourth, remaining hot on the heels of Genz for the JJ South title. However, in the following heat five, Genz cruised to another win to further stamp his authority on proceedings. Trott trailed in at the back effectively putting an end to slim hopes.
Bryant took the win in the sixth before How kept the pressure on Genz by taking another comfortable win in the seventh.
Josephs was victorious in heat eight and with Kallstrom finishing in third, the top six was all but sorted, with the attention now turning to the battle for the podium places.
Genz maintained top spot with another smooth win in the ninth before his nearest challenger How battled hard with Lowriston in the tenth, with the latter holding off the challenge to take his second win of the day and give Genz a little breathing space.
Lowriston continued his fine display in heat thirteen to take another win, in a heat which saw Genz show signs of pressure, finishing down in third as he allowed Sam Kydd to slip past as he ran wide in pursuit of the leader. The point was still a vital one though, as it put him six ahead of How, who would now need to win his last two heats and hope for Genz to finish without a point in his last ride.
How’s first chance came in heat sixteen, where he battled non-stop for four laps with Trott but just didn’t have enough to get by, making Genz the JJ South Champion.
The top two met in the next heat and How took some consolation in winning the heat, with Genz finishing third, having the luxury of the title already won surely playing a part.
It wasn’t to be How’s day, as after already losing out on his bid to win the JJ South, he had top spot snatched from him in round 10, as Lowriston came out to win his last heat in the nineteenth and win the round by a point.
06/04/2015 at Aviators Arena - Att: 377
JJ South Round 10
1. Niall Lowriston........... 3 2 3 3 3 14
2. Ross How.................. 3 3 2 2 3 13
3. Russell Genz.............. 3 3 3 1 1 11
4. Jordan Trott.............. 2 0 3 3 3 11
5. Lee Bryant................ 1 3 1 3 2 10
6. Boyd Beaton............... 2 2 2 2 2 10
7. T J Imbert................ 3 1 0 3 Fx 7
8. Sam Kydd.................. 0 0 2 2 3 7
9. Alain De Gruchy........... 1 1 3 2 0 7
10. Wayne Josephs............. 1 3 F 1 2 7
11. Kelly Kallstrom........... 2 1 F 1 2 6
12. Ashley Wakerley........... 2 1 1 0 1 5
13. Alex Gagen................ 0 2 1 0 0 3
14. Mitchell Spink............ 0 2 0 0 1 3
15. Dave Hemus................ 1 0 2 F - 3 (I)
16. Carl Griffin.............. 0 0 1 1 1 3
17. Mark Powell............... 0 - - - - 0
18. Neil Askew................ Did not ride
Top 6:
1. Russell Genz 108
2. Ross How 106
3. Niall Lowriston 102
4. Lee Bryant 99
5. TJ Imbert 94
6. Wayne Josephs 93