Thompson claims Broadford Junior Cup win from Grenfell & Drane

bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup Round 2

Carter Thompson claims the round win

Images by Rob Mott, RbMotoLens

The bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup head to Broadford for Round 2 over the weekend, with Carter Thompson winning the round on a countback following three races. Carter Thompson, Agus Grenfell and Tom Drane all finished the weekend on 56-points, with Marianos Nikolis and Jacob Roulstone completing the top five, both on 42 points.

Saturday kicked off with Cros Francis topping qualifying with a 1:12.029 enough for pole, while Kiwi Cormac Buchanan and Jacob Roulstone completed the front row. Angus Grenfell head the second row from Carter Thompson and Jacob Hatch.

Oceania Junior Cup Race 1

Race 1 on Saturday saw Roulstone emerge in first position followed by Grenfell from the start, as Thompson made up two places to slot into third. Francis couldn’t capitalise on his pole position as he was bundled back to fourth, but in a perfect example of the hard-fought nature of the Oceania Junior Cup Francis had catapulted to the lead by the end of the second lap. Tom Drane also made his way up to the lead group of six.

The field largely held station until lap four where the arguing over the lead began, with the lead group of six going hammer-and-tongs into turns one and two, each rider fighting to be last of the late-brakers.

Lap six and Wakefield Park winner Thompson had really hit his straps, passing Grenfell for the lead. The racing was tight right down through the order, with the field splitting into three major ‘trains’ of riders. The top six were really showing their class as the leaders built up a ten second lead from the chasing field.

As the leaders reached for the finish line the lead group of six was covered by just over half a second, with Drane taking the honours from Francis who backed up his overall second place from Wakefield Park admirably.

Roulstone finished fourth and Thompson, looking dangerous in the closing laps, was bundled back to fifth. Glenn Nelson rounded out the top six.

Race 1 Top 10

1. Tom DRANE
2. Cros Francis
3. Angus GRENFELL
4. Jacob ROULSTONE
5. Carter THOMPSON
6. Glenn NELSON
7. Jacob HATCH
8. Marianos NIKOLIS
9. Alex KENWORTHY-JONES
10. Zak PETTENDY

Oceania Junior Cup Race 2

The opening race of Sunday closely mirrored the day before, with a number of ‘trains’ forming and competition fierce all the way up and down the field. A lead group of four emerged off the start, with Jacob Roulstone, Cros Francis, Grenfell, and Glenn Nelson battling for the lead through most of the race.

The chasing pack was led by Saturday winner Tom Drane who settled into fifth off the start, ahead of Cormac Buchanan and Alex Kenworthy-Jones. By lap six Drane had broken away from the second group and was looking to tag onto the back of the leaders, building a gap over the chasing pack now led by Thompson.

At the finish it was Roulstone a mere fifteen hundredths ahead of Francis, still looking for his maiden victory in the Oceania Junior Cup despite a second place overall at Wakefield Park. Grenfell also reprised his third place from Race 1, finishing three tenths off the win to round out the podium.

Glenn Nelson in fourth just missed out on the podium by under a tenth of a second, while Drane in fifth couldn’t quite bridge the gap to the leaders by the time the chequered flag came out. Thompson led the rest of the field home in sixth, more than four seconds further back.

Race 2 Top 10

1. Jacob Roulstone
2. Cros Francis +0.156
3. Angus Grenfell +0.312
4. Glenn Nelson +0.388
5. Tom Drane +0.708
6. Carter Thompson +5.515
7. Cormac Buchanan +5.675
8. Alex Kenworthy-Jones +5.981
9. Marianos Nikolas +6.335
10. Reece Oughtred +6.617

Oceania Junior Cup Race 3

Roulstone once again decided to put his stamp on the race early, leading the field across the line to begin lap one, with Buchanan in second and Grenfell completing the leading group of three, with Drane, Reece Oughtred and Nelson pursuing a second further back.

Buchanan’s running at the front didn’t last long, unfortunately, as he fell at turn two on lap two, bringing out the red flag.

The race was subsequently shortened from twelve to ten laps and the field lined up again to take the restart. After the restart Grenfell took the lead ahead of Nelson. Francis was the big benefactor from the red flag, making his way back to third ahead of Roulstone and Oughtred.

The battle at the front of the field raged intensely as the riders tried to make the most of their second-chance opening laps, with the lead group expanding to include almost half the field in the first four laps. When the action did settle down a little, Roulstone worked his way back to the front, with Nelson hot on his heels. Francis managed to hold down third from Oughtred and Thompson.

Lap six and the field had bunched back up at the front with Thompson overtaking for the lead ahead of Nelson, and Oughtred finding his way past Francis. Roulstone was back in fifth and Grenfell in sixth. Race 1 winner Drane was stuck back in ninth.

On lap nine the riders made their way down through the esses on the approach to the penultimate corner Francis went down in a low-side and in the following chain reaction Roulstone and Nelson also crashed.

The red flag went out once again and the race was declared, with Thompson awarded the victory ahead of Grenfell, Oughtred, Marianos Nikolis, Archie McDonald, and Drane.

Race 3 Top 10

1. Carter Thompson
2. Angus Grenfell +0.235
3. Reece Oughtred +0.468
4. Marianos Nikolas +1.089
5. Archie McDonald +1.134
6. Tom Drane +1.559
7. Max Gibbons +12.020
8. Jai Russo +12.090
9. Hunter Diplock +12.208
10. Zakary Pettendy +12.559

Oceania Junior Cup Round 2 Overall Top 10

1. Carter THOMPSON – 56
2. Angus GRENFELL – 56
3. Tom DRANE – 56
4. Marianos NIKOLIS – 42
5. Jacob ROULSTONE – 42
6. Cros FRANCIS – 40
7. Reece OUGHTRED – 39
8. Archie McDONALD – 34
9. Alex KENWORTHY-JONES – 33
10. Glenn NELSON – 32

Round 3 of the 2019 bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup takes place at Morgan Park Raceway, Warwick, Queensland, 5-7 July 2019.