Prima Racing trio Gaby Weyer, Tommy Weyer and Herbie Grout did the team proud indeed in the 2011 curtain-raiser for the Little Green Man Championship at PF International – with front-running performances from all three, and a thoroughly well-deserved podium to conclude the weekend in some style.

In a 25-strong WTP field, the Weyer siblings and Grout demonstrated that they meant serious business in Lincolnshire right from the word ‘go’, with Gaby taking a victory and fourth and fifth places from her three heat races, Tommy a fifth position and two sevenths – one of them from the very rear of the grid – and Herbie determinedly bouncing back from an unfortunate brace of DNFs with a gritty top ten effort. In evidence of their palpable potential, the Weyers also set a fastest lap apiece.

From respectively third (Gaby), seventh (Tommy) and 19th (Herbie) grid slots, the three young hotshots then similarly proceeded to shine in the all-important final, each running inside the top eight. Whilst Tommy was cruelly deprived of a likely rostrum finish by a questionable black flag, Herbie once more ably showcased his impressive never-say-die tenacity and perseverance by gaining a staggering 11 places on his starting position to take the chequered flag eighth.

The standout drive, however, was delivered by Gaby, who turned the final into a two-horse race with pole-sitter Alex Sedgwick as the pair intelligently pushed each other away from their pursuers, headed by Tommy. The speedy young lady boldly and artfully snatched the lead into the chicane on the last lap, but couldn’t quite hang onto it as her adversary stole it back again to pip her to the line by a mere quarter-of-a-second.

Almost nine seconds clear of the next-best competitor when the flag fell, it was truly a masterclass – and identical fastest laps to one another only went to underline the intensity of their fight. Also in attendance for Prima at PF was Ethan Hawkey in the Comer Cadet class, tallying two sixth places from his heats before improving by a spot to wind up fifth at the end of a fierce three-way scrap in the final. It was, all-round, another highly successful weekend for karting’s team of the moment.

“The whole of Prima Racing put in a great opening round performance at PF,” affirmed team manager and former European factory Birel star Jamie Croxford. “Gaby very quickly adapted back to driving her WTP kart from her usual Super Cadet, and was very fast in practice and all of her heats. After a good start in the final, she settled into second behind Alex Sedgwick, and the pair of them pushed away from the pack to open up a nice cushion, with only Tommy looking like he was going to close the gap until his black flag.

“That left Gaby and Alex with a massive advantage over the rest of the field. The battle commenced with two laps to go, with Gaby taking the lead with a very brave move into the chicane on the last lap, only to lose it again into the next corner, which was then the result of the race. Nonetheless, for Gaby, it was a very strong second place.

“Tommy and Herbie both showed great pace and promise over the weekend, too. Tommy was well on-course for his career-best meeting to-date. He was a pace-setter all day on Saturday and showed some great driving in his heats, particularly in coming through from last to seventh in heat one.

“In the final, he then scythed his way up the order and halfway through was lying third – having set the fastest lap along the way – before he received a black flag for two extremely harsh and debatable warnings, which unfortunately for him ended a storming weekend.

“Herbie constantly improved over the meeting and worked very well as part of the team both on and off the track. Following a setback in one of his heats, he began the final 19th and, after a very good start, worked his way consistently up through the field to take a very strong eighth place.

“Alongside the Little Green Man, we had Ethan representing Prima in the Comer Cadet class, and after a great, race-long three-way battle, he just missed out on fourth position in the last couple of laps, but still came home with a solid sixth-place finish.”

Prima still has two drives available in WTP Cadet, as well as race-winning motors for hire. For more information, please contact Jamie Croxford on 07889 981631