Gould & Henderson win season ending Grand Prix; Gould and Davies take titles

And so another Summer Grand Prix season drew to a close. From Norwich to Sunderland, Milton Keynes and Manchester, the culmination at Hemel drew a good level of racers from across the country. 18 year old Charlotte Gould took her third win of the summer to emphasis her win in the series while Callum Henderson from Edinburgh, edged out James Greenwood and Matt Thompson for the podium in the men’s race. Megan Jenkins overtook Yasmin Cooper for second spot in the women’s race.

After Caroline Powell put in a fast first run to open up a healthy lead of fourteen hundredths from Gould, it was Yasmin Cooper, six years younger than Gould yet a mere two hundredths behind her, that impressed. Cooper led a group of three Children 2 racers with Megan Jenkins and Francesca Lee separated by a mere hundredth of a second. This was a great example of what the future looks like in female ski racing. Gould knew that she had the series in the bag yet wanted to go out on a winning note.

The second run saw the positions all change as the children two girls took charge. First down was Emma Peters who skied a superb clean line down the fresh course. Peters’s time ended up being the fastest of all the racers and lifted her up the leader board from fifteenth after the first run. How would the later runners react? With five to go Peters’s still lead but Francesca Lee is highly rated yet she who made a small error that cost her dear. Next up was Megan Jenkins who tore into the course and showed just why the BSA racer is so highly thought of for the future to take the lead. Then came Yasmin Cooper who could just not quite match the form of Jenkins and despite having a healthy lead over Jenkins had to be content with placing behind her.

Gould did enough to have a better time than Jenkins to edge in front but with Caroline Powell still to come she did not think that this would be enough to win the race outright. Halfway down Powell got into a mess coming into the first hairpin and before you could blink she was in the snow and the win was Gould’s with Jenkins in second and Cooper third. Peters’s fastest second run pulled her up to 4^th Overall and third in the Children 2 age group. Lee dropped to fifth overall and fourth in the age group.

The men’s race was just as exciting as they used their greater strength and power to rip into the courses. The big three of Henderson, Greenwood and Thompson ended up taking the overall podium while the younger racers struggled to put two runs together that would challenge the overall picture. Just over half a second separated the top fifteen from the first run. Such is the strength of the older racers that Henderson executed a powerful second run to open up a gap from the rest of the field and the rest had hundredths separating each place. One small mistake by a racer was costly! Andrew du Plessis took fourth overall with James Grant in fifth. Despite finishing 12^th Overall this was enough for Andrew Davies to take the series title.

The only downer on the racing was the poor state of the snow at Hemel. A freestyle event on the Friday night had seen the snow softened up so those jumping could have a soft landing. Racing needs the indoor slopes and the money that the racers, their parents and those watching the racing bring to the slope in terms of buying food and drink, is good money for the venue. Skiing and all its forms need to work together to encourage more people to take part in all the various disciplines of winter sport for the sport to be more successful.

In the age groups there were wins for Alicja Krahelski (Children 1); Megan Jenkins (Children 2); Ellen Brown (Junior 1); Charlotte Gould Junior 2); Fern Barker (Senior) and Kerry Turnock (Masters) in the female race and Finlay Davies (Children 1); Robert Poth (Children 2, 7^th= overall); Ashley Breese (Junior 1, 7^th= Overall); Matthew Thompson (Junior 2); Callum Henderson (Senior) and Claude Farren (Masters) in the male race.

Features on Grand Prix Series winners Charlotte Gould and Andrew Davies

Race Results

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