Having arrived at Oulton Park with only 1 previous outing in 2011, on the Yamaha R6, Grant was raring to go. Grant went out for FP1 on old used tyres from 2010 and immediately felt good with the bike. At the end of the session he finished 10th.
Next was Q1 and with new tyres on and a slightly different setup, Grant was really ready to get his head down. He managed to achieve an excellent 10th position, which was outstanding though he has had hardly any time on the bike considering the other riders had done one round of the year and many track days here and abroad.
It was now Sunday, and time for Q2. This is would finalise the grid for the race. Grant opted to only put a brand new rear tyre in this time and continued using the used front from the day before, as he felt very comfortable on the bike, especially with the front end. Grant managed to go 0.2 of a second quicker but unfortunately most of the other riders went quicker too, this pushed Grant back to 17th combined from the 1st qualifying session, altogether another good performance.
Race day was here and the weather was lovely, apart from a little breeze. Grant was feeling apprehensive for the 14 lap race. Grant got away a little slower than the rest on the start, but was determined to make up positions quick. He did this and made a few hard moves to work his way up and crossed the line in 12th position, only a second from 8th position, also having to struggle with clutch problems near the end of the race.
Grant would like to especially thank Chip from Ashton Service Centre for once again helping throughout the weekend with bike setup, Ferris Racing, my Dad, Gordon, my girlfriend Laura & good friend Sam for helping out over the weekend.
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