(Saturday) FP1 – The weather was good for the first outing of the weekend onboard the HWW Racing Yamaha. Grant got back into the grove and started to put in some good times and was constantly improving. Grant came into the pits to make a couple of changes & tweak the setting of the Yamaha. At the end of the session the team could tell that Grant was very happy with his bike as he was riding really well, this paid off with Grant finishing the session in 7th.
(Saturday Afternoon) Q1 – This was a very important session for Grant as his aspirations for qualifying was to be on the front 2 rows. Grant made a good start to the session and with a good feeling from the bike & the new tyres. He tried to give himself a little room on the race track in order to put in a fast lap. Unfortunately, the session was red flagged so Grant had to return to pit lane. This left Grant a little annoyed as he wanted to get his head down and put in some good times as the weather was looking very unpredictable. When the session was re-started the time had been reduced, so Grant made sure he got out onto the race track quickly in order to waste no time at all. After a good couple of laps Grant was in 3rd – 4th position. This was encouraging for Grant and at the end of the session he sat in 7th. After looking at the times after qualifying it was very good to see that Grant was putting in good consistent lap times throughout the session.
(Sunday Afternoon) Q2 – with weather conditions warmer than the previous day Grant opted to go out on the same tyres he had used the previous day, to make sure the bike was setup correctly before he put a new tyre in midsession. Grant did a 5 lap stint before he entered the pits to put a new tyre in and fuel the bike. Grant went back out and got his head well and truly down and put in a very fast lap of a 1.43.6 which would have been the pole time the previous day but unfortunately everyone else had gone faster too. This then put Grant down to 11th position. Grant was a little annoyed as he felt he was pushing hard, but not quiet hard enough to maintain position. Grant would start on the 3rd row in 11th position for the race the following day.
(Monday) Race – It was race day and with the weather a little cooler and a slight wind, we expected some rain. The rain held off for warm-up but a couple of hours later it rained. This gave Grant and the team a decision to make, wet or dry tyres.
After many minutes of decisions Grant and the team decided to go with both wet tyres. Grant used the sighting lap to the grid as an indicator. When he had viewed the track it was decided to put a dry rear in as the track was dry in places but also damp under the trees / covered areas. Grant started the race and what a start it was, he got a very good jump from the line and got up to 8th position, once entering the first corner. Fortunately for Grant a few riders at the first corner tumbled off promoting Grant to 5th, He then took advantage of a fellow rider missing a gear and pounced into 4th position. This was the best possible start for Grant and therefore made his race a little easier as he could get away with the front pack. He began hunting down 3rd position and a couple of laps in got it due to a small mistake by a fellow rider. This gave Grant a grandstand view of the leader and into a podium spot. Grant was very keen to keep this and used his determination to put on and catch 2nd. He did so and made the pass with just 5 – 6 laps gone. Grant then began to have a problem with the handling of the bike as he had a front wet tyre and the track was almost dry everywhere on the racing line. Grant got passed after making a mistake which make him lose ground on the leader. Grant knew this so he acted on this quickly by re-taking the position back for 2nd. Grant began to get in to a good groove, settle down and watch his pit board. Grant began to close down first position and in a number of laps he was on his tail, and then past on the brake into the last corner. Grant knew he had to keep a cool head and carry on doing what he was doing before. Grant made a slight break from 2nd and 3rd but then again began to struggle to hold on as his bike by this time was moving around a lot. With 5 laps to go Grant got passed and dropped back to 3rd. He was beginning to lose a little ground so he had to re-group. With 4 laps to go the rider in the lead crashed, this unfortunately collected 2nd position too which left Grant in the lead. By this time it was a drag back to the finish line to carry on as normal. The red flag came out which fortunately put Grant in 1st position due to the riders crashing the result was put back a lap and made Grant the race winner !!! We are now 2nd in the Championship too.
This was a fantastic achievement for Grant and the team as it just proves all Grant’s had work and physical preparation for this year is paying off. Of course that is not how Grant would of liked the race to finish but he was well and truly happy with the result as it shows to everyone that a small team with not much budget can still be up there fighting for the win. The team hopes that all riders involved make a speedy recovery.
Grant would like to thank Christian Johnson from Advance Distribution Company, Chip from Ashton Service Centre, Nick Munday (H.Farrar Exclusive Bathrooms), Jeremy & Ann from Economy Motor Spares, Ray & Tom from Springfield Cleaning Services, Laura – Grant`s girlfriend for all her support all the time, Sam Black for his excellent attention to detail in helping prepare the race bike, Gordon Anna and Georgina, HWW tyre warmers, Barnes DAF (Alan, Mark & Steve Goodchild) HWW Racing, Tony & Tracy from KneeDown UK, Stephen Smith & his friend who came along to support the team & ALL the #79 CLUB MEMBERS. Also all who came to support the team.
Following Grant’s success at Oulton Park, J&S Accessories are now on board. They are providing Grant with all the latest BKS protective equipment available such as Gloves & Leathers for his racing campaign. Grant would personally like to thank the people who are involved in making this happen, especially Christian & Peter.
Please feel free to make enquires to me regarding how our sponsor’s services may be of assistance to you. We would be happy to have you on board the #79 club.
Any help is greatly appreciated, so if you are in the position to help in any way, then please contact the team and see how Grant Whitaker Racing can benefit you and your business.
