Before the weekend Grant had some great news, he would be wearing some brand new BKS Leathers and Gloves for the rest of the season thanks to the very kind people at J&S Accessories (Motorcycle / Clothing / Accessories).
(Friday) FP1 – This was the 2nd time Grant’s class had supported the World Superbikes Round but this time it was the Donington Park Circuit. The track was very wet in places as it had rained over night. The wind was up and the track was drying very quickly and Grant was lapping on wet tyres. By the end of the session the track was practically dry and Grant felt happy with the settings on the bike, so he decided to change to a dry back tyre for the remaining 7 minutes of the session. Grant finished the session in 11th position.
(Friday Midday) Q1 – This was at midday and with the sun out the track had totally dried. Grant went out on new tyres and with the bike feeling good, Grant was keen to put in a good time and improve the settings, especially with the rear of the bike as he was suffering with grip issues. Grant 5 laps in had a moment into the last corner and unfortunately part-companied his bike and crashed, in doing so damaged his helmet but luckily there was not much damage to the bike and rider. This was the end of his session which left him with a lot of work to do later in the day to try and recover but still get a good starting position for the 1st of 2 races over the weekend.
(Friday Afternoon) Q2 – with Grant having some work to do he was keen to try a different setup in order to try and improve the feeling with the bike and get a faster lap-time. Grant worked hard throughout the session and pushed on into the top 20. Grant came in for a new rear tyre and went back out for the remaining 7.5 minutes of the session. Grant at the end of the session finished 21st. Grant was not very happy at all with the result but felt he could not push any further as the bike was not handling as he wanted it to.
(Saturday) Race 1 – With a warm-up very early in the morning it didn’t leave Grant with a lot of time to try things but ended up happy with how things went which left him feeling confident for the race. Grant started from 19th as he had been moved up the grid due to some riders failing to make the start. Grant got an excellent start and got to the first corner having already made up 5 positions. Grant concentrated and kept calm which showed as he got a good rhythm going, Grant passed a couple of riders throughout the race and was enjoying riding the HWW Racing Yamaha. By the end of the race Grant had got towards the front of a little pack and finished the race in 11th position putting in the 14th fastest time along the way. Grant was fairly pleased with the result and he was happy that he had got the bike working a little better. He was feeling confident for the race the following day.
(Sunday) Race 2 – Once again Grant tried a different setup in the morning warm-up as the wind had changed direction. Grant was starting the race in 14th position as this was determined from the previous race lap-times. Grant got another good start and held his position. Grant managed to gain a couple of quick positions on the first lap and found himself in a little battle for the top 10. Throughout the race Grant was swapping positions. Come the final lap Grant was hunting down a couple of riders in front of him 7th position. At the beginning of the last lap he was in 10th position, once approaching the final 2 corners, Grant went for a gap on the inside and took it straight away, this left him approaching the final corner using a defensive line to maintain his position and he held this to the finish line. Grant crossed the line in 9th position, nicely picking up another top 10 finish and gaining more points to the championship.
Altogether not a bad weekend considering Grant was strugglering all weekend with rear grip issues.
Thank-you to all the people who came to support Grant over the weekend. A special thank-you to Economy Spares Ltd who are very kindly supporting me throughout the rest of the year. Grant would like to thank his girlfriend Laura Standen, father Gordon & mechanic Sam Black for their continued support and assistance throughout the weekend. Also Bond-A-Band’s Jonathan & Jason for their support and backing throughout the weekend. Grant would like to once again thank all the loyal members of the 79 club.
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.