Solid result see’s Grant finish seconds from a podium finish
Going into practise Grant was feeling rather confident as he loves the track and it was wet. Grant straight away used his knowledge of the track and got to grips really quick, he started to put in fast times lap after lap, he was up to 2nd and he decided to pit as the track was getting a drier and Grant felt confident and happy with his setup. Grant came back out of the pits to find he was 14th, he was not bothered about this as it was only free practise and his tyre had been used a fair bit but he still improved his time and finished the session in 8th.
Come qualifying 1 Grant was really happy and full of confidence, he went out and started to put in some quick lap times, he used his experience from other years to his advantage and slipstreamed other riders on the run down to ‘church’ corner and into the last complex to help achieve a better lap time. At the end of the session Grant was in 11th position. He was quiet happy with this as he felt he still had more to come in the dry, but still it was his best qualifying of the year.
The following day was qualifying 2 and this was wet so immediately everybody knew they wouldn’t improve their lap time. Grant still opted to go out for this session to see if he could find anything with his setup. He went out on a used tyre and was still putting in fast laps. He finished the session 6th and feeling he could go faster but he didn’t want to use a tyre to do so as this session didn’t matter, it’s the race that does.
The race was here and it was looking like it would be a dry race, this didn’t concern Grant or the team as he was happy come rain or shine.
Grant started the race from row 3 so if he got a good jump he would be off and running. Grant got a fantastic start jumping up into 7th position. At the end of the first lap the safety car came out for the next 4 laps due to an incident. Once the safety car went in it was go go go, Grant immediately made a move on the rider in-front jumping into 6th position and concentrating on making more head way. Come 3 laps from the end going into the last chicane Grant got a fantastic slip-stream down the back straight and lodged himself into a podium position. Grant continued to push on in the last 2 laps. Just before he got passed and dropped back to 4th place. He continued to pursue 3rd position and coming through ‘church’ corner (the fastest corner in the country) Grant lost the rear of his bike but held on, this lost him some ground once entering the last lap. Unfortunately this give Grant a lot of work to do to get 3rd position. Grant was pushing and pushing but could not quiet get past for his first podium of the year. Grant finished the race in 4th position, this was fantastic for Grant and the team. Grant was really really pleased with the result.
Grant would like to thank the following for all their support:
J&S Accessories
HWW Racing
Economy Spares Ltd
Ferris Racing
Bond-A-Band Transmissions Ltd
Barnes DAF
KneedownUK.com
Stavros-Sports.com
HWW Tyrewarmers
General Banner Company
All the 79 club members & all the people who attended over the weekend Laura Standen, Sam Black, Mark Standen, Andy Standen, Steve Jeanes, Steve Povey, Alan Matthews, Roy Sutton, Jim Higgs, Katie & Abi Higgs, Simon & Mick.