FP1 – As it was practise & Grant had to get used to the track & try find a good setting for the weekend as there would be 2 races this weekend (Oulton Park Race that got cancelled back in July). Grant got used to the new layout & went with a gearing that he thought would be good & finished that session 19th, 1.870 from Pole.
Q1 – Grant went out on new tyres & with a gearing change & a suspension modification Grant was ready to get down to business. Grant went out & was circulating with a time which held him around P15. Grant could see this on his pit-board & with 5minutes remaining knew he had to improve this time. Grant opted to try & pick up a few faster riders to help spur him along. He did this but unfortunately in doing so he was pushing a little too hard & suffer a huge high side going down Craner Curves (Fast 100+ mph corner). This was session over for Grant & with the team not knowing how he was, they were worried. Grant got back to the pits very bruised & battered. This gave Grant a huge pain in his shoulder so he went to the medical centre to make sure everything was OK. This left Grant in 24th position. Having seen the bike, this lead to Gordon (Grant’s father) having to build the bike up into the night & only finishing it just a couple of hours before Q2.
Q2 – The following day was qualifying & with Grant in a great amount of pain unfortunately he could not go any faster in the session as he had to used his right hand more to compensate for not being able to move his other shoulder / arm much. Grant dropped down to 27th on the combined results from Qualifying. This was a huge disappointment as Grant was hoping to get on well with the circuit as he started from 6th position for the Oulton Park race.
Oulton Park Re-Run Race – Grant started from 6th position on the grid. Grant knew this race would be tough but he also knew he would be able to get into the first corner first as he is a very good starter. As soon as the lights went out Grant shot to the front on entering the first corner & lead for a very short time. As the race went on, Grant’s injuries become more obvious, showing the pain & difficulty he was having moving the bike around once changing direction. Grant managed to scramble a point by coming home in 15th position. This was not bad considering the pain & difficulties he was having. The team were very happy Grant was able to finish the race & collect a point for his efforts.
Warm-up – Grant went out in warm-up for see how his shoulder was & to make a decision to race or not. Grant, the racer he is decided he would have enough control & ability to ride.
Race – The race was here & with Grant’s poor qualifying position this gave him lots of work to do. He made a very good start as always & found himself circulating in around 20th position. As the 14 lap race progressed Grant picked off a couple more positions & worked his way up to 18th position. Grant was a little disappointed with this as he felt he could have done a little better. Once Grant got back to the pits the team then found out that Grant was getting arm pump in his right hand, this was due to him having to use it a lot more due to his injuries sustained in the crash on Friday.
A massive thank-you to all the support Grant and the team had over the weekend especially from Chip at Ashton Service Centre which is always much appreciated.
Grant would especially like to thank his Dad for all the hard work repairing the bike, Girlfriend Laura & mechanic ‘Sam’ for all their help over the weekend. Also Grant Mum & Sister for coming along to support Grant & the team. Grant would also like to thank Paul Berry from Atlas Mobile Valeting for coming along to support Grant & the team.
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