(Friday) FP1 – This was the first time out on the 2.35mile Thruxton circuit. Because of the fast flowing nature of the circuit it was decided to run a faster engine for this round. After Grant had completed 5 laps he decided to come into the pits, luckily enough he did do so as the bike was smoking from behind the engine. The team checked the bike over and found oil and water all over the back of the bike. We decided to take the bike back to the van and look it over so that was the end of our session out on track. This left Grant with very little track time going into Qualifying 1 later in the afternoon. It was found out that the water pump seal had failed and this caused water and oil to leak out. The team solved the problem and ready for Qualifying 1.
(Friday Afternoon) Q1 – Grant went out on fresh new tyres & with very little track time he knew he had to produce a good. Grant was feeling happy with the bike and put a quick lap in near the end of the session to put him 16th. Grant was rather disappointed with this as he felt he could have gone a little quicker, if he had not of made a slight error coming into the last corner. Grant knew he had work to do in the next qualifying session.
(Saturday) Q2 – The following day the weather had changed dramatically so Grant decided not to go out as he knew that the following day (race day) was going to be dry. The rest of the day was just a matter of checking over the bike and getting ready for warm-up in the morning as Grant wanted to try some different things on the bike.
(Sunday) Race – It was race day and the weather was a lot better than Saturday. Grant was feeling confident going into the race but knew he had to make a good start to get with the front pack early. Grant didn’t have a great first lap, only making up 2 positions. Grant struggled to get past the riders in front and made it into 9th position but by this time the front pack had made a gap. Grant could not catch the pack up and had to concentrate on defending his 9th position. 3 laps from the end a fellow rider dropped out which promoted him to 8th. He maintained this until the last lap but unfortunately Grant got passed. He couldn’t manage to retake the 8th place which left him crossing the line in 9th position. Grant was a little annoyed with how the race progressed but was also happy to get some more points.
A massive thank-you to all the support Grant and the team had over the weekend especially from Chip at Ashton Service Centre, Christian From Advanced Distribution Company Ltd, Springfield Cleaning Services Ltd, Bond-A-Band Transmissions, HWW Racing & all the team.
Grant would especially like to thank his Dad, Girlfriend Laura & mechanic ‘Sam’ for all their help over the weekend. Also Mum & Sister for all their support.
Grant would also like to thank all the 79 club members for coming along throughout the weekend including Mark, Michael, Steve #1, Andy, Rachel, Mikey, Roy. We hope Michael enjoyed his winning ticket and had a good day with the team.
Please feel free to make enquires towards our sponsors regarding the services they have to offer 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.