Unlucky weekend for Whitaker
With the first practise session of the weekend 30minutes away the heavens opened, it was close to say it was going to be a wet session. This session was 25minutes long which gave Grant plenty of time to get settled into the conditions. Grant found the circuit very greasy and with him being out on a used wet rear tyre, he thought it would be best to take things easy as many other riders were crashing out. Grant finished the session in 18th position.
Come qualifying 1 the track had dried out, this give Grant a good opportunity to get stuck in and press on for a good lap time. Grant did a quick stint from the word go and returned to the pits. Grant then went back out and improved his lap time which he ended up 11th position come the end of the session. This was a good start for Grant as he had reached a personal best lap time.
The 2nd qualifying didn’t exactly go to plan. Grant went out on new tyres from the start of the session to make sure he could get on the pace straight away. At the start of the 4th flying lap, Grant unfortunately had to retire due to his chain letting go. This was the end of Grant’s session and all he could do was watch his name go down the order as people got faster towards to end. Unfortunately Grant dropped down to 23rd place but this included a rider who would not be fit for the race so Grant would start Mondays race from 22nd on the grid, Row 6. This was very disappointing for Grant and the whole team as he knew he could have gone faster if his chain didn’t let go.
The race was here and once again the sun was shining, Grant got a really good start and immediately jumped up into 15th position. Every lap Grant was making up a position. Come the 4th lap Grant was up to 13th position but he was struggling with the handling of the bike and trying to find a way around it. Going into the last corner, to start the 5th lap, Grant lost the front end of his HWW Yamaha R6, this would see Grant’s race over for Grant as he was left to walk back to the pits.
Overall Grant knew he could make it into the top 10 have things gone a little better but this just shows the ups and downs of racing.
Grant and the team will now re-group as they plan to get ready for Donington Park in 2.5 weeks time as they are supporting the World Superbike round.
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 Tyre warmers
General Banner Company
All the 79 club members & all the people who atteneded over the weekend Laura Standen, Mum & Dad, Georgina, Sam Black, Mark Standen, Andy Standen, Jeremy & Ann, Steve Jeans, Steve Povey, Ray & Tom Walker, Nick Smith, Ken Smith & the boys, Jim, Katie & Abi Higgs, Simon Mander, Tony & Tracy.