Mick Grant Explained

Upright:1.35
Mick Grant
Nationality:British
Birth Date:10 July 1944
Gp Active Years:19701984
Gp Teams:Kawasaki, Honda
Gp Race Starts:25
Gp Race Wins:3
Gp Podiums:9
Gp Total Points:143
Gp Poles:1
Gp Fastest Laps:4
Gp First Race:1970 350cc Isle of Man TT
Gp First Win:1975 500cc Isle of Man TT
Gp Last Win:1977 250cc Swedish Grand Prix
Gp Last Race:1984 500cc British Grand Prix
Tt Contested:16 (1970 – 1985)
Tt Wins:7
Tt First Win:1974 Production 750 TT
Tt Last Win:1985 Production 750 TT
Tt Podiums:16

Mick Grant (born 10 July 1944) is an English former professional motorcycle road racer and TT rider. A works-supported rider for Norton, Kawasaki, Honda and Suzuki, he is a seven-time winner of the Isle of Man TT motorcycle race on various makes, including 'Slippery Sam', a three-cylinder Triumph Trident.[1] The son of a coal miner, the soft-spoken, down-to-earth Yorkshireman from Wakefield, was a sharp contrast to the brash, playboy image presented by Londoner Barry Sheene during the 1970s.[2]

Race career

Grant began his racing career as a privateer, entering his first Manx Grand Prix in 1969 on a Velocette 500 cc, and his first TT in the following year, again using the Velocette and placing 18th in the Junior (350 cc) class on a Lee-sponsored Yamaha TD2.[3] [4]

Later supported by businesses including Clive Padgett, heading Padgetts of Batley, on TD2 250 cc and TR2 350 cc Yamahas, and Brian Davidson of John Davidson Group on TZ Yamahas,[5] he was equally versatile on either two- or four-stroke machines.

He quickly became a works Norton rider alongside Peter Williams and Phil Read, part of the first Norton factory team since the Norton race-shop was disbanded in 1962, headed by ex-racer Frank Perris.[6] In 1972, he teamed with Dave Croxford to win the Thruxton 500 endurance race on a 745 cc Norton Commando,[7] and finished second to Williams in the 1973 F750 TT.[8] [9]

In 1974, Grant was the chosen rider for the then-new, UK-based Boyer Kawasaki Racing Team, based on two air-cooled triples. Stan Shenton, head of motorcycle business Boyer of Bromley, previously having a long background of racing Triumphs, was Team principal. They were one of a selected network of regional Kawasaki dealers, part of a controlled expansion and roll-out to establish a UK dealer-network. As part of the development process, Grant's racing included Ontario, California in late 1974.[10] In 1975, Grant completed the first-ever 120 mph lap of the North West 200 circuit. Also in 1975, it was Grant who finally broke Mike Hailwood's absolute TT lap record for the Isle of Man Snaefell mountain course, set in 1967 on a 500 Honda,[11] raising the average-speed of one lap to 109.82 mph on a Kawasaki KR750 two-stroke triple entered by the Boyer team and Stan Shenton.[4] [12] Although Grant failed to finish the race, retiring at the Gooseneck with a broken chain caused by a mis-aligned rear wheel spindle,[13] he won the 500 cc Senior TT race.[14] In 1977, Grant raised the lap record to 112.77 mph, again on a 750 cc Kawasaki.[13] Grant raced in the Grand Prix motorcycle racing circuit in 1977 for the Kawasaki factory team alongside teammate Barry Ditchburn and the following year with Kork Ballington and Gregg Hansford.[15] In 1979, Honda chose Grant to help develop their exotic oval-cylindered NR500, unfortunately with disappointing results.[16] Grant also won the Macau Grand Prix in 1977 on the Kawasaki KR750 and again in 1984, riding a Heron-Suzuki.

He usually raced with number 10 and carried the initials JL on his helmet, even after retirement from competition, as a tribute to his early sponsor – mechanic, fabricator and frame-builder Jim Lee of the 'Dalesman' marque.[4] [11] [17] [18]

Grand Prix motorcycle racing results[1] [15]

Points system from 1969 onwards:

Positionwidth=201width=202width=203width=204width=205width=206width=207width=208width=209width=2010
Points1512108654321

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

YearClassTeam12345678910111213PointsRankWins
1970350ccYamahaGER
-
YUG
-
IOM
18
NED
-
DDR
-
CZE
-
FIN
-
ULS
-
NAT
-
ESP
-
00
500ccVelocetteGER
-
FRA
-
YUG
-
IOM
NC
NED
-
BEL
-
DDR
-
FIN
-
ULS
-
NAT
-
ESP
-
00
1971350ccYamahaAUT
-
GER
-
IOM
7
NED
-
DDR
-
CZE
-
SWE
-
FIN
-
ULS
-
NAT
-
ESP
-
436th0
1972250ccYamahaGER
-
FRA
-
AUT
-
NAT
-
IOM
NC
YUG
-
NED
-
BEL
-
DDR
-
CZE
-
SWE
-
FIN
-
ESP
-
00
350ccYamahaGER
-
FRA
-
AUT
-
NAT
-
IOM
3
YUG
-
NED
-
DDR
-
CZE
-
SWE
-
FIN
-
ESP
-
1017th0
500ccKawasakiGER
-
FRA
-
AUT
-
NAT
-
IOM
3
YUG
-
NED
-
BEL
-
DDR
-
CZE
-
SWE
-
FIN
-
ESP
-
1017th0
1973250ccYamahaFRA
-
AUT
-
GER
10
IOM
-
YUG
-
NED
4
BEL
-
CZE
-
SWE
-
FIN
-
ESP
-
923rd0
350ccYamahaFRA
-
AUT
-
GER
-
NAT
9
IOM
NC
YUG
-
NED
9
CZE
-
SWE
6
FIN
-
ESP
-
922nd0
500ccYamahaFRA
-
AUT
-
GER
-
IOM
NC
YUG
-
NED
-
BEL
-
CZE
-
SWE
-
FIN
-
ESP
-
00
1974250ccYamahaGER
-
NAT
-
IOM
2
NED
10
BEL
-
SWE
6
FIN
-
CZE
-
YUG
-
ESP
-
1810th0
350ccYamahaFRA
-
GER
-
AUT
-
NAT
-
IOM
2
NED
-
SWE
5
FIN
-
YUG
-
ESP
-
1811th0
500ccYamahaFRA
-
GER
-
AUT
-
NAT
-
IOM
NC
NED
-
BEL
-
SWE
-
FIN
-
CZE
-
00
1975250ccKawasakiFRA
-
ESP
-
GER
-
NAT
-
IOM
NC
NED
-
BEL
-
SWE
-
FIN
-
CZE
-
YUG
-
00
500ccKawasakiFRA
-
ESP
-
AUT
-
GER
-
NAT
-
IOM
1
NED
-
BEL
-
SWE
-
FIN
-
CZE
-
YUG
-
1514th1
1976500ccKawasakiFRA
-
AUT
-
NAT
-
IOM
NC
NED
-
BEL
-
SWE
-
FIN
-
CZE
-
GER
-
00
1977250ccKawasakiVEN
-
GER
-
NAT
-
ESP
-
FRA
-
YUG
-
NED
1
BEL
14
SWE
1
FIN
2
CZE
-
GBR
-
428th2
1978250ccKawasakiVEN
-
ESP
6
FRA
-
NAT
-
NED
-
BEL
-
SWE
-
FIN
7
GBR
4
GER
-
CZE
-
YUG
-
1714th0
350ccKawasakiVEN
-
AUT
-
FRA
-
NAT
-
NED
7
SWE
9
FIN
-
GBR
3
GER
-
CZE
-
YUG
-
1614th0
1979500ccSuzukiVEN
-
AUT
10
GER
-
NAT
-
ESP
-
YUG
-
NED
-
BEL
-
SWE
-
FIN
-
135th0
HondaGBR
NC
FRA
-
1984500ccSuzukiRSA
-
NAT
-
ESP
-
AUT
-
GER
-
FRA
-
YUG
-
NED
-
BEL
-
GBR
17
SWE
-
RSM
-
00

References

Notes and References

  1. http://www.iomtt.com/TT-Database/competitors.aspx?ride_id=2785&filter=G Mick Grant career profile at the Isle of Man TT web site
  2. Book: Barker, Stuart . Barry Sheene 1950–2003: The Biography . CollinsWillow . UK . 2003 . 148 . 0-00-716181-6.
  3. http://www.iomtt.com/TT-Database/Events/Races.aspx?meet_code=ALL&ride_id=2785
  4. http://davestestsandarticles.weebly.com/uploads/4/8/4/5/4845046/silverstone10081975.pdf
  5. Motorcycle Mechanics, November 1973, p.56/57. Mick's Giant Killer. Yamaha TZ350 track impressions by Charles Deane. "...Mick Grant kindly brought his race wagon complete with a brace of Yamahas to Snetterton..." "You'll find she's much more flexible than the two-fifty...". Accessed 25 July 2013
  6. [Motorcycle Mechanics (magazine)|Motorcycle Mechanics]
  7. http://www.sdmcc.net/files/SDMCC%20Racing%20Results%20History%201955%20to%201983.pdf
  8. http://www.iomtt.com/TT-Database/Events/Races.aspx?meet_code=TT73&race_seq=9
  9. Motorcycle Mechanics, December 1974, centrepage MCM Superstars Mick Grant. "Kawasaki's No,1 rider of the Boyer prepared 750H2R, he regularly storms to success on the John Davidson Yamahas in the 250 and 350 classes...Mick Grant must make an even greater impact for Kawasaki next year". Accessed 1 January 2014
  10. Inside the Hundred-Horsepower Race Teams, Bike, October 1975 pp.32-39 by Jim Greening. Accessed 21 May 2016
  11. Book: McDiarmid, Mac . The Magic of the TT: A Century of Racing over the Mountain . Haynes . UK . 2004 . 121 . 1-84425-002-4.
  12. http://www.iomtt.com/TT-Database/Events.aspx?meet_code=TT75%20%20&era=4
  13. TT '78 A Motorcycle News Special. p.42, section writer Peter Howdle. Accessed 25 May 2016
  14. http://www.iomtt.com/TT-Database/Events/Races.aspx?meet_code=TT75&race_seq=7
  15. http://www.motogp.com/en/riders/profiles/Mike+Grant Mick Grant career statistics at MotoGP.com
  16. http://world.honda.com/history/challenge/1979grandprix/text/08.html Mick Grant at world.honda.com
  17. [The Motor Cycle|''Motor Cycle'']
  18. http://www.pressreader.com/uk/classic-trial/textview Dalesman