Mick Grant

Mick Grant
Mick Grant 800.jpg
Mick Grant at Parliament Square, Ramsey, Isle of Man demonstrating a 1980s Suzuki during a Classic Parade in 2007
NationalityBritish
Born (1944-07-10) 10 July 1944 (age 78)
Motorcycle racing career statistics
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Active years19701984
First race1970 350cc Isle of Man TT
Last race1984 500cc British Grand Prix
First win1975 500cc Isle of Man TT
Last win1977 250cc Swedish Grand Prix
Team(s)Kawasaki, Honda
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
25 3 9 1 4 143
Isle of Man TT career
TTs contested16 (1970 – 1985)
TT wins7
First TT win1974 Production 750 TT
Last TT win1985 Production 750 TT
TT podiums16

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. 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.

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.

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, he was equally versatile on either two- or four-stroke machines.

Mick Grant demonstrating a Kawasaki in 2009

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. In 1972, he teamed with Dave Croxford to win the Thruxton 500 endurance race on a 745 cc Norton Commando, and finished second to Williams in the 1973 F750 TT.

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.

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, 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. Although Grant failed to finish the race, retiring at the Gooseneck with a broken chain caused by a mis-aligned rear wheel spindle, he won the 500 cc Senior TT race. In 1977, Grant raised the lap record to 112.77 mph, again on a 750 cc Kawasaki.

A motorcycle rider racing on a public road
Grant racing in the North West 200 in Portrush, 1975

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. In 1979, Honda chose Grant to help develop their exotic oval-cylindered NR500, unfortunately with disappointing results. 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.

Grand Prix motorcycle racing results

Points system from 1969 onwards:

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Points 15 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1

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

Year Class Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Points Rank Wins
1970 350cc Yamaha GER
-
YUG
-
IOM
18
NED
-
DDR
-
CZE
-
FIN
-
ULS
-
NAT
-
ESP
-
0 0
500cc Velocette GER
-
FRA
-
YUG
-
IOM
NC
NED
-
BEL
-
DDR
-
FIN
-
ULS
-
NAT
-
ESP
-
0 0
1971 350cc Yamaha AUT
-
GER
-
IOM
7
NED
-
DDR
-
CZE
-
SWE
-
FIN
-
ULS
-
NAT
-
ESP
-
4 36th 0
1972 250cc Yamaha GER
-
FRA
-
AUT
-
NAT
-
IOM
NC
YUG
-
NED
-
BEL
-
DDR
-
CZE
-
SWE
-
FIN
-
ESP
-
0 0
350cc Yamaha GER
-
FRA
-
AUT
-
NAT
-
IOM
3
YUG
-
NED
-
DDR
-
CZE
-
SWE
-
FIN
-
ESP
-
10 17th 0
500cc Kawasaki GER
-
FRA
-
AUT
-
NAT
-
IOM
3
YUG
-
NED
-
BEL
-
DDR
-
CZE
-
SWE
-
FIN
-
ESP
-
10 17th 0
1973 250cc Yamaha FRA
-
AUT
-
GER
10
IOM
-
YUG
-
NED
4
BEL
-
CZE
-
SWE
-
FIN
-
ESP
-
9 23rd 0
350cc Yamaha FRA
-
AUT
-
GER
-
NAT
9
IOM
NC
YUG
-
NED
9
CZE
-
SWE
6
FIN
-
ESP
-
9 22nd 0
500cc Yamaha FRA
-
AUT
-
GER
-
IOM
NC
YUG
-
NED
-
BEL
-
CZE
-
SWE
-
FIN
-
ESP
-
0 0
1974 250cc Yamaha GER
-
NAT
-
IOM
2
NED
10
BEL
-
SWE
6
FIN
-
CZE
-
YUG
-
ESP
-
18 10th 0
350cc Yamaha FRA
-
GER
-
AUT
-
NAT
-
IOM
2
NED
-
SWE
5
FIN
-
YUG
-
ESP
-
18 11th 0
500cc Yamaha FRA
-
GER
-
AUT
-
NAT
-
IOM
NC
NED
-
BEL
-
SWE
-
FIN
-
CZE
-
0 0
1975 250cc Kawasaki FRA
-
ESP
-
GER
-
NAT
-
IOM
NC
NED
-
BEL
-
SWE
-
FIN
-
CZE
-
YUG
-
0 0
500cc Kawasaki FRA
-
ESP
-
AUT
-
GER
-
NAT
-
IOM
1
NED
-
BEL
-
SWE
-
FIN
-
CZE
-
YUG
-
15 14th 1
1976 500cc Kawasaki FRA
-
AUT
-
NAT
-
IOM
NC
NED
-
BEL
-
SWE
-
FIN
-
CZE
-
GER
-
0 0
1977 250cc Kawasaki VEN
-
GER
-
NAT
-
ESP
-
FRA
-
YUG
-
NED
1
BEL
14
SWE
1
FIN
2
CZE
-
GBR
-
42 8th 2
1978 250cc Kawasaki VEN
-
ESP
6
FRA
-
NAT
-
NED
-
BEL
-
SWE
-
FIN
7
GBR
4
GER
-
CZE
-
YUG
-
17 14th 0
350cc Kawasaki VEN
-
AUT
-
FRA
-
NAT
-
NED
7
SWE
9
FIN
-
GBR
3
GER
-
CZE
-
YUG
-
16 14th 0
1979 500cc Suzuki VEN
-
AUT
10
GER
-
NAT
-
ESP
-
YUG
-
NED
-
BEL
-
SWE
-
FIN
-
1 35th 0
Honda GBR
NC
FRA
-
1984 500cc Suzuki RSA
-
NAT
-
ESP
-
AUT
-
GER
-
FRA
-
YUG
-
NED
-
BEL
-
GBR
17
SWE
-
RSM
-
0 0

This page was last updated at 2023-01-07 15:41 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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