Irish teenager Conor Grant heads to Oulton Park looking to improve on his results secured at the Silverstone season opener, which included a best finish of 10th in race two and 12th in the reverse grid finale.
The 18-year-old had built momentum nicely during pre-season testing, establishing himself as a key player inside the top-10 and a top rookie contender, a decent start considering his lack of single-seater experience ahead of this year.
That push towards the top-10 continued in pre-event testing, before qualifying mid-grid in 15th, and the second quickest rookie. Despite this, he felt he could have achieved more, especially after being bumped to 20th in the opening race.
“To be honest, Silverstone was disappointing" he reflected. "I felt we had much more pace than the results showed. A difficult qualifying session and the incident in race one really put us on the back foot for the weekend. That said, it’s only made me hungrier heading into Oulton Park.”
Grant has taken comfort from the fact that his championship-leading Douglas Motorsport team enjoyed a strong opening to the year. Teammates Dayton Coulthard and Jason Smyth both stood on the podium, with Coulthard winning the event finale.
“The team did an awesome job and both of the boys delivered really strong results" he acknowledged. "Of course, it was frustrating knowing we had the potential to be up there with them, but that’s also a big motivation for me.
"We know we have the pace and the package to fight at the front, so it’s about putting everything together over the weekend.”
Grant was consistently towards the sharp end at the Oulton Park official pre-season test at the start of April, and he's hoping for improved results this weekend.
“Oulton is a great circuit and we found a really good rhythm during the official test. Cliff [Dempsey], my engineer, and I have worked hard and built a strong foundation heading into the weekend.
"I’m feeling confident and really looking forward to getting back out there.”
Conor's car racing experience before GB4 was limited to just a couple of events in American single-seaters, meaning he is eligible for the end of year Rookie Title.
He's found the adaptation from racing in the USA to the UK a challenge, but is aiming high in both the Rookie rankings and the outright standings; he currently sits second in the race for Rookie honours, behind Fortec's Franek Cegielski.
“Everything is different — the car, the racing style, the environment," he admits. "Coming back to race in the UK felt a bit like learning to walk again, but I’m adapting more every time I’m in the car.
“Franek [Cegielski] has been really quick in testing and at round one, so he’s definitely going to be tough to beat. Winning the Rookie title would be an amazing achievement, but at the same time I’m aiming for a strong overall championship position as well.”
