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 The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May and June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907 Isle of Man TT, 1907. The event begins on the UK Spring Bank Holiday at the e ...

motorcycle race on various makes, including ' Slippery Sam', a three-cylinder Triumph

Trident A trident (), () is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. As compared to an ordinary spear, the three tines increase the chance that a fish will be struck and decrease the chance that a fish will b ...

.Mick Grant career profile at the Isle of Man TT web site
/ref> The son of a

coal miner Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extrac ...

, the soft-spoken, down-to-earth Yorkshireman from

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

, was a sharp contrast to the brash,

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image presented by Londoner

Barry Sheene Barry Steven Frank Sheene (11 September 1950 – 10 March 2003) was a British professional motorcycle racer and television sports presenter. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing between and , most prominently as a member of the Su ...

during the 1970s.

Race career

Grant began his racing career as a

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...

, entering his first

Manx Grand Prix The Manx Grand Prix motorcycle races are held on the Isle of Man TT Course (or ' Mountain Circuit') annually, usually at the end of August and early September. Traditionally the event has been staged over a two week period but this was reduce ...

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.
Silverstone GP programme 1975, competitor profile by Motor Cycle News, MCN's Norrie Whyte. Retrieved 14 February 2014 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. Metropole Corner Portrush - geograph

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. Motorcycle Mechanics, March 1972, p.26. ''Frank Perris interview'' Accessed 14 February 2014 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

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in late 1974. In 1975, Grant completed the first-ever 120 mph lap of the

North West 200 The International North West 200 is a motorcycle racing, motorcycle road racing, road race first held in 1929 on a street circuit known as "the Triangle" between the towns of Portstewart, Coleraine and Portrush in Causeway Coast and Glens. It ...

circuit. Also in 1975, it was Grant who finally broke

Mike Hailwood Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood (2 April 1940 – 23 March 1981) was a British racing driver and motorcycle road racer, who competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing from to , and Formula One between and . Nicknamed "the Bike", Hailwood was ...

's absolute TT lap record for the Isle of Man

Snaefell mountain course The Isle of Man TT Mountain Course or ''TT Course'' or ''Snaefell Mountain Course'' or ''Elmo’s Mountain Course'' is a street and Road racing, public rural road circuit located in the Isle of Man, used for motorcycle racing. The motorcycle ''T ...

, set in

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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,TT '78 A ''

Motorcycle News ''MCN'' or ''Motor Cycle News'' is a UK weekly Motorcycle, motorcycling newspaper published by Bauer Verlagsgruppe, Bauer Consumer Media, based in Peterborough, United Kingdom. It claims to be "the world’s biggest weekly motorcycle newspape ...

'' Special. p.42, section writer Peter Howdle. Accessed 25 May 2016 he won the 500 cc

Senior TT The Senior Tourist Trophy is a motorcycle road race that takes place during the Isle of Man TT festival, an annual event traditionally held over the last week in May and the first week in June. The Senior TT is the wiktionary:blue ribbon, blue r ...

race. In 1977, Grant raised the lap record to 112.77 mph, again on a 750 cc Kawasaki. Mick Grant Kawasaki in 2009 cropped

Grant raced in the

Grand Prix motorcycle racing Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the highest class of motorcycle road racing events held on Road racing, road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held sin ...

circuit in

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

for the Kawasaki factory team alongside teammate Barry Ditchburn and the following year with Kork Ballington and Gregg Hansford.Mick Grant career statistics at MotoGP.com
/ref> In

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Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...

chose Grant to help develop their exotic oval-cylindered NR500, unfortunately with disappointing results. Grant also won the

Macau Grand Prix The Macau Grand Prix (; ) is an annual motorsport road racing event for automobiles and motorcycles held on the Guia Circuit in Macau. The event includes the Formula Regional and Motorcycle Grand Prix title races, with other races for Touri ...

in 1977 on the Kawasaki KR750 and again in 1984, riding a

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Suzuki is a Japanese multinational mobility manufacturer headquartered in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Shizuoka. It manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard motor, outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a va ...

. 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.''Dalesman''
Retrieved 27 December 2014

Grand Prix motorcycle racing results

Points system from 1969 onwards: ( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Mick 1944 births Living people Sportspeople from Wakefield People from Seamer, Scarborough British motorcycle racers English motorcycle racers British Superbike Championship riders Isle of Man TT riders 250cc World Championship riders 350cc World Championship riders 500cc World Championship riders Place of birth missing (living people) 20th-century English sportsmen