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Racing Lines #59
By Gerald Langston:
Five rounds into the AMA supercross series and Grant has two “did not finish” two “did not starts” and one 9th place in San Francisco. This leaves him 20th in the AMA series and after a 3rd and a 4th in the European rounds he is 7th in the World Championship.
The technical boys had Grant’s bike working the best ever at Anaheim 3. For the first time he was lapping on the pace of the top guys but more importantly he was doing it with very little effort. A number of changes led to this improvement.
1. Dudley, our engine guy reduced the engine power and smoothed it out
2. John Lutonen our suspension guy is getting closer and closer to the mark suspension wise and
3. Mike the mechanic (nothing to do with the music group) did a lot of tire pressure testing with Grant, which made a big different in the whoops.
Getting back to practice at Anaheim 3 which as I said was going well, Grant came off just before the end and told Mike there was something wrong with his good knee. We didn’t think much of it, as he didn’t even fall. However on Saturday morning even after icing it through the previous evening it was up like a balloon and he was unable to take part in any practice on Saturday. Late Saturday afternoon Dr. Reiman, Grant’s Orthopedic surgeon arrived (Grant’s surgeon and chiropractor are on his speed dial) and after checking the knee said he believed there was meniscus damage. Now when I say we are not getting a break - this is the good knee not the one that gave us problem last year and as I say he didn’t even fall.
Anyway motocrossers being motocrossers, Grant wanted to try and ride, so the good doctor syringed the water off the knee, gave him a shot for pain and locked the knee brace to give limited movement. The AMA kindly gave him 2 laps behind one of the afternoon qualifiers, as he had not practiced the whoops (the whoops only get put in on Saturday so they don’t get worn away) and he felt good to race. In his heat race after a poor start Grant tried to come up the inside of a corner and seat bounce the double immediately after. Trouble was it was halfway through the first lap and most of the field were railing the berm. Grant came up short and about 9 bikes that were railing the berm at speed, landed on him further aggravating the knee.
On Monday 3rd, Grant had orthoscopic surgery to the knee and has been told it’s 3 to 4 weeks off. However somebody planted a seed that if Grant could be ready in 2 weeks he would be ready for the start of the East Coast 125 Supercross and a realistic chance at the title. So at this stage Grant is trying to convince his doctor he will be OK and the team to get a 125 ready. Nothing is definite yet but Grant is saying he will spend all day and every day in rehabilitation to be ready. Continuing with rumors Josh Woods, the KTM Redbull 125 West Coast rider may then continue development on the 250 by doing the East Coast rounds and Jeremy and Ryno will do some testing of new parts.
Finally, Grant and a few other pro riders will be visiting a children’s hospital today to bring some happiness to some kids who don’t have life as good as most of us. What with Grant being an overgrown child and all the time he spends in hospitals he should feel right at home with the kids today.
