GEORGE GRANT ON THE PODIUM AT ALGARVE CLASSIC

George Grant continued his strong 2024 season with another excellent performance, this time at Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal.
 
Returning to the Algarve Classic, Grant was joined by former Mazda MX-5 SuperCup Masters champion Nick Rutter, with the pair taking on the event in an FIA 1965 MGB Roadster.
 
Both drivers were quick in testing on Friday, despite intermittent drizzle. On Saturday, the rain returned heavier than before, with qualifying run in wet weather. Thriving in the damp conditions, Grant was on the pace, taking pole position in the GT2 category.
 
The drivers were greeted with bright sunshine and a dry track for the race, which Grant began. The Clapham North MOT owner got off to a great start, making up positions and lapping strongly before entering the pits to hand the Rob Boston Racing car over to Rutter.
 
However, on his way down the pitlane, Grant was mistakenly ushered into parc fermé to refuel, costing the team over 30 seconds before the confusion was cleared and the Kingston-upon-Thames driver was allowed to drive into the correct pit box.
 
Despite the lost time, Rutter drove fantastically in his first racing outing of the campaign, keeping up the strong pace to bring the duo back into contention for class victory. Grant returned to the driver’s seat for the final stages of the race, chasing down the leading car in class, eventually finishing just nine seconds behind at the end of the two-hour enduro.
 
Grant’s final event of 2024 is the Race of Remembrance next weekend, teaming up with Will Blackwell-Chambers at Anglesey Circuit for the 12-hour race. 

George Grant: “The Algarve Classic is always a great event to be a part of and I was delighted to team up with my good friend and former Mazda MX-5 SuperCup competitor Nick Rutter. I really enjoyed qualifying in the rain, and for us to take pole position in class was a fantastic result. In the race, I got a strong start and set some solid lap times before the drama started! Unfortunately, I was told to go into the re-fuelling area when I pitted. Thinking the race was being stopped or we were being penalised, I asked a marshal what was going on and it turns out they just thought we had to re-fuel! That cost us a lot of time, but Nick drove admirably in his first race of the season to bring us back into contention. We had a chance of victory, but weren’t quite able to catch the winning car. Nevertheless, a podium is a solid result and a big thank you to the Rob Boston Racing team and to Nick for being a great teammate. I’m also very grateful to GT Sports Car Club for organising the event and to Flavien and Vanessa Marçais from Automobile Historique for ensuring everything ran smoothly. Now I’m looking forward to finishing my season alongside Will Blackwell-Chambers at the Race of Remembrance!”
 
Nick Rutter: “First of all, a big thanks to the Rob Boston Racing team, they did an amazing job to get the car ready and it ran beautifully throughout the race. Thanks also to George and Clapham North MOT for the amazing opportunity to tick off this bucket list event. We put on a great show despite limited testing and I loved racing on the fantastic Portimao circuit. It was a privilege to be on track at the same time as some iconic cars, and we performed superbly, although unfortunately we didn’t quite get the win!” ​