Angus Grenfell
DOB – 5/12/06 – From Melbourne
Whoever crosses the line first wins, but all the way down the field these kids are having their own battles and victories, mostly going unnoticed.
One kid kicking goals and making an effort on the pitch is Angus Grenfell, 15 years old from Victoria, currently playing for Team Artbox in the FIM JuniorGP European Talent Cup Championship.
Angus has a long history of racing in Australia, starting with dirt tracks and turning to road racing at the age of 11. He has achieved many podiums during the Oceania children’s series and 2nd overall in the championship in his first year. He has adapted well and continues this form to progress to the Australian Superbike Championship, Supersport 300 class in 2021.
With a dream to turn his passion into a career, Angus and his mother Lauren took the leap and moved their lives to Spain during the off-season. This allows Angus to practice on his motorcycle regularly and continue to hone his skills. While I personally have not had the pleasure of working with Angus as a coach, he is always polite, pleasant and chatty, and like all the others here are at work. Hardest to achieve his path. I adore this and it’s nice to see another Australian doing well, so please help in any way I can.
It’s been a tough road so far, but he’s on the right track. The European Talent Cup has 50 riders divided into two groups, of which only 28 riders qualify (14 tops in each group) and the remaining 22 will enter the final chance race on Saturday afternoon. The top two drivers then take the 29 & 30 spots in Sunday’s main race, with 3rd and 4order reserve location.
With 2022 being Angus’ first international racing season, and form in this championship extremely high, it’s no surprise that his season hasn’t started off like a fairy tale. Round one always tells you where you are, and Angus unfortunately found himself ineligible and missed out on a bench for Sunday’s race by one place. While it was disappointing for any kid in the position, he handled it gracefully and got to work. Get advice from his team and use his midweek training session to better prepare for the next round.
Round 2 was in Valencia, a track where the Spanish locals excel and our Australian riding style tends to be influenced the most. Even so, Angus has made a good start and is closer to qualifying than he was at Estoril. Q1 he finished in 20order position and just find 0.5 seconds to make the cut. He came out in Q2 with some improvement in mind, but unfortunately while saving a near-high in round 5, the bars moved so hard in his hand that it created a wound. fracture in his wrist. In excruciating pain, he tried and unfortunately his weekend was over.
He was put in a plaster cast and less than three weeks later he was in the third round in Barcelona. Reaching the inner circle, he was at a disadvantage from the start. He couldn’t train as he wanted between rounds and even though the fracture was stable and solid, he was still in pain… Oh and he’d never ridden the Catalunya Circuit before.
Thursday and Friday are not going well, overcome the pain and try to speed up while learning the circuit, the best he can manage is 19order position and 2 seconds more than 14order Position.
Determined not to be beaten, he worked with advice from his team and entered Saturday’s qualifiers with a new driver. He rode well and managed to drop more than 2 seconds from Friday’s best time, though, he still failed to qualify, finishing in 19th place.order position in his team and again in the final chance race (LCR).
After two weekends of sitting out on Sunday, we want nothing more than Angus to be in one of those two top spots. LCR is not televised, so we sit there watching live time by region. Angus got off to a good start and made his name in the lead group. Two laps to go, he’s still in 6th placeorder position, we watched with anticipation and crossed fingers in the hope that he would get a chance to run in the main race.
Crossing the line with a lap to go, he only won one spot to advance to 5th, which is good, but not enough. So when we see the number 36 jump to 2nd, and then hold it all the way to the line, you can only imagine the excitement. He’s qualified!
Knowing it’s likely you won’t be able to run in the main race, every training session and every day is full of stress when you’re under 14order and apparently it’s not just Angus and his family who feel this. When Angus stepped out of the pit box, he was met with cheers from many of his fellow riders and supporters. The grin on his face along with a small tear from his mother showed a sense of relief at what he had just achieved.
While the final spot on the grid may not have been good on paper, it shows Angus’ hard work, determination and guts got him through to the last chance qualifier. He starts the race on Sunday from 30order location and it went pretty well. Fight for 20order position until he collides avoiding a racer with only 1 corner left to go, bringing his race to an end.
Learning and challenges never stop in the sport, and are often harder than easy, so it’s important to win when they come and acknowledge progress along the way.
Angus’s journey has only just begun and, as they say in Europe, “step by step”. Last weekend, he put one foot in front of the other and took a few shots. Congratulations Angus, I can’t wait to see what the next round in Jerez brings.
