Nic Granlund Lands on the Podium at WORCS Round 1 in Taft

Posted on January 22, 2016

Granlund Pilots his Yamaha YXZ1000R to the Podium

Leading up to round one of WORCS 2016 season Nic Granlund had a lot of uncertainties. It would be his first race in the all new Yamaha YXZ1000R, with great support from his sponsors supplying any available products for the new SXS. After a week of testing Nic was as ready as he possibly could get. Starting the season, the only mods done were a full exhaust system and wider a-arms from Weller racing, a set of GBC Mongrel’s mounted on the new DWT Sector bead-lock, bolting in a five point Pro Armor harness, and changing all fluids to Torco racing oil.

Friday was the first time Nic had the new YXZ on an actual track. While still figuring out the handling and the all new 5 speed manual transmission, it was a steep learning curve. With only a weeks worth of testing, practice went great. With the track side support personnel from Fox racing making some last minute adjustments Nic was pleased and was looking forward to Saturday’s race.

Race day morning Nic threw a leg over his Yamaha YFZ450R quad in the industry A class. It was a long but fun 50 minute race on the rough Worcs course to take the win in his class.
Then it was time for the SXS production Pro stock race. After getting the far outside starting spot Nic made his first ever start with a manual clutch in a SXS, with a good jump off the line Nic was towards the front of the pack entering turn one, twelve cars battling for the same spot makes for lots of bumping, Nic was hit on the passenger side and got shuffled to mid pack.

After the next few turns of intense battling and shuffling around and a brief off-track excursion, Nic settled into fifth place. Now it was time to see if all the hard work leading up to this race had paid off. Nic would stay on the rear bumpers of his competitors making passes and eventually moving into second place following the reigning champion of the class. The GBC Mongrels mounted on the DWT sector wheels worked perfect on the rough course while his FOX Shox allowed Nic to push forward. For two laps Nic applied pressure to the leader and eventually made a clean pass to take over the physical lead. As sun was setting on the overcast day, a tinted lens meant that Nic had a hard time seeing the course clearly. He slowed down a little bit to stay safe and maintain his lead. Driving smart on the last lap Nic crossed the finish line physically in first place. However with timing and scoring and multiple rows of starts the final results placed Nic in third place with the podium finish for his first race on the all new Yamaha YXZ1000R.

As always I would like to thank all these great companies that support my racing.
Please check them out as I only use top quality products!

NIC G MOTORSPORTS, YAMAHA, FOX SHOX, DWT RACING, GBC, TEXIERIA TECH, MOTOACTIV, TORCO OIL, WELLER, PRO ARMOR, FULLERTON SAND SPORTS