Ben “Gricey” Grice, son of two-time Bathurst winner (1986/1990) Allan, will debut in the 2015 East Coast Bullbars Australian V8 Ute Racing Series for Round 5 at the Wilson Security Sandown 500 this weekend (11 -13 September).
Grice will follow in his father’s footsteps, Allan drove a Ute in 2002/ 2003 and in 2005, and the 25year old Gold Coaster has received some good advice from the seven time Bathurst 1000 podium sitter.
“Dad said, don’t let them push you around, drive it straight, they are very similar to the saloon cars, they are heavy and you just have to try and drive them straight keep your elbows up and don’t let your guard down,” explained Grice.
Grice will steer the #44 Peters Motorsport Holden with an array of backing from Glenmore Park Plumbing, Hinde Transport, Acquire Accounting, Jan Jones Real Estate, Hester Haulage and Blade Haulage this weekend and he’s looking forward to hitting the track.
“I’m pretty excited about it, most categories I’ve run in I’ve managed to run up the front if I get enough time in them. I’m not underestimating anyone out there though, it’s an incredibly competitive Series, a lot of respect for the guys up the front, but fingers crossed, it will be good to run with the big dogs,” said Grice.
Grice is currently competing in the Australian Super Six Touring Car Series running 4th. He recently won the 2015 B-Green 1 Hour at Queensland Raceway, which is where Peters Motorsport Manager Brett Peters discovered the young-gun.
“I always wanted to give Ute Racing a go, I love the style of racing and Brett Peters offered me a drive and we got some great sponsors on board for the weekend, they’re all excited about it as well,” said Grice.
Grice’s racing resume is definitely growing; he placed second in both the 2014 Australian Super Six Touring Car Series Div 2 and the 2013 Australian Swift series. He will join Teammate and current V8 Ute Champion Kris Walton, who also began his V8 Ute Racing career at Sandown Raceway in 2011, where he won a race on debut.
Gricey will hit the track for his first outing on Friday, 11th September for two practice sessions and qualifying.
See below full schedule for the weekend: Friday, 11th September Practice 1 10:50am Friday, 11th September Practice 2 1:30pm Friday, 11th September Qualifying 4:50pm Saturday, 12th September Race 1 11:10am Saturday, 12th September Race 2 2:45pm Sunday, 13th September Race 3 11:40am
All sessions and races will be televised live on Fox Sports with Race 2 and Race 3 also televised live on Network Ten.
