Grove Juice racing ended this year’s race season on a massive high at Phillip Island after finally taking out the Yokohama V8 Ute Racing Series.

Far from being simply lucky, the long awaited championship win was in fact the result of great driving and a very smart racing strategy – combining good equipment and tech support, savvy points management and the ability to bounce back from adversity.

Grove Juice Racing had some definite setbacks over the final four rounds but, showing the mark of a great team, each time managed to step back up to the plate.

Queensland Raceway in July saw the team fall foul of a misguided official decision when given a drive through penalty mid-race for overlapping on a restart.

The driver overlapped by Johnson had in fact broken a gear shift and pulled off track, leaving the Grove lead driver no choice but to pass.

Unfortunately, rather than being investigated post-race, the penalty was immediate – in effect causing Johnson to lose the championship lead.

Not a team to suffer setback lightly, Grove Juice Racing headed into Indy determined to make up ground – and make up ground they did.

After qualifying in 2nd place, Johnson went on to win both the first and third race outright, handing him the round victory but more importantly closing the points gap on rival Jack Elsegood.

Hoping to continue with their Indy form, Grant and the team headed ‘overseas’ to the challenging Symmons Plains circuit near Launceston, Tasmania.

Although the weekend started well with Grant qualifying in 2nd place, a gear box problem in race one and a spin in race three put the frustrated team back behind the eight ball with only one round to go.

Adding to the tension of the entire team, race two saw Johnson’s team mate and team owner, Greg ‘Freddy’ Willis, have a front brake component failure at close to 200km/h, sending him hurtling into the tyre barrier at the famed Symmons Plains hairpin.

At a time when many teams might simply cross their fingers and hope for a lucky break, Grove picked up, dusted off and continued to play it smart at Phillip Island.

Grove Juice Racing arrived at Phillip Island knowing that good tyre management would be the key to a strong round result and potentially a championship win.

Using tyre data freely supplied to all teams by Yokohama after last year’s well documented tyre issues at Phillip Island, Grove settled on their race strategy for the final round of the championship.

Being sure the key to achieving the best result was keeping tyres at optimum performance for racing, Johnson chose to manage his tyres carefully in qualifying and essentially sacrificed a good starting position – going one step back to ultimately go two steps forward.

The road to the championship finish was an absolute back and forth battle across all three races.

With all going according to plan with Johnson starting race one from 3rd position, a frenetic on-track battle developed between the title favourites, Johnson and Elsegood – until mid race.

Johnson came unstuck when a daring passing manoeuvre, an attempt at taking the lead from Elsegood, ended with his car spinning off the track at the Lawrence & Hansen hairpin.

Race one resulted in Johnson placing a frustrating 9th, with Elsegood going on to win the race.

However, with his 9th placing putting him higher on the grid in race two’s reverse grid format, Johnson made up some serious ground - taking out the race and leaving Elsegood finishing 10th.

That left one race to go – and it couldn’t have started closer!

Elsegood and Johnson – first and second respectively on both the grid and in the championship – spent the first four laps of the championship decider nose to tail.

It was lap five that proved Grove Juice Racing’s tyre strategy to be spot on when their rival ironically suffered the exact fate they had worked so hard to avoid.

Elsegood’s front right tyre blew half way through lap five, ripping the brake ducting and wiring loom from the car, cutting all power and resulting in a DNF for the disappointed Elsegood.

With their strategy paying off, an elated Johnson and the Grove Juice Racing Team deservedly went on to capture the 2007 Yokohama V8 Ute Racing Championship – Powered by Freightliner.

The 2008 Yokohama V8 Ute Racing Series begins at the Clipsal 500 in February 2008, where Grant Johnson hopes to debut his new VE Commodore Ute brandishing the ‘Number 1’ plate for the very first time.

Grove Juice Racing thanks their team, tech support and all their sponsors for a fantastic year’s competition, hard work and support.

Grant Johnson from Grove Juice Racing has lost the lead in the Yokohama V8 Ute Racing Championship – Powered by Freightliner, to Coopers Pale Ale driver Jack 'The Hustler' Elsegood in what has been called one of the closest finishes ever seen in V8 ute racing!

Both drivers shadowed each other all weekend, which was appropriate given that “Grunta” came into round 4 of the 8 round series only 1 point ahead of Elsegood in the Championship standings.

Johnson said he was disappointed not to have won the weekend and retain his lead in the Championship as this round was the halfway mark in the season and it was always his goal to be leading at half distance.

 “Part of the attraction of this series is how close the racing is at the front, I mean to lose to Jack by 1/100th of second is pretty hard to swallow,” he said

 “We put ourselves behind the eight ball a little by going the wrong way in our set ups in practice, but in the end we reverted back to our historical data from Hidden Valley last year and the car was much better”.

 “To finish on the podium at any event is a very good effort from all concerned, but I am here with one intention only, and that’s to make sure that Grove Fruit Juice and I are the 2007 V8 Ute Racing Champions”.

Team Principal and XR8 Falcon Driver Greg “Freddy” Willis had another solid round in Darwin, enjoying one of his most competitive race weekends since joining the series full time in 2006.

 Willis said a combination of factors had contributed to his weekend, none more important than taking a short break to relax before the top end round.

 “ I wish I was able to do the same before every round,” said Willis

 “Seriously though, it was a great way to begin a race weekend, although it could have been better if I hadn’t make a silly error and slid off the track in race 1 when I was in 16th position, I threw away what could have been my best result so far”

 “From 1st place all the way through to 31st, this series is so competitive that if you make even the smallest of errors, other drivers will capitilise on it and you will lose positions, very, very quickly, and that’s something I need to work on to move forward in the pack”.

 Next stop on the tour for the Grove Juice Racing Team is a corporate/ test day at QLD Raceway on the 12th of July.

 Both Greg and Grant will be taking part in Hot Lap activities for Grove Fruit  Juice customers, race partners,   radio prize and Charity Auction winners, which is something that Willis says is very important for Grove Fruit Juice from a corporate point of view.

 “These days are always fun and give a select few people the chance to experience what it is like to race around a track at 180km plus,” he said.

 “It’s also a great opportunity to test various set ups ahead of  an important round for us the following week, because we don’t intent to be in second position coming out of round 5”.

Although a live race was shown last weekend, all the action from race’s 1, 2 and 3 from Hidden Valley can be seen this Saturday between 1.30 and 2.30 pm on Channel 7.

The tropical heat of Darwin welcomed the Grove Juice Racing team on Thursday as they prepared to consolidate their Championship lead in the Yokohama V8 Ute Racing Series – Powered by Freightliner.

The team holds a slender 1 point lead in the Championship heading into round 4, and lead driver Grant Johnson’s focus this weekend is not only to hold that lead but to extend it if possible.

Johnson said, that although leading the Championship at this stage was good, he would prefer to have more than 1 point up his sleeve when he leaves Hidden Valley on Monday.

“One point simply doesn’t give you any lee way to have any kind of bad luck and hope to still be in the lead,” he said

“The aim for this weekend is not make any mistakes, be kind to the tyres, and hopefully stay out of trouble, because if I can do all of that, we should be somewhere near the front come the end of race three on Sunday”

As the rest of the team were preparing for the long trip north this week, Falcon XR8 Driver Greg “DUNDEE” Willis, took time out to explore some of the N.T and take time to think about the weekend ahead.

Greg left a bitterly cold Brisbane on Tuesday morning and said that being able to take a few days off and see some of Australia’s most beautiful country on the way to Darwin, was just the energy boost he needed.

“This is such a beautiful place, I love the N.T and coming here to Hidden Valley to race,” he said.

“With the scenery, and the enthusiasm of the people, the Darwin Round is always one of the great highlights on the racing calendar”

The drivers will face some pretty tough conditions over the next few days with temperatures expected to be in the mid thirties all weekend.

Friday will see two practice sessions, followed by another practice, qualifying and race 1 on Saturday and then 2 races on Sunday including a live race at 1.15pm in the V8 Supercar coverage.

The Grove Juice Racing team returned triumphant from Eastern Creek yesterday after winning round three of the Yokohama V8 Ute Racing Series – Powered by Freightliner –outright, which puts them squarely in the lead for the championship.

Grant ‘Grunta’ Johnson won the same round in last year’s championship and puts his success at Eastern Creek down to a strong overall car setup as well as the comfort factor of knowing the track well.

Johnson said, rather than being stronger over particular sections, the car was set up to perform consistently across the entire circuit.

“Eastern Creek is as much a ‘horsepower’ track as a ‘handling’ track and Hi-Tech gave me a sensational all-round package,” he said.

“Plus, with this being Hi-Tech’s ‘home’ circuit, I’ve done plenty of testing here so there may have been a bit of an advantage there.”

Johnson’s team mate Greg ‘Freddy’ Willis had a consistent round, finishing just outside the top twenty for all three races.

Despite being a little disappointed with his results overall, Willis was still happy to be up on his times and placings compared to the same round last year.

Willis said finishing twenty-first for the round, a number of places higher than last year, was satisfying but that top twenty is his real goal.

“My confidence and my driving is improving with each round and to consistently place in the top twenty, which is my goal for the season 2007, will only confirm this,” he said.

Grant Johnson’s first outright round victory for 2007 also marks the first 2007 round victory for Hi-Tech Motorsport.

Hi-Tech’s principal, John ‘Barrel’ Pachos, was clearly emotional and said it was a huge relief to get the round win and finally be back in the championship lead.

“My guys at Hi-Tech are extremely dedicated and committed to success and this fantastic result clearly supports that,” he said.

“The cars thankfully have very little work needed before the long trip to Hidden Valley, for Round Four, begins this Saturday.”

Johnson has an emotional connection to the Darwin circuit with it having been the place of his highly successful racing debut with Grove Juice Racing in 2005.

‘Grunta’ said his strong results in Darwin two years ago were the catalyst for Grove Juice Racing’s continued support.

“I have always had good results in Darwin – it’s a great track and a great town where the motorsport fans are incredibly enthusiastic,” he said.

“And, after the horrendous weather at Eastern Creek this past weekend, Darwin will be a great place to thaw out.”

Grant ‘Grunta’ Johnson and Grove Juice Racing now lead the championship by the most slender of margins and it looks like it won’t just be the competitors heating up in Darwin but the competition also.

The Grove Juice Racing Team head to Eastern Creek Raceway this weekend after a refreshing 8 week break, aiming to restart their Championship aspirations after a disappointing round 2.

Grant “Grunta” Johnson currently sits third in the Yokohama V8 Ute Racing Championship powered by Freightliner, and said he was determined to repeat last year’s effort which saw the native W.A driver walk away with the Eastern Creek round victory.

“In 2006 we were able to secure pole position and then get three strong race results ending in the round victory,” he said.

“Eastern Creek is a fast flowing, high speed, high braking circuit that requires patience and precision to nail down a fast lap time and, this year, I am more determined than ever to reach the top step again.”

The team recently tested at the Western Sydney circuit giving Ford Falcon XR8 driver Greg “Freddy” Willis vital track time leading into this weekends 3rd round of the Championship.

Although Willis enjoyed the break he said he was more than ready to race again.

“It has been nice being able to get on with the business of making the best juice in the country but, I have to admit, I was getting itchy feet to get back in the car,” he said.

“After a fairly average round at Wakefield Park, my car has been straightened out and Barrel Pachos from Hi-Tech Motorsport has put a new engine in it - add that to the fact this is a circuit I have a fair bit of experience with and I’m looking forward to a competitive run.”

The team will also be graced with the presence of the newly crowned Miss Hooters Honey NSW, Yolande Goff, and competition runner up, Emma Cam, on Sunday.

Yolande understands all about competition having beaten some of the most beautiful girls in the NSW to take the title and said she was looking forward to her first official representative role.

“Hooters Restaurants have a strong association with motorsport, so I’m really looking forward to working with The Grove Juice Racing Team and getting out to meet some of the V8 Ute Racing fans,” she said.

“Hopefully some of my recent winning luck will rub off on the team.”

The round is being held on the Queens Birthday long weekend so a large crowd is expected at the famed circuit to watch the red hot action over the three days of racing.

Three V8 Ute races will be held across the weekend with race 1 being televised live on Saturday afternoon on Channel 7 as part of the V8 Supercar coverage.

Grant “Grunta” Johnson walked away from Round Two of the Yokohama V8 Ute Racing Series-Powered by Freightliner- one place down in the Championship and needing a lot of repair work.

With round three only nine weeks away, the team will be working hard to get the Grove Juice Racing Commodore back to race ready condition so Johnson can continue with his Championship aspirations .

Race two proved to be Johnson’s undoing as he was hit by both Ryal Harris and Chuckie Baxter in an incident that he says was unavoidable for the other drivers.

“We were all on the limit down into the final turn and I tangled with Chuckie then we all bounced into each other and I got turned around,” he said.

“It was a very big hit, so big in fact the driver’s door entered the cabin”.

“The biggest disappointment was dropping a place in the championship from second to third”.

Grant wasn’t alone in the Goulburn “smash and crash” festival as Greg Willis also suffered major panel damage in race one on Sunday morning.

Minding his own business, Willis was blind sided by Lamont Constructions driver Wayne Lamont, and although not hurt, Willis was pretty upset with the extensive and unnecessary damage.

“Wayne slid off the track and after his uncontrolled re entry he was left stranded at turn 8. In his attempt to get off the track he drilled me as I was driving past,” he said.

“It was disappointing because I was just settling into some serious racing,”

In contrast to the way the cars looked at the end of the race meeting, Grove Juice Racing was awarded the Sonax Best Presented Team Award for the Wakefield Park Round.

Grove Juice Racing is the first “Team” to receive this award as normally it is given to a single car and driver.

On receiving the award Greg said that although the Sonax Car Care products are the best around, we will need something a little stronger to get the Grove cars bright and shinny again.

“We appreciate the recognition for the effort our team and promotional partners have put into the cars and event presentation,” he said.

“Our focus is on providing the best media representation for our corporate customers - it’s nice to know we stand out from our competitors.”

Johnson now slips to third in the Championship after finishing 13th for the round and said he was very keen to get to Eastern Creek to turn the tables on his rivals.

“Eastern Creek is almost nine weeks away, so we will have time to fix the car, do some testing and come back stronger than ever at the Creek,” he said

Grove Juice Racing, Hooters Australia, Expanda Brand and Rebel Signs will, along with the Hi Tech Motorsport team be back at Eastern Creek Raceway in June, better and brighter than ever.

Come on down and say hi, meet the team and experience the fun and excitement of V8 Ute racing.

In conditions more suited to penguins than to Queensland based race teams, Grove Juice Racing began round two of the Yokohama V8 Ute Racing Series at Wakefield Park in Goulburn N.S.W yesterday.

Clear skies, icy winds, and single digit temperatures greeted the team members in what Freddy Willis described as “typical” Goulburn weather.

“Weather is always a factor here and yesterday was no different,” he said.

“I enjoyed being in the car yesterday - not only because it ran like clockwork, but also because it was the warmest place at the circuit.”

At a track that held little joy for team mate Grant “Grunta” Johnson last year, Wakefield Park continued its love hate relationship with SS Commodore Driver.

A small issue in the gearbox of the #47 Commodore cost the W.A-based driver precious track time, although he said practice was the best time to find these technical gremlins.

“I would rather it happen now rather than when it comes time to race,” he said.

I know this place pretty well so I’m sure, when it comes time to qualify, we will be on the pace”.

Johnson wasn’t happy with his qualifying efforts that afternoon and at the end of the half hour session, said he was disappointed to be placed fifth on the grid.

“I just wasn’t on the money today,” he said.

“The car was fine, the track was fine- I just didn’t get the best from myself.”

“I know we have a strong race car though so tomorrow I’m looking forward to some tough, hard racing”.

Freddy Willis's BF XR8 had a strong lead up to qualifying, with better times coming from each session.

At the end of qualifying, once again Willis did his best time around the tricky Goulburn circuit laying down a 1.12.9680 and saying he was comfortable and ready to race.

“I can’t believe how close the whole field is,” he said.

“From position one to 28, there's only a little more then two seconds covering the entire field and that means there’ll be some ripper battles tomorrow - I can’t wait.”

Race one begins at 9.00 am with two further races to follow in the afternoon.