A LACK of funds had meant that Jack Groves had only taken part in one motorbike race since his 2009 season - but one phonecall earlier this year changed all that.

The superbike rider was contacted by Derek Sanders, Team HARIBO Starmix owner, to stand in for injured rider Tommy Dale at British Superbike race meetings.

So far this year, Jack has had five races with Team HARIBO Starmix and delivered impressive results on their Triumph 675 - having finished on the Podium at Oulton Park (Wirral 100) just losing out on the last lap from first place to third after a mistake on the last corner.

Jack also had an impressive eight place place finish in the third round of the National Superstock 600 championship.

Tommy Dale’s eventual return to Team HARIBO Starmix meant that Jack was eventually relegated again to ‘watching from the track-side’.

But Jack then received some fantastic news and was presented with the opportunity to join the KX Akademy.

The KX Akademy is a bursary programme funded by Tesco’s KX energy drink, their programme targets 18 to 30-year-olds who compete in motorsport.

Jason Plato the two-time British Touring Car champion is there as their lead-mentor, and his aim is to help their chosen motorbike riders and car drivers to better-develop their skills and give them a better chance of turning their motorsport skills into a career.

"This is an opportunity of a lifetime for me and I’ll be taking some detailed notes when working with Jason Plato and the KX Akademy," said Jack.

Having received funding from the KX Akademy, Jack was able to finish his British Superbike race season with the Gearlink Kawasaki race team.

He had some strong results finishing thirteenth at Cadwell Park. The final three races saw Jack struggle with bike set-up due to his lack of testing on the Gearlink Kawasaki, but he kept his head high and delivered some fantastic battles out on track to entertain the crowd and his Facebook supporters (on ‘jack groves racing’) - many of whom have followed him throughout his career.

Despite having had two years away from the race track, Jack had a good 2012 season and is planning his next season and seeking a title sponsor for 2013.

Jack is a Swindon-based personal trainer; he is already working on his 2013 fitness and will be regularly updating his Twitter followers of his progress throughout winter. He can be tweeted at  @1to1pt.

"My aim for 2013 is to complete a full season in the Triumph Triple Challenge at British Superbike," said Jack.

"BSB provides a great opportunity for brand exposure, and especially provides great TV coverage on Eurosport."

Attendance at each British Superbike race meeting in 2012 ranged between 25,000 and 55,000 and the total TV audience reached more than 11m viewers.

Jack is currently building a massive audience on Twitter (@jackmgroves) and currently has more than 2,000 followers. 

If you would like to help Jack’s racing effort, and if you’d like Jack to help grow awareness of your business or brand in 2013, email on jackgrovesracing@googlemail.com.

For more information log on to www.jackgrovesracing.co.uk