Sam's Story So Far

Sam Laffins is a 21-year-old motorcycle rider from Dromara, Northern Ireland, home of the famous Dromara Destroyers. Sam proudly wears the famous helmet design of the legendary Ray McCullough.

In 2022, Sam will be competing in the Pirelli National Junior Superstock Championship for Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki powered by JR Performance on board a Kawasaki 636 ZX-6R, supporting the British Superbike Championship series.

Sam started his racing career just a few years ago, beginning with several track days, followed by his first victory at the 2016 David Wood Memorial event, and then a victory/lap record combination at the 2016 Sunflower Trophy at Bishopscourt.

He spent his first full season of racing competing in the 2017 KTM RC Cup. Thanks to the support of ten-time Isle of Man TT winner Ian Lougher, Sam progressed well, consistently contesting the top five finishing places in many races within his first full season of racing. The 2017 season culminated with the Sunflower Trophy. The first race saw Sam unfortunately crash out of a five-second lead in tricky weather conditions. However, showing the strong character he is, Sam bounced back emphatically to win the second race by ten-seconds.

During the 2017 season, following a hugely competitive selection event at Silverstone, Sam successfully secured a place to compete in the MotoGP/FIM/Dorna backed British Talent Cup for the 2018 season. Out of 250 applicants, Sam successfully staked his claim to one of only 22 rides available for the inaugural season of the British Talent Cup, tipped by many as the start of the road to MotoGP.

In the 2018 British Talent Cup, Sam as a 16-year-old competed against the best young riders in the UK at MotoGP, WorldSBK and BSB events, with races on the biggest stages in front of the biggest audience. The BTC was so much more than a competition, it was a learning experience in race craft, race bike settings and comradery.

2018 saw Sam mature significantly both as a rider and as a person. As well as competing in the British Talent Cup, Sam also competed within the Hel Performance British Motostar Championship in the standard class, once again supported by Ian Lougher's Team I.L.R. Sam ended the 2018 season on a high with two podiums at the Sunflower in the Moto3 races competing against tuned Moto3 machines on his standard Honda NSF machine. He also claimed two top 10 finishes with an 8th and a 9th place in his first races on a super-twin machine.

2019 was a big step up for Sam, as he left the lightweight classes behind and progressed on to larger production bikes in the Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship. Sam entered the season with a very clear three-year-plan. The target for 2019, the first season, was to get into the top 20 on a regular basis, in a field consisting of over 30 riders. He would compete on an older Kawasaki ZX-6R against a field made up mostly of much more modern Kawasaki Ninja 636's and Yamaha R6's. He exceeded expectations in 2019. He took 8 top 20 finishes, 6 of which were points finishes (2 x 11th, 2 x 12th, 2 x 15th 2 x 16th) out of the 11 races started, meaning he finished the season with 20 championship points, earning him 18th place in his debut season on the 600cc bike.

In the Covid Pandemic disrupted year of 2020; which saw a shortened late-summer BSB season, Sam made great steps forwards with the support of G&S Racing's Tom Fisher as part of the team. We only competed at 5 rounds in 2020; nevertheless Sam recorded his best ever 600cc qualifying in P4 at Silverstone and his best ever race result with P6 at Oulton Park. Sam finished the season in 16th overall, despite having missed the finalround at Brands Hatch.

2021 was Sam's third season in the 600cc Pirelli National Junior Superstock Champtionship. It was a season of fighting in the Top 10; with a personal best finish of 5th place at Donington Park, a couple of 6th place finishes and personal best lap times throughout the season in a very competitive season. We ended the season in 12th place in the Championship with 61 points, which was our best season to date.

In 2022; Sam (now 20 years old) will join Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki powered by JR Performance Racing. This is a fantastic opportunity for young Sam, as he joins a top team which won the 2020 Superstock 600 Championship, and finished a very close second place in 2021.