NEWS

Sunflower Trophy Races

After finishing off the British Superbikes season strong over in England, Sam finished off his 2023 season with the Sunflower Trophy Races, back home in Northern Ireland. After stormy weather on the Friday caused the day to be cancelled, the weekend moved to Saturday and Sunday instead.

Sam had a busy first day, with three races in the afternoon on Saturday. His first race of the weekend was the Supersport race, where he was using his Stock 600 Kawasaki. He got a good start and was up at the front until the front few riders began gapping. He fought well until the last few laps, taking home P5. A few races later Sam was back out on the track, this time on the Suzuki Supertwin from Steve McKnight. This proved a very positive race with Sam fighting up the front end throughout, crossing the finish line in P3! Due to the quick turnaround, Sam was straight back out on track again for the second Supersport race of the weekend where he took home P4. 

The final day of the weekend saw another Supertwin race and Supersport race for Sam. After getting a good start in the Supertwins, and making good progress to fight for podium positions, Sam had to retire from the race due to a problem that had occurred on the bike. Despite the retirement from the Supertwins, Sam was back out again in the afternoon for the last Supersport race. He got a great start and was up at the front from the get go. Unfortunately the front two had gapped the rest of the riders by a significant difference but Sam dug in and put his Stock 600 bike on the Supersport podium in P3!

All in all it was a great way to end the season with Sam enjoying his time on track and taking away the positive that he managed to finish on the podium in a Supersport race with just his Stock 600 Kawasaki.

2024 pending…

#TeamLaffins11

Round 11 - Brands Hatch

After securing his maiden win at Donington Park, Sam and the team came into Brands Hatch looking to continue this success into the final round of the season.

Friday started off with extremely wet conditions that saw the first practice session delayed. Despite these conditions Sam finished Friday in P4 in the combined times, with his fastest time of 1:39.251 being set in FP2.

Qualifying got underway under sunny skies but on a damp track. Sam originally went out on full wets but pulled into the pits and sat for several minutes with inters on, waiting for the track to dry a bit more. Once the track began to dry Sam got back out on the track and started putting in the quick times. His fastest lap of the session was a 1:34.034 which saw him secure a front row start for the first race of the weekend on Saturday.

Ahead of the first race of the weekend the heavens opened and caused the previously dry track to dampen again. Thankfully no more rain fell before the race got underway but all of the riders opted for full wets, Sam included. When the lights went out Sam was up at the front, keeping his qualifying position. After the first couple of laps Sam had moved up to P1 and was gapping the rider behind in P2. Sam continued to gap the other riders throughout the course of the race. The track started drying during the race making the conditions trickier to navigate. Sam took the chequered flag in P1, securing his second win by 5.5 seconds! His fastest lap of the race was a 1:39.414 which saw him start Sunday's race from P2.

Race 2 was dry and got underway just after 11. Sam had a trickier race this time, battling with Dawson and Durham for the podium positions for the majority of the race. Towards the end of the race Sam managed to get out into the lead and maintain a bit of a gap to the riders behind him. After a well fought race Sam crossed the line in P1, doing the double at Brands! With this win it also secures him as the final ever rider to win a Junior Superstock race!

After a stellar end to the season, Sam finished in P5 in the championship, only 70 points off of P1. With the progress and positives to take from this season we look to 2024!

#TeamLaffins11

Round 10 - Donington Park GP

For round 10 of the season we headed back to Donington Park where Sam had a successful weekend earlier in the season, and this time didn't disappoint either!

Friday was a tricky day, with the track being wet for FP1, and then having dried enough for FP2. Sam finished the day in P12 in the combined timings, with a fastest lap of 1:35.730 which he completed in FP2.

After waiting all day for qualifying on Saturday, which got underway at 17:38, the heavens had opened and the session saw very wet conditions. Towards the end of the session Sam put in a 1:44.453 which saw him qualify in P3 for the race on Sunday, a great result in the sketchy conditions.

With the track being wet for warm-up Sam opted to not go out. The track had dried out for the race which saw the lights go out at 12:25. Sam dropped back a few places off of the line but wasted no time in fighting his way back up to P3 a few laps in. Once he settled into his rhythm he was the fastest rider on the circuit, and was quickly closing the gap between himself and the leading two. He wasted no time in getting past the rider ahead and into P2, setting about catching up to Silvester. Once he caught up to Silvester he tried to pass him into the Melbourne Loop but Silvester passed him back into Goddards. A few corners later Sam passed back on Silvester and made it stick. He set about keeping a steady rhythm and immediately started gapping Silvester, opening a 1 second gap after a lap. The gap increased to 2 seconds and Sam took the chequered flag in P1, taking home his maiden win in the British Championship Series! Luckily the rain held off and only started to fall after the chequered flag came out. He also had the fastest lap of the race as a 1:33.899. It was a very well deserved win that had been a long time coming!

After an incredible weekend at Donington, Sam sits P7 in the Junior Superstock Championship. Next up is the finale at Brands Hatch on the 13th - 15th of October!

#TeamLaffins11

Round 9 - Oulton Park

Round 9 of the season saw us head back to Oulton Park, and coming off of the back of a strong weekend at Cadwell Park back on the Kawasaki, Oulton promised to be another strong weekend.

Friday started off with Sam getting to grips with the track and the Kawasaki in FP1. Sam's fastest time of the practice sessions was a 1:41.640 which he set in FP2. This time saw him finish the day in P7 in the combined times.

Sam had a solid qualifying session, putting in 15 laps throughout the session. His fastest lap was a 1:40.844 which saw him qualify in P6 for the race on Sunday. Saturday was rounded out with a 10 minute free practice 3 session where Sam and the team tried a few new settings before Sunday.

As a result of the delayed start on Sunday, due to the noise curfew on the circuit, there was no warm up for Junior Superstock and their race got underway at the later time of 17:05. Off of the line Sam dropped back a few places but, after the first lap, started gaining the places back until he was in P3 a few laps in. He passed Jenner to move up to P2 for a few laps before dropping back to P3. For the remainder of the race Sam and Jenner battled back and forth for P2, with Sam taking the chequered flag in P3, a well deserved podium and putting him back where he should be! His fastest lap of the race was a 1:40.735, which he put in on lap 8.

After round 9 of the season Sam sits in P9 in the championship. Next up is Donington Park on the 29th of September - 1st of October.

#TeamLaffins11

Round 8 - Cadwell Park

After opting to miss round 7 of the season, and amicably parting ways with Binch Racing, Sam was back out on track at Cadwell Park for round 8, this time back on a Kawasaki with G&S Racing.

From the get go he was back up to speed with a P5 in FP1 on Saturday. Unfortunately, the track time for Sam, and the Junior Superstock class, was cut short when rain started to fall two laps into their FP2 session.

Qualifying on Sunday got underway at the later time of 17:40, with the threat of rain. Sam had a good session, holding a provisional front row for the majority of the session. When the chequered flags came out, Sam qualified in P5 with a laptime of 1:32.017. With this being his first weekend back on the Kawasaki this is a great qualifying!

The race on Monday got underway at 11:35. Sam got swamped off of the line and bumped down to P10, but quickly made his way back up to P5 where he settled for the first few laps of the race. Throughout the first few laps he was consistently catching Crosby in P4 and managed to pass him, moving himself up into P4. After securing P4 he set about catching Dawson for P3. A few laps later Sam unfortunately hit a false neutral which forced him to do a bit of grass-tracking before he could rejoin the track in P10. Despite this, he took the chequered flag in P9 having overtaken Arscott on the last lap. His fastest lap of the race, and the weekend, was a 1:31.344, a great first weekend back on the Kawasaki and taking away some points!

After round 8 of the season, Sam currently sits P11 in the Championship. Next up is Oulton Park on the 15th - 17th of September!

#TeamLaffins11

Round 6 - Brands Hatch

Round 6 saw the series head to Brands Hatch for the first time this season, a track that Sam enjoys.

Sam hit the ground running on Friday, with P4 in FP1, and improving on this in FP2, to finish the day in P2. His fastest lap of the day was a 1:30.738, which he set in FP2.

On Saturday, qualifying was the only session for Sam, and it got underway at 09:35. Sam eased into the session, setting a few lap-times to get used to the track conditions and to settle into a rhythm. Halfway through the session he started pushing a bit more and quickly put in a lap-time which saw him sit on provisional pole position. He continued to put in consistent times, but not risking too much. As the clock ticked down no-one managed to beat his time, therefore seeing him start from pole for Sunday's race! His fastest lap of qualifying was a 1:29.942.

The track for the race had completely dried out from the soggy conditions that were seen for the warm-up sessions. The lights went out at 11:13 and Sam got a good start, only dropping back to P2. He kept with Valleley for a few laps, before Valleley increased the pace and started to gap Sam. Despite this, Sam ran consistently in the podium positions, battling with a few other riders towards the end of the race. Unfortunately, on the penultimate lap of the race, going through Stirlings, he crashed out, of what would've been a solid P2 finish, bringing an end to what was looking to be a promising weekend.

Despite this end to the weekend, there are a lot of positives to take away and to build on, and we will most definitely come back even stronger! Sam sits in P9 in the championship after Brands Hatch. Up next are a couple of weeks off before we go again at Thruxton on the 11th - 13th of August.

#TeamLaffins11

Round 5 - Snetterton

Going into this weekend for Sam and the team, it was a somber atmosphere, with the loss of Damo a week prior.

After a day of learning on Friday, qualifying got underway at 10:40 on Saturday. With this weekend only having been a single race for Sam, qualifying was his only session on Saturday. He made quick work of the session, quickly putting it into the top spots, consistently getting quicker. The session unfortunately ended early, due to a red flag. However, despite this, Sam secured P3, a front row start, for the race on Sunday! With his fastest lap, he was only 0.206 seconds off of pole position.

The morning warm up on Sunday was another good session for Sam, finishing it in P2. With the race only an hour after the warm up, there was no time to relax. The lights went out at 10:26 and Sam held his position off of the line, keeping with Dawson and Silvester. Unfortunately, after the sighting lap, his quickshifter stopped working, causing Sam to try and blip it for the first few laps. He managed to quickly get past Dawson and immediately started to gap him, whilst quickly reeling in Silvester. After a lap or two, he had to result to using the clutch to change gears which compromised his focus. A lap or so later he slid out of the race. Despite this, he had great pace and was on for another podium.

After round 5, Sam sits in P8 in the Junior Superstock championship, and is already looking ahead to Brands Hatch, on the 21st-23rd July, to build on the pace from Snetterton and eager to get back on the podium!

#TeamLaffins11

Round 4 - Knockhill

Knockhill played host to round 4 of the season, with it proving a little trickier for Sam.

Qualifying proved a tricky session. Sam had set several quick lap times, however, these were disallowed due to having exceeded the track limits on three of the laps. His session, unfortunately, came to an early end when he slid off at the chicane. Despite this crash halfway through the session, Sam held onto P6, with his lap time of 50.862, seeing him start from the second row of the grid for the first race later in the day.

Race 1 got underway at 14:52. Sam got a good start and made up a few places in the first couple of laps. However, a few laps in, he had a big moment, which he managed to save, but this cost him time and saw him drop back a few places. Despite the moment early in the race, he kept chipping away and took the chequered flag in P7, with a fastest lap time of 50.794, which will see him start the race on Sunday from P5.

The second race of the weekend on Sunday was short-lived for Sam unfortunately. Despite getting a good start, going into the chicane he passed Silvester, only for his exit to be cut off by Silvester, forcing him to put the brakes on. When he opened the gas again, soon after, it proved too much for the bike and it flipped him into a highside, ending his race early. Despite an initially dead-arm, a check over at the medical centre confirmed that nothing was broken and that Sam was okay, just a bit battered and bruised, with a burn on his right forearm.

After this tricky weekend, we look towards Snetterton where Sam will have had time to rest and recover, to gain some more points. His points haul for his P7 saw him move up in the championship to P7.

#TeamLaffins11

Round 3 - Donington Park GP

Sam is back on the podium!

The weather for round 3 proved much nicer, and more consistent, than the weather at Oulton Park. The entire weekend was graced with warm temperatures and sunny skies. Round 3 also played host to another two races for Sam. In qualifying on Saturday, Sam had a positive session, putting it in P5, the middle of the second row, for the first race later in the day; 0.396 seconds off of pole position.

The first race saw Sam get a good start and keep at the front. Throughout the entirety of the race he was fighting with Silvester, Best, Valleley and Durham for the podium positions. They kept swapping positions, with the front three constantly changing. Throughout the race it was very tight, but Sam took the chequered flag in P2, putting him back on the podium for the first time this season and with some solid points! During the race he set a lap of 1:33.368 which saw him start the race on Sunday from P2 on the grid.

Race 2 was more steady than the first race, with the riders holding their positions. Sam dropped back to P4 in the first few laps but was gaining on the front three. However, during the race he had a moment which he recovered from, this saw him lose time on the front group. Despite this, Sam wasted no time in starting to close the gap again. Unfortunately, Sam got struck with cramp in his leg halfway through the race, so he eased off of the front riders and rode a steady race, bringing it home in P4, just slightly missing out on the podium, but another solid points haul!

After this very positive weekend for Sam and the team, Sam heads to Knockhill, P8 in the championship.

#TeamLaffins11

Round 2 - Oulton Park

Round 2 is complete and with some points in the bag!

This weekend saw two races for Sam. Qualifying on the Sunday proved tricky with the wet conditions. The majority of the session Sam was circulating in P3 until pulling into the pitlane to make a few changes, where he was bumped down the order. The session had several yellow flags and ended early due to a red flag that came out towards the end. Sam qualified in P14 for the first race of the weekend, later on in the day.

The conditions for race 1 were also tricky, with a drying track. Sam got a good start off of the line and was keeping with the front riders. Unfortunately, on the first time into Hislop's Chicane, Sam went in a little hot up the inside and couldn't get it stopped, leading to him tucking the front and crashing out. However, Sam is okay.

Having not managed to set a lap-time in the first race, Sam started the second race from P23 on the grid. The second race was declared wet, with the track starting to dry up in places. Sam got yet another good start, making up around 10 places into the first corner! After a couple of laps he found himself in P7 and set about passing Valleley and Durham, putting him up to P5. A few laps before the end of the race he had a big moment towards the back of the track but stayed on and settled into a rhythm for the rest of the race, taking home P5 and valuable championship points!

Despite the crash in race 1, the rest of the weekend was very positive and both Sam and the team are happy to finish the weekend with a P5 which puts them back into the championship race! After round 2, Sam finds himself P11 in the championship standings as we head into another double-headed at Donington, in a few weeks time.

#TeamLaffins11

Round 1 - Silverstone

The first round of the season is now done and dusted!

Across the three days the weather proved much better than it was a week prior at the test, where it rained for the majority of the two days. FP1 got underway under sunny skies and Sam started the weekend off on a high, taking P1 in the opening practice session of the weekend. Later on on Friday, Sam finished FP2 in P4 where he was hitting the limiter a fair bit, resulting in the team and Sam opting to drop a tooth for qualifying. The dropped tooth worked okay for qualifying where Sam put in 23 laps over the course of the session. He qualified in P6 for Sunday's race, seeing him start from the second row of the grid.

In the warm up session Sunday morning, there was a problem that had occurred with the bike which put Sam down a bit in the rankings. However, despite this, the team did a great job in getting it sorted before the race!

The gearing that had been utilised during qualifying was the gearing that was decided on for the race, however, this proved to be a mistake, as Sam struggled with the smaller riders out of the corners. Unfortunately on lap 9 he tucked the front at Brooklands, bringing an early end to the first weekend of the season.

We put this weekend behind us and look forward to the Oulton Park test and the second round of the season in two weeks which takes place at Oulton Park.

#TeamLaffins11

Silverstone Pre-season Test

Having completed the test over in Spain, next up was the Silverstone test, which saw very different weather conditions in comparison to the sun in Spain.

Sam missed the first session Tuesday morning as a result of traveling down from the ferry. Despite this, over the other two sessions he completed 36 laps. The last session on Tuesday had the driest track conditions, allowing riders to push a bit more. Sam finished the first day of the test with a fastest lap of 1:04.537 which was around a 7 second improvement on his fastest time from the second session.

Wednesday started off looking promising with a damp/ drying track but unfortunately halfway through the session the rain started to fall, removing any hopes of dry track time. Sam completed the first two sessions on Wednesday before the team decided to call it a day and miss the third session with the track conditions not having improved too much. Sam completed 28 laps during the sessions on Wednesday, with his fastest lap time being a 1:03.770.

All in all the test was positive for Sam and the team, with Sam not having had any wet weather experience on the Yamaha, due to missing the Donington test. The bike felt good in the wet and Sam felt comfortable and as though it was his bike. He managed to do everything he wanted to and was happy with how the test went.

Next up is the season opener next weekend on the 7th-9th of April back at Silverstone!

#TeamLaffins11



Spanish Pre-season Test

The 2023 season is officially underway with the first official test of the season complete!

Sam and the Binch Racing team have just completed the British Superbikes pre-season test at Circuito de Navarra, over in Spain, which proved to be a positive three days.

Day 1 saw Sam ride the Yamaha R6 for the first time with him completing a total of 77 laps. The day was spent getting to grips with the bike and becoming confident riding it, as Sam has never ridden a Yamaha before. It took some learning but by the end of the day he felt comfortable on it. For both the morning and afternoon sessions Sam was on scrubs. His fastest time in the morning was a 1:48.557 which he improved on in the afternoon session.

Day 2 was the first outing with the slicks in and over the course of the day Sam put in 44 laps. This built on the progress from the first day and proved to be another good day of testing with Sam feeling comfortable on the bike and the slicks to push. In the morning session he shaved a second off of his fastest time from the first day, with his fastest lap being a 1:47.314. The afternoon continued this progress with Sam continuing to go quicker, taking two more seconds off of his fastest time from the morning, with him finishing the day with a 1:45.542 as his fastest lap of the day!

The final day of testing saw Sam complete 33 laps in total. Unfortunately this day was hindered by very windy conditions and people struggled to improve their lap times. As a result Sam spent the day spinning some more laps to continue to get comfortable with the R6, until the wind got too bad and they decided to end the day early. In both the morning and afternoon sessions he completed similar lap times.

Overall the first test of the season was a big success and went really well and Sam is looking forward to getting back out with the team at the Silverstone test on 28th - 29th of March.

#TeamLaffins11



Sam Signs with Binch Racing for 2023

After a very positive season with JR Performance Racing, we look towards 2023 with a new team!

For Sam's 2023 Pirelli National Junior Superstock 600 Championship campaign, he has signed with Binch Racing! This is a great opportunity for Sam, especially with both rider and team looking to retain the Junior Superstock championship title that Binch secured last season.

Sam: "I'm thrilled to be joining Binch Racing for my 2023 Junior SuperStock championship campaign! I can't wait to get started and am excited to get going, especially with their progress from last season! I'm looking forward to meeting everyone, along with working alongside the Uggly and Co. clothing brand."


2022 Season Review 

Overall, a good season for Sam in 2022, albeit with its ups and downs!

The 2022 season started to take shape in December 2021, as Sam was announced as a rider for Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki powered by JR Performance Racing at the NEC's annual Motorcycle Live event. This was a big step for us, as we had only previously run as a "Dad and Lad" effort, so to join a reputable team who had won the Superstock 600 class previously was fantastic opportunity.

Sam started the season with a round of No Limits Racing at Silverstone National, where he could get some valuable track time ahead of the opening BSB round at the same circuit. This turned out to be a fruitful weekend for Sam, taking two solo victories and a team endurance victory with fellow JR Performance rider, Finley Arscott.

However, two weeks later at the same circuit, our BSB season didn't exactly start as planned. Sam had an accident while helping the team set up for the weekend, which injured his ankle quite badly. Despite the pain, Sam battled through for a P9 finish in the race to get the season up and running, although we did feel he could have been running at the front without his injury.

Round 2 saw us head to Oulton Park where Sam was still feeling fairly sore after the Silverstone paddock incident. Regardless, Sam definitely got stuck in as he took his first ever Pirelli National Junior Superstock podium, finishing P3 in Race 1. Race 2 was another great showing by Sam, sitting in P3 for most of the race, before making a move into P2 was just over a lap to go. However, Sam lost the front into turn 1 of the last lap, crashing out, so close to another personal best finish.

We headed to Donington for Round 3, where Sam took another trip to Parc Ferme as he qualified in P3 for his personal best quali position up to that point, followed by a solid P5 finish in the race. Knockhill was next for Round 4, where we had a disastrous qualifying session, ending up in P28 after a crash midway through the session. However, in Race 1, Sam made a big statement by gaining 20 places to finish in P8, followed by another top 10 finish in Race 2 with P7.

Brands Hatch was next, where we qualified a good P5 with a good feeling going into the race. Unfortunately, the race was one to forget for us, with Sam having to take a ride through penalty from the lead of the race after a jump start, followed by a pit lane speeding infringement leading to another ride through penalty and then a crash from 29th place. Thruxton Round 6 was a scorcher, with temperatures well inside the 30's...that called for a paddock padding pool to cool off in! Sam recovered from 14th on the grid to finish in P8.

Onto Cadwell Park, which turned out to be our best weekend of the season. Sam rode fantastically in every session, finishing 2nd in practice, qualifying and the race to beat his own personal best results in both the race and qualifying.

Snetterton Round 8 was a frustrating weekend for us, qualifying 6th on the grid, but Sam crashed out midway through the race while fighting for another podium. We went back to Oulton Park for Round 9, looking to find some of the form we had earlier in the season. After starting Race 1 from P8, Sam found himself in the gravel after fighting for the podium. But Race 2 brought better fortune for us, with Sam starting from his first ever Pole Position, he took his third podium of the year in P3 at the chequered flag.

Round 10 saw us return to Donington Park and hit the ground running with another front row start from P3 in qualifying as we looked to carry our form into the race. However, the racing gods had other ideas, as Sam got caught up in another rider's crash at turn 1 on the first lap, bringing a very premature end to our race.

The eleventh and final round of the year saw us back at Brands Hatch for a double header to close off the season. Qualifying and Race 1 were in mixed conditions for us. In hindsight we made the wrong tyre choices in both sessions, qualifying P15 and then finishing the race in P28. But luckily for us, we had a dry day on Sunday for Race 2, and Sam was a man on a mission! He made a fantastic start from P10 on the grid, quickly finding himself in P2 which is where he remained until the chequered flag to match his personal best finish in this class.

This saw Sam finish in P7 in the championship overall, on 115 points after 11 rounds. We know this could have been better had we found some better fortune along the way when we missed out on more good finishes. That being said, Sam still had his best season to date, taking 4 podium finishes and 5 front row starts to tally up a very modest total by the end of the season.

We closed the year off by revisiting the Bishopscourt Sunflower Trophy Races back home in Northern Ireland. Sam was racing his own Kawasaki superstock 600 bike in the Supersport class and was invited to ride the McAdoo Kawasaki in the Supertwin class. He qualified in P3 for the Supertwin race, P5 in Supersport and P7 for the main feature race. Sam claimed 3rd place in the opening Supersport race, but unfortunately crashed out in the next race, bringing an early end to the final race day of 2022 for us.

We would like to extend our thanks to Joe Richardson of Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki powered by JR Performance for having Sam on board this season. Thank you to Sam's mechanic; Big Dan McKie, along with Bez, Bob, and Neil for your help along the way. And of course, thank you to all of Sam's other family, helpers, friends, sponsors, and supporters for your continued support!

  • Jordan Concrete
  • Pennine Environmental Solutions
  • Glo Sunbed Hire
  • Cline Road Shop
  • Sloan transport
  • Priestland poultry
  • Mcstitched
  • Cheshire Mouldings
  • Herron contracts
  • Tullyniskey transport
  • Sandown Racing
  • McMurray Tractors
  • Improvised physical therapy
  • Atomized Art NI
  • Phil Morris racing
  • Smart fits
  • MB14
  • Pugh's pebble art
  • Foxtail holiday park
  • J&S accessories
  • Ace Air
  • Camper NI
  • Border Fine Arts
  • Knox engineering
  • Advanced fasteners
  • DB Tiles and bathrooms
  • MRE joinery
  • WM Robotics
  • John Clements
  • Ivan Porter
  • Ivan McCabe 
  • Dennis Jackson
  • Karl & Henry
  • Yoga with Diane
  • DMRS club
  • Highwaymen
  • Andrew & Nan
  • Alan Dunlop

Onwards and upwards into 2023!

Round 11 - Brands Hatch

FREE PRACTICE: P7 Overall - A Damp Friday saw limited track time for us, but Sam still ended the day in P7 overall going into Quali.

QUALIFYING: P15 (+2.6) - Sam qualified for Race 1 in P15 on the grid after the morning's damp qualifying session. The track conditions were really mixed, with dry sections in the open but damp in the shaded areas out back. This meant for tricky conditions for all of the riders to deal with. Sam consistently improved his lap times as the session went on, while on wet tyres. But everyone else kept on improving too, on varying set ups with some riders opting for dry tyres right at the end which meant we fell back onto the 5th row. 

RACE 1: P28 - This was another damp race and we simply chose the wrong tyres. We stayed on wets while the majority went on dry tyres, meaning we dropped back and had a poor race. 

RACE 2: P2 -  Ending the season on a high as Sam equalled his best ever Superstock 600 result with a second place finish today! After a Saturday to forget, with mixed conditions seeing Sam in P15 in qualifying and then P28 in Race 1; both sessions in which Sam was on the wrong tyres in hindsight. This meant that Sam had minimal track time on good tyres before this second race of the weekend.

Starting from P10 on the grid, Sam made a great start into P5 at the second corner. But the red flags came out before the first lap was completed due to an incident at turn 3. This meant the race had to be restarted, but from the original grid positions.

At the restart Sam made almost exactly the same start, finding himself in P5 at the second corner and continuing to make up positions early on in the race. Sam soon found himself into the podium positions in P2, catching the leader as he set a purple lap midway through the race. Franco Bourne, the race leader soon pulled the pin and set a fastest lap of his own to extend the gap in front of Sam just enough to maintain a lead of 1.7 seconds.

Sam managed to maintain his own gap behind him to consolidate second place until the chequered flag after 10 laps!

Given how this weekend went up until today, we are over the moon with this finish to the weekend, and indeed the season overall.

This helped to bring home a personal best of 7th place overall in the championship, with 115 points on the board.

We would like to thank Big Dan, Joe, Bez and the team for their support this season, along with our sponsors and friends - we wouldn't be able to do this without you guys! 

We now head onto the Sunflower races at Bishopscourt next weekend to close off our season as a whole.

#TeamLaffins7

Round 10 - Donington Park GP

FREE PRACTICE: P5 (+1.587) - A wet and windy Friday at Donington ended with Sam in P5 after FP2, in which we didn't manage even a handful of dry laps before the rain started again. We also sat out FP1 due to the dodgy conditions. 

QUALIFYING: P3 (+0.396) - There we go! Sam qualified on the front row for Sunday's race after a smart approach in qualifying. Sam made a steady start, having only had 4 laps in Free Practice (due to the dodgy British weather). He got settled on the bike before coming in for a fresh tyre before going out and setting some quick lap times. Sam found himself in P3 with a 0.6 gap to pole, but then quickly consolidated that by going 0.3 quicker again to bring home another front row start.

RACE: DNF - Starting from P3, Sam made probably his best start of the season heading into turn 1. But unfortunately, that's as far as we got. Another rider high-sided right in front of Sam on the first corner, and he was left with nowhere to go so that meant he collided with the fallen bike and ended up taking an unwanted trip into the kitty litter. We are gutted by this, as Sam had a great pace and could have been on for another podium finish here today. But the positive thing is that Sam is OK and will be back ready for the final round at Brands Hatch in two week's time!

#TeamLaffins7

Round 9 - Oulton Park

QUALIFYING: P8 (+1.772) - Sam qualified for Race 1 the middle of the third row. Sam started the session well, finding himself in P1 after only 4 laps. But couldn't improve on this time after highsiding out of Shell Oils Corner with half of the session still to go. This meant that he was eventually bumped back to 8th place by the end of the session as the other riders continued in the session. 

RACE 1: DNF - Starting from 8th on the grid, Sam made a good start making his way into 7th on the first lap, and then into 6th. He was battling well placed in the group fighting for 3rd place and even set the fastest lap of the race. Unfortunately going into Lodge corner, Sam was a few yards off line and lost the front end, bringing an early end to a promising ride. Sam showed that he had the pace, but sadly this hasn't been converted into a result in Race 1. The silver lining to this is that with the fastest lap of the race, Sam qualified for Sunday's Race 2 from his very first pole position. So we were hopeful that we could make amends on Sunday.

RACE: P3 - Now that was more like it! Sam started this race from his first ever pole position and made a good start, only dropping one place into P2 after the first lap. A few laps in, Sam found himself back into 3rd place, but was gapping 4th place consistently lap on lap. Towards the end of the race, the gaps started to close around Sam, but he rode well and managed to bring home his third podium of the season! Based on our bad luck thus far in the weekend, we were over the moon with this end to the weekend!

Thank you so much to Dan, Bez and Joe who have worked so hard to keep the bike in the best condition possible this weekend.

Also, thank you to our supporters and sponsors for your continued support!

We hope to carry this momentum into Donington Park next weekend.

#TeamLaffins7

Round 8 - Snetterton 300

QUALIFYING: P6 (+2.360) - A decent result after a sub-par day for us on Friday with a crash on his out lap in a wet FP2 session. This meant Sam didn't get any wet track time in FP2, ahead of Saturday's wet Quali session, in which he was looking to get back towards the front. Big Dan and the team worked hard to get the bike back together after the FP2 crash, but it turned out that there was a technical issue hampering Sam on track as Quali started. He came back in to pit lane and the team set to work fixing the issue.

Sam got back out on track with just over 7 minutes remaining, giving him three flying laps to set a good time. He came over in 9th place on the first flyer, and was then bumped back to 10th on the second flyer, while improving his time slightly. The final flying lap saw Sam improve enough to bump himself up to the second row in P6.

We were over the moon with this result, given the circumstances not going in our favour up to that point.

RACE: DNF - Well, what can we say? The lad was trying hard! Starting from 6th place on the grid, Sam got swamped at the start, so found himself a few places down the order. He soon put this right, fighting back into 6th place, then 5th and then up to 4th briefly, while in the group which fighting for 2nd place. Sam was making up ground in the corners, but was being caught again on the straights which made for a good battle. 

However, at half race distance Sam lost the front coming into the final corner after clipping the curb on the inside. This brought an early end to our weekend. This is a real shame, as Sam was definitely in with a shout of fighting for another podium finish in the later stages and was having a good race up until the crash...but that's racing!

A massive thank you to Joe, Dan and the team for this weekend - we will try to get two decent results in the double header at Oulton Park in two weeks time!

#TeamLaffins7

Round 7 - Cadwell Park

COMBINED PRACTICE: P2 (0.349) - The weekend got off to a good start for Sam at Cadwell Park. We were in P3 in FP1 and then P2 in FP2 with Sam showing good pace from the green flag. We had a good pace going into Qualifying - so this was a sign of things to come.

QUALIFYING: P2 (+0.512) - Sam qualified for Monday's race on the second spot on the grid after a personal best qualifying result on Sunday. His fastest lap time was actually quicker than 2021's pole position lap time, and over two seconds quicker than his own qualifying lap from last year! 

RACE: P2 - What a day! A very happy camp on Monday after Sam converted P2 on the grid to P2 in the race, completing probably our best weekend to date. 

We had a shower of rain, just minutes before pit lane opened, leaving the riders with a choice to make on whether to fit wet tyres or stay on dry tyres, as the race had been declared as wet. We decided to stay on dry tyres.

Sam started well, finding himself in the chasing pack, fighting for P2. The group kept changing places a few times from P2 to P5, which allowed the leader to increase the gap to second place.

Sam eventually fought his way back into P2 after a good battle with the group, allowing him to get into his good rhythm that he has clearly had all weekend long. The gap between Sam and the next riders increased by a few tenths per lap, and likewise Sam was even visibly closing down on the leader. This all came as Sam set the fastest lap of the race this weekend, which is another achievement from this weekend.

The chequered flag was met with great relief as Sam crossed the line in a personal best second place race finish, to match his personal best qualifying from yesterday!

Thank you so much to the team, our sponsors and our supporters...without you none of this would be possible! 

#TeamLaffins7

Round 6 - Thruxton

COMBINED FREE PRACTICE: P9 (+1.043) - Friday was a positive first day here at Thruxton. Sam finished FP1 in P4 and then P9 in FP2. We had a plan ahead of Qualifying and felt like we were within touching distance of a Top 5 grid spot on the grid for Sunday's race. 

QUALIFYING: P14 (+1.8) - Not really the result we wanted after waiting around all day for the evening session at a scalding hot Thruxton. We just couldn't get a good lap together, meaning we ended up in P14 for Sunday's race. We had the pace for a much better result, as showed in our ideal lap which would have been good enough for P8, over 0.5 seconds quicker than our actual time! 

RACE: P8 - We started on the back foot after having to settle for 14th place on the grid after qualifying. Sam got a decent start, not losing any places, and fighting to get forward in the opening stages. However, this battle meant he got stuck in a group for the remainder of the race. It was a good race in the group, albeit while Sam was fighting the same niggles he had throughout the weekend as a whole.

Sam was sat in P10 with a few laps to go, but deservedly earned an eighth place finish at the chequered flag. Given the qualifying position, we will take P8 as this is more points on the board and keeps Sam's record of every race finished in 2022 being in the Top 10.

We now look forward to Cadwell Park on the August Bank Holiday weekend in two weeks time.

Thank you to Dan, Joe, Bez and all of the team and all of our sponsors & supporters!

Round 5 - Brands Hatch GP

FREE PRACTICE: P13 (+2.1) - Sam sat in P13 overall after Free Practice on Friday. We had limited running time, with FP1 being affected by a set up issue and then sitting out FP2 because of persistent rainfall.

QUALIFYING: P5 (+0.374) - That was a bit more like it after a slightly disappointing first day. Sam qualified on the middle of the second row of the grid for Sunday's race. It could have been even better for us, as Sam was on for an improved lap but unfortunately made a mistake in the final sector, which cost him about 0.5 of a second. But we are still happy with P5 after being sat down in P13 after Free Practice.

RACE: DNF - A day to forget for us. Sam actually led the race for a few laps at the beginning of the race. But a jump start at the lights to the race meant that Sam was called into pit lane for a ride through penalty from P1 on track. This brought him out in about 23rd place, before a second ride through was awarded to us because of a pit lane speed limit infringement.The two ride through penalties meant Sam was sat in 33rd place at about half race distance. He had managed to make up a few places into 29th, before he lost the front at Surtees corner, resulting in a DNF.

Sorry to the team, all of our sponsors and supporters. But we will be back, and more determined to perform at Thruxton in three weeks time.

#TeamLaffins7 

Round 4 - Knockhill

COMBINED FREE PRACTICE: P2 (+0.138) - A good start to the weekend with Sam finishing second place in Free Practice 2. We sat out FP1 as the weather was just too bad, having already done the test here a few weeks back we felt we had a good base setting so didn't need to take the risk. FP2 saw slightly better conditions, with brighter skies but still a wet track. Sam went out on wet tyres to start with, coming in mid session to change onto dry tyres. He went back out and soon found himself as the quickest rider on track until he was pipped with 2 mins to go, pushing us back to P2. As Sam looked to improve his time and get back into P1, the red flag came out bringing the session to an early end with 59 seconds remaining.

QUALIFYING: P28 (+1.844) - Not the way we wanted to start Saturday. Sam was working his way through traffic, having set a few purple sectors and looking to go quicker even on a set of scrub tyres. Sam was on an in-lap while sat in 11th place, when he unexpectedly high sided out of Turn 3, ending our session before we even got going properly. While everyone else improved on new tyres, we could only sit and watch as we eventually ended up in P28 for Saturday afternoon's Race 1. This was gutting for us, as we knew Sam had the pace for a front row start based on our times at the test and early sector times in the session. The one saving grace was that we had two races this weekend, so the focus was on getting a good lap time in Race 1 to help us qualify closer to the front for Sunday's race.

RACE 1: P8 - That was more like it! Starting from P28 on the grid, Sam had a mountain to climb to recover whatever we could from Race 1. He came across the line after the first lap in P20, and carried on making up places as the race went on. His pace was consistently quick, even while overtaking his way through the pack, setting a fastest lap of 50.977. After a long 22 laps, Sam brought it home on 8th place, having made up a total of 20 places over the race distance. We were absolutely thrilled with this result after a disappointing qualifying session in the morning.

RACE 2: P7 - Starting from P5 on the grid after Race 1's best lap time, Sam had a great opportunity to run with the guys at the front. He made a good start, up into P4 and then P3 in the opening laps as part of a group of four riders breaking away from the rest of the pack. The safety car came out and completely changed the script for us. Obviously it bunched the group up and brought more riders into contention at the front by the time the car went in. The rhythm of the race was totally gone, making for an unpredictable middle of the race, which saw Sam muscled out and back into P7 as the group spread out. Unfortunately he couldn't gain enough time to get higher up the order, so eventually finishing in seventh place at the chequered flag. This is a little disappointing as we felt we could have definitely challenged for a podium in Race 2, but this is still more points on the board for us in the championship. 

A massive thank you to the Team, our sponsors and friends for your support this and every weekend.

Best wishes to Sam's teammate Fin who had an off in the race - get well soon mate! 

We now have a break until Brands Hatch on the 22nd - 24th July where we will be back on track for Round 5.

#TeamLaffins7

Round 3 - Donington Park National

COMBINED FREE PRACTICE: P5 (+0.372) - A positive first day at Donington Park. Sam ended the day in P5 overall after two sessions, only 0.1 off his fastest ever lap of the National Circuit and only 0.3 off of P1 in Practice.

QUALIFYING: P3 (+0.334) - A good result for us in Quali today as Sam took his best ever qualifying result in third place, giving us a front row start for Sunday's race. We were in a strong position going into race day, but the pace is very quick and the times are tightly matched, so it was sure to be a close race on Sunday!

RACE: P5 - A solid points finish for Young Sam here at Donington Park. After finishing Warm Up in 2nd place, Sam went into the race feeling good. 

Starting from 3rd on the grid, he made a decent start, finding himself in the chasing pack, fighting for 2nd place. However, a red flag after two completed laps brought us back into pitlane. The race restarted from the original grid positions. Sam jostled for position as five or six riders fought it out for the podium places.

A moment at the Old Hairpin almost saw Sam out of the race, but he saved it luckily, but had lost ground on the guys in front. A second red flag came out with 3 laps to go, which meant the result stood from that point. This is unfortunate for us as Sam had chance to close the gap and fight for the podium if the red flag hadn't come out...but that's racing!

We have positives to take from the race though as Sam has scored good points, and has shown once again he can fight for the podium this season.Thank you to all of our sponsors and supporters.

We go again at Knockhill in about 4 weeks time!

Round 2 - Oulton Park

The weekend started with Sam still feeling the effects of theankle injury sustained off-track at Silverstone. That being said Free Practice was very positive for us, ending the first day in P2 overall after FP1 and FP2.

QUALIFYING: P5 (+0.9) - On Saturday Sam qualified in 5th place after setting his fastest ever lap aroun the Oulton Park GP circuit. However there was some frustration as he felt he had more speedin him, but got heldup behind traffic on several laps.

Race day started well, with Sam topping the morning Warm Up session in P1, very nearly matching his qualifying lap time on a cool track and an old tyre.

RACE 1: P3 - What a race! Sam rode a great race, deservedly earning his first BSB podium from 5th on the grid. He spent most of the race in the chasing group, held up in 4th place, however he eventually passed for 3rd place. This was a long time coming after three seasons in the Superstock 600 class, so it's a great boost for Sam and the team to finally break the duck.

RACE 2: DNF - Well, what can we say? Sam made a fantastic start to the race from 3rd on the grid, keeping a hold of third position and chasing the leaders. He spent most of the race right behind Louis Valleley until he finally passed him for 2nd place on penultimate lap.

However, Sam had mis-read the remaining laps and thought that was the last lap. He crossed the line, realising there was still one lap remaining. He went on to lose the front going into Turn 1, crashing out of what would have been a fantastic 2nd place finish in less than a laps time. He had ridden the perfect race up until the last lap, we are just gutted we got so close to this.

We have plenty of positives to take from this weekend as Sam has consistently been in the Top 5 all weekend, topping one session and of course his maiden Pirelli National Junior Superstock podium!

We go again at Donington Park in three weeks time.Thank you to the Team, all of our sponsors and our supporters for their continued support!

Round 1 - Silverstone National

Some of our followers might have been wondering why they hadn't heard any updates from us on the social media outlets on Friday. Well that was because Sam sustained an injury to his ankle while helping the team to set up on Thursday. 

This resulted in a trip to hospital for an X-Ray...luckily this confirmed that nothing was broken, just badly sprained.The Silverstone medical team advised that Sam sit out FP1 and FP2 until the swelling had gone down sufficiently. 

On Saturday morning, Sam went back to the Medical Centre for assessment, and thankfully he was deemed fit to ride, which counted us in for Qualifying.

QUALIFYING: P17 (+1.4) -  Sam had a steady start, but soon set a lap time that was good enough for 9th after 10 minutes of the 30 minute session. He came back in for about 10 minutes, to try and ease the soreness in his ankle before heading out for the final push at which point he was about 20th. He set a faster lap, slotting into 17th place and looking to improve further. Unfortunately Sam ran off at Brooklands. He made it back round to pit lane but decided to not go back out to give the ankle a rest.

RACE - P9 - After taking part in only one session this weekend before the race, we are very happy with Sam's effort to salvage a positive end to a difficult first weekend of the season.

Starting from 17th on the grid, Sam made a decent start as he worked his way through the field in the first half of the race up into the points. He then spent the second half of the race fighting for position in the third group, changing positions each lap...eventually passing the chequered flag in 9th place, narrowly missing out on 8th by only 0.05 seconds.

This was a great ride for damage limitation, our target was to get points on the board which we have achieved. The only disappointment we have is that Sam sustained the injury on Thursday. Without that injury we are confident Sam would have been fighting in the podium places today as shown by his pace at the No Limits rounds last month.

We would like to extend our thanks to Joe, Dan and the rest of Cheshire Mouldings & Woodturnings Ltd Kawasaki powered by JR Performance Racing for preparing a fantastic bike for Sam.

Congratulations to teammate Finley Arscott #77 on his great first race result in 7th place.

Thank you to all our sponsors too for your loyal support!

Onwards and upwards to Oulton Park in a fortnight.

Sam Laffins Signs for Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki powered by JR Performance Racing  


We are thrilled to announce our plans for 2022...Sam will be joining Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki powered by JR Performance Kawasaki as he launches his 2022 Pirelli National Junior Superstock 600 Championship challenge.

This is a fantastic opportunity for Sam to join JR Performance Racing who have previously been champions in the Superstock 600 class in 2020 and last year finished a very close second place with Joe Talbot.

We cannot wait to get started in the new season!  

Sam Laffins Racing #11 2021 Season Review

A successful season with plenty of progress made for Sam Laffins in the face of adversity in 2021.

2021 started in the same way as 2020...with Covid disruption throughout the world of sport and the wider country. This meant that the season start was pushed back from the usual springtime start into late June, which condensed the season drastically, meaning we had quite a few back-to-back rounds and a long time away from home to come.

This would be Sam's third season in the Pirelli National Junior Superstock Championship (Stock 600), aboard the latest Kawasaki ZX-6R superstock machine, prepared by G&S Racing. We managed to get out for a few good tests at Bishopscourt and Donington Park before the season got underway at the end of June.

Before we knew it, it was time for the opening round of the season at Oulton Park which would be a double race weekend for us. The weekend got off to a less than ideal start, with a massive off at Druids Corner in damp FP2 conditions, followed by another off in Qualifying; despite which Sam still qualified in 9th place. Unfortunately, Sam didn't even make it to T3 in the opening race as he was collected by another rider's off. Race 2 went better, with an 11th place finish to end the weekend on a high with a points finish.

Round 2 was a very busy weekend as a support class for the UK round of the WorldSBK Championship at Donington Park GP, in which we would have a triple-header of races. Sam was running in the Top 10 on Friday, but his plans were again interrupted by a crash caused by another rider as he found himself served a T-bone steak at the Foggy Esses. After qualifying 15th in a soaked Quali session, Sam finished Race 1 in 16th place after a ride-through penalty that cost him a certain Top 10 finish. Our run of back luck continued into Race 2, where Sam high sided out of 8th place. However, Sam showed real character to dust himself off for the Sunday afternoon's Race 3, in which he finished in 5th place which is a new personal best for him in the Stock 600 class.

We travelled to Brands Hatch for Round 3, where Sam qualified a fantastic 6th place on the second row for the race, which was replicated in the race with a hard-earned 5th place finish but unfortunately the red flag came out, meaning the result dropped back a lap meaning he finished P6 as he looked to regain some form after a rocky opening few rounds.

It looked like Sam was carrying this form forwards as we got to Thruxton for Round 4, qualifying in 5th place, another great second row start for him! Qualifying could have been even better for us, as he was running P4 before a tyre change. When he started his flying lap, he was subject to a lunging move by the rider behind, causing a crash before he could improve his lap time on a new set of tyres, otherwise we are confident he would have got a front row start. However, the race saw us finish in P15 after a poor start and another rider cutting in front of Sam, meaning Sam had to avoid a crash. Sam was on the back foot from the very start, he did well to recover for a points finish.

Sam finished in 8th place at Donington National in Round 5 after starting from 14th on the grid and running in 6th for most of the race. However a moment of the Roberts chicane caused Sam to tense up, leading to arm pump issues which meant he dropped two places in the closing stages of the race, but 8th was still a good Top 10 finish.

Round 6 at Cadwell Park saw Sam finish in 6th place after starting from 14th on the grid, this was a very good race for us in very tricky weather conditions. Sam was even running in P5 for the last few laps, however a mistake on the last lap dropped him back to 6th.

Snetterton Round 7 was a weekend to forget for us. A huge crash at Coram corner in Qualifying; all-but wrote the bike off, calling for a full rebuild meaning a very late night for the team. The bike was rebuilt, but as we went to fit the rear wheel; the swingarm was found to be twisted. So the decision was made to sit out the remainder of the weekend in order to get the bike ready for the next weekend's race.

After working hard to get the bike ready for Round 8 at Silverstone National, Sam put the bike in P12 in Qualifying. However, in the race Sam had to take avoiding action to prevent a collision, meaning he grabbed a fist full of front brake resulting in a very slow crash. But given the BSB safety rules; unfortunately, he was not allowed to re-mount and continue.

G&S Racing approached Sam to ride their Kawasaki ZX-6R for the ninth round of the season at Oulton Park, which came as a great boost for Sam due to his recent bad luck out on track. A crash in a wet Qualifying session meant that Sam qualified in P36, so the fact he made up 17 places to her home in 19th place in Race 1 was a real positive for us. Race 2 saw Sam finish in 11th place to end the weekend on a positive note.

We were back on our own ZX-6R machine for Round 10 at Donington GP. A technical issue meant we got no real practice on the Friday, with the bike running like a slug in the wet FP1 due to an electrical issue. This meant that FP2 was spent with the bike in bits while the rest of the field got a full session of dry track time, so we were on the back foot from the first green flag. Sam went out in yet another wet qualifying session and put the bike in 15th place. In the race Sam was fighting for P10 for the most part of the race, but with the close fought battle he dropped back to 13th at the chequered flag. The result might well have been different had Sam been able to take part in Free Practice 2's dry session.

G&S Racing gave Sam the opportunity to re-join their team for the final round of the season at Brands Hatch GP. We had a great qualifying, putting it on P8 for the first of two races. Race 1 saw Sam cross the line in 13th place, only 0.040 behind 12th place. In Race 2, Sam was bogged down behind slower riders in the early stages, eventually finding himself very lonely in 13th place. With only a few laps remaining Sam had a mountain to climb, but he dug deep and set consistent lap times which were only 0.1 off the pace of the leaders. This meant Sam caught up with the next group and fought his way into 11th place to finish the last race of the season. The pace in this final race was insane, with only 0.4 seconds separating the top 12 rider's lap times, showing just how competitive the Junior Superstock class is.

Sam ended the season with 61 championship points in total, sitting in 12th place in the national championship. This was by far our best season so far in the Superstock 600 class, with Sam showing progress on every track, learning so much both on and off track. At one point, Sam was sat in 9th place in the championship before his run of bad luck started after Cadwell Park. Had our luck been better, then we are sure Sam would have been challenging for 7th place at the end of the season. However, we are thrilled to see how Sam has kept his head up, especially after facing so many obstacles and setbacks along the way!

We want to like to extend our thanks to all our sponsors for their support this season;

  • Jordan Concrete Ltd
  • Sloan Transport Sloan
  • Herron Contractors Ltd
  • Tullyniskey Transport
  • MRE Joinery
  • Ace Air NI
  • McMurray Tractors Ltd
  • Knox Engineering
  • I Porter Agricultural Supplies
  • Camper NI
  • WM Robotics
  • Glo Sunbeds 
  • Cline Rd Shop 
  • Border Fine Arts
  • DB Tiles & Bathrooms
  • Sandown Racing
  • G&S Racing
  • Atomized Art ni
  • McStitched
  • James Martin Apparel and Promotion
  • Module Road & Race
  • BrookFab
  • MB14 Products Ltd
  • Highwaymen MCC
  • Dromara Motorcycle Racing Supporters Club
  • Andrew Stevenson & Nan Stevenson
  • Ivan McCabe
  • Pugh's Pebble Art
  • Yoga With Diane M

None of this would have been possible without you!

A special shout out to Tom & Mark Fisher of G&S Racing for their support throughout this season and the opportunity to join the team at Oulton Park and Brands Hatch GP towards the end of the season.

#TeamLaffins11

Season review by Sam Weedop

Round 11 - Brands Hatch GP

Photo: Motion Media UK
Photo: Motion Media UK

A positive end to the 2021 season, as Sam raced with G&S Racing for the second time this yard.

Sam sat in 14th place after FP1 and FP2. A cold and drizzly start to the day in FP1 wasn't very indicative of the pace in the class. But a dry FP2 showed how close the Junior Superstock class is with only 2 seconds separating the top 20 riders.

Sam only managed a few dry flying laps in Qualifying before the spitting rain arrived. But that was all he needed to secure a fanatstic 8th place start from the middle of the third row for Saturday afternoon's Race 1.

RACE 1 - P13 -  Sam finished in 13th place in Saturday's Race 1. He had a few good battles out on track which made for an enjoyable race, but unfortunately missing out on P12 by a tiny 0.040 at the chequered flag. Sam set a time faster than he had gone before around Brands GP, which we were thrilled about. It was just amazing to see how quick the pace is in this class, even in the cold autumn weather.

RACE 2 - P11 - A successful end to the weekend with an 11th place finish in Race 2 aboard the G&S Racing Kawasaki ZX-6R. Sam spent the opening couple of laps battling to keep a hold of 14th place, eventually breaking away from the riders behind, pulling out a good chunk of time on every lap. Towards the end of the race, it looked as if Sam had a mountain to climb from a lonely 13th place with over 2 seconds ahead of him, but he kept chipping away managing to bridge the gap and claim 11th place at the chequered flag. 

Sam again improved his best ever lap around Brands Hatch, setting a personal best 1:30.347 lap which was only 0.1 of the leaders' pace, only 0.2 seconds from the overall fastest lap of the race. Sam's lap times would also have seen him fighting in the top 10 of the Supersport race on Sunday afternoon in the same conditions, which is amazing to say that we are only competing on a Stock bike compared to their race-ready tuned Supersport bikes.

We end the season in 12th place in the Pirelli National Junior Superstock Championship with 61 points which is by far our most successful season yet in this class, which we are very proud of Sam for and we are thrilled to see the progress he has made this season!

We would like to extend our thanks to all of our sponsors and friends for all of their support this season - we couldn't have done it without you!

Also, a massive thank you to Tom and Mark Fisher for welcoming Sam into G&S Racing again this weekend.

#TeamLaffins11

Round 10 - Donington Park GP

The best end to the weekend we could have expected after another tough round in the Pirelli National Junior Superstock Championship. 

Friday Free Practice was not a very good day for Young Sam. The bike had a technical issue in the wet FP1 session, which meant Sam was well down on where we expect to be in the timings. The repairs took all day to sort, meaning that Sam never made it out for the dry FP2 session in the afternoon. A massive thank you to Tom & Mark Fisher from G&S Racing for their help in repairing our bike so we could get out again on Saturday morning.

Saturday was another wet and cold day at Donington. We went out for qualifying having not set any competitive times so far in the weekend due to the limited track time on Friday. Sam brought the bike home in 15th place, as he faced treacherous conditions out on track,as many ridersran off track throughout the day in all sessions.

RACE - P13 - Starting from P15 on the grid, Sam spent the first few laps in 15th and 16th place. As he got into his rhythm he eventually make his way forward, as high as 10th place at about two thirds race distance. However the battle for 10th was a close fought affair between about 5 riders. So Sam was pushed back to 13th by the chequered flag.

We are happy enough with 13th place after a weekend on the back foot with very limited track time on Friday due to the technical issue and only a wet qualifying session on Saturday. 

We now move on to Brands Hatch in a fortnight's time for two final races to close off the 2021 season.

Thank you to all of Sam's sponsors for their continued support this season so far, we hope we will be ending the season on a high in two weeks time!

#TeamLaffins11

Round 9 - Oulton Park

This weekend, Sam was presented with the opportunity to ride G&S Racing's Kawasaki ZX-6R Superstock bike as part of their team. Friday got the weekend off to a positive start with Sam feeling really good on the bike and having a good idea of the direction we were heading.

We woke up on Saturday morning to unforecast rain before the morning qualigying session. Unfortunately the conditions caught Sam out, as he locked the front up while braking into the Hislop's Chicane, bringing an end to Qualifying after only a few laps.

Race 1 - P19 - Sam made a great start in the opening laps from 36th on the grid, making up positions in each lap of the first half of the race, sitting in P18 with about 7 seconds in front of him to the next rider. Sam was eventually caught by Adam McLean, who passed him which pushed Sam back to 19th place. Sam and Adam had a great battle for the remainder of the race, but Sam still didn't quite manage to pip him to the post. However, making up 17 places from P36 to P19 is something Sam should be proud of. He set a lap time fast enough for P16 on the grid for Sunday's race, giving us a better chance of picking up some good points in Race 2.

Race 2 - P11 - A positive finish to the weekend as Sam came home in 11th place in Race 2 this afternoon. He made a good start, crossing the line in about 12th place after the first lap. Sam eventually fought his way into 10th place chasing down the guys in front. However, mid way through the race he began to suffer with arm pump for the first time this weekend, meaning he dropped back into 12th place, but with a good 3 second gap behind him. He managed to pick off 11th place on the last lap, meaning he comes away with a decent points finish and sits in 13th place on the 2021 Championship Leader Board. 

A massive thank you to Tom Fisher, Mark Fisher and the rest of the team at G&S Racing this weekend for giving Sam this opportunity to ride their bike and making Sam feel so comfortable in the team. We now have a few days rest before we head to Donington for the penultimate round of the season next weekend.

Round 8 - Silverstone National

 A day of mixed weather at Silverstone today as Sam were back on track for the first time since the bike was written off at Snetterton last week. Sammy, Alan and the Team at G & S Racing did a great job to get the bike ready for this weekend. 

FP1 was in wet conditions, which saw Sam in P9 and FP2 was in dry conditions with Sam in P14, only 1.2 from pole. We were lacking a little pace, but the bike felt good and we were sure we can improve in Qualifying.

In Qualifying, Sam did indeed close the gap to pole, only 0.5 seconds behind P1. However the pace was electric so Sam qualified in 12th place for Sunday's race.

RACE - DNF - We just can't seem to get any luck at the minute. Sam made a decent start from 12th into 10th on the first lap. A few laps behind the safety car followed and then when racing got going again he briefly got into 9th before dropping back to 11th place but fighting for position. 

Unfortunately Sam's race came to an end on the eighth lap when a rider in front ran wide, then cut back in front of Sam; of course Sam had to take avoiding action to prevent a collision, but this meant he locked the front brake and went down.

The damage to the bike was minimal, and Sam is absolutely fine apart from being gutted again as we're sure you'd expect.

Apologies to our sponsors and supporters, hopefully our luck will change soon. 

We now look forward to a weekend off next week, before Oulton in a fortnight.

Round 7 - Snetterton

Photo: Motion Media UK
Photo: Motion Media UK

Not a very good weekend for Team Laffins #11. 

Sam was making progress in Free Practice and Qualifying, setting his fastest ever lap around Snetterton with a 1:55.238. However, as Sam was pushing with about 5 mins to go in Qualifying, he ran a little wide in the last sector. As he tried to regain his line and let off the throttle, he tucked the front end, resulting in a big crash at Coram, with the bike taking four or five tumbles once it hit the grass. 

The main thing is that Sam was pretty much OK after the off...unfortunately the same cannot be said for the bike. 

Thanks to the damage sustained in the off, the bike required a full rebuild. We did have the bike pretty much rebuilt by Sunday morning, but given the extent of the damage on Saturday, we didn't want to risk racing without a Warm Up session to check that all is OK with the bike. The equivalent Warm Up / Free Practice session for us was on Saturday night, which wasn't much good to us with the bike in bits. 

So instead, we decided to sit out Sunday's race and focus on making sure the bike is safe and ready for Silverstone next weekend. 

We are sorry to say that Sam won't be in the race today, but we are sure you will all understand our reasoning behind us sitting this one out. 

A massive thank you to Tom & Mark Fisher from G&S Racing, Aaron Kelly from Alexander Rowan Racing, and everyone else who has helped and offered their services to help us get the bike rebuilt. 

Round 6 - Cadwell Park

Photo: Max Revs Images
Photo: Max Revs Images

Sam made steady progress in Free Practice 1 & 2 on Friday. This was only our second time on the 600 at Cadwell, and it's been 2 years since we were last here, so Sam has spent the morning re-learning the track. He beat his own personal best lap time around here in FP1 by 0.6 seconds in 14th place, and then went even quicker in FP2 by another 0.5 seconds in 17th place, so we were already making progress on 2019...but there was more work to do for us to close the gap in Qualifying.

Qualifying - P14 - The track was damp after the Superbike session had finished, leaving teams with a difficult choice for set up in our class. Sam went out on full wets, but after only one lap it was clear that it was too dry for the wet set up. Sam came straight in for a tyre and set up change. We soon got back onto dry pace when Sam left the pits. We ended the session in 14th place, giving Sam a fifth row start for Sunday's race. We weren't exactly where Sam wanted to be as he always wants to be higher up in the standings.

RACE - P6 - A very well deserved 6th place finish for Sam in the race. After a rain through the night and wet warm up session in the morning, we were left with a tricky decision for set up for the race as there was a small drying line starting to form out on track. Sam made a late call to gamble with a full set of dry tyres; so the team set to work to get the bike set up with only minutes to go. There were different tyre and set up choices up and down the grid, which proved for an entertaining race. 

Sam made a decent start from 14th on the grid, but initially got swamped by the riders on wet tyres on the damp track, crossing the line in 17th place on Lap 1. As the race went on and the dry line got wider, Sam really settled into the race, passing riders and making his way into the top 10. He got into a good battle with Asher Durham for 5th place, eventually making the pass to take 5th place and start pulling away. Sam felt a slight slip in the front tyre on the last lap, meaning that Durham passed him with half a lap to go. Sam got back right behind him into the final corners but unfortunately didn't get the chance to regain the place.

As a team we are absolutely thrilled with 6th place in the race, adding more points onto Sam's Champonship tally, now sitting in 9th place overall in the standings. A massive thank you to all of our supporters, sponsors and G&S Racing for their continued support.

We now have a week off before heading for a double header at Snetterton and then Silverstone at the start of September.

#TeamLaffins11

Round 5 - Donington Park National

The weekend started on the back foot after missing much of FP1 through a technical issue, our weekend pretty much started in FP2. Sam finished this session in P14, but only 1.1 seconds off pole at this stage. So to say we were one session behind the rest of the field, we were quite happy with the direction we were heading. 

Sam made more progress in qualifying, breaking into the 1:10 lap times for the first time this weekend. The overall feeling with the bike was much more comfortable for Sam. But the blistering pace in the session across the field meant that only 1.025 seconds separated the top 17 riders, meaning we qualified in 14th place for Sunday's race.

RACE - P8 - Sunday's race saw a good points finish for Young Sam in 8th place after a weekend on the back foot. Sam made a good start from 14th on the grid, into 10th after the first lap. He made his way up to 6th place, fighting for 5th. As the race passed midway point, Sam had settled into 6th place, gapping the guys behind lap on lap. However as we entered the final stages of the race, Sam started to get some arm pump issues which meant he dropped off the pace slightly. This meant he dropped back to 8th place at the chequered flag, but this is still a good points finish for us and a positive result to carry with us as we head to Cadwell Park next weekend.

Thank you to all of our sponsors and supporters as always, it was great too see so much support for #TeamLaffins11 this weekend, and a special thank you to G&S Racing's Mark Fisher for taking the time to come down to the awning and into pit lane at times this weeend to lend a hand. 

Round 4 - Thruxton

Photo: Max Revs Images
Photo: Max Revs Images

A positive start to the weekend running well in the Top 10 in free practice. Friday started off with a wet and windy FP1, which saw Sam finish in a fantastic 4th place, only 1.1 seconds off of 1st. FP2 took place in drying conditions, with Sam running in third place until late in the session. Unfortunately we were bumped back to 13th place late in the session as the other guys managed to get some good laps in on the dry tyres. If we had come in a little earlier to change on to the dry rear we are confident Sam would have been back up near the top.

Qualifying saw a second row start for Sam in Sunday's race, taking 5th place after today's qualifying session. Sam was running in 2nd place with about 7 minutes to go, fighting for pole position after a pit stop to put a new rear tyre on to the bike. Unfortunately on his second flying lap Sam tucked the front wheel at Turn 4 Cobb Corner, bringing an unwanted premature end to the session for us. It's gutting that Sam missed out on the chance for 4 or 5 more fast laps, as he had a real shot at pole position. 

RACE - P15 - Starting from the second row of the grid in 5th place, our race got off to a disastrous start. Sam got away from the grid well, but got swallowed up in the first corner thanks to a few lunging moves made on Sam. This meant Sam dropped back to 17th place, leaving a mountain of a challenge in front of him to catch up. Sam fought well with the middle pack, eventually crossing the line in P15 as the rain started to fall, bringing out the red flags on the last lap. It's a real shame that our weekend ended with an anticlimax after being so quick on Friday and Saturday. But we can take the positive that Sam has shown once again that he can run well with the riders, with Sam qualifying 5th and setting the 7th best lap time in the race.

A massive thank you to our sponsors as always.

Photo credit to; @maxrevsimages 

Round 3 - Brands Hatch GP

Photo: Max Revs Images
Photo: Max Revs Images

An awesome job by Sam in Qualifying to put the bike on the second row of the grid in 6th position for Sunday's race. The session started in damp conditions, so we started off steady as Sam assessed the track conditions. Mid-way through Sam came into the pits change onto a dry rear tyre and change a few settings on the bike. This gave Sam a two lap shootout on the new tyre and set up, eventually taking the chequered flag after putting in a lap time good enough for 6th place

RACE - P6 - Another good Top 6 finish for Sam here at Brands Hatch GP. Starting from 6th on the grid, Sam made a bit of a rocky start, dropping back to 9th place on the first few laps. As the laps went on Sam started chipping away, making up the places, while extending the gap behind him.

Sam eventually made it up into 5th place just as the rain started to fall, which brought out the red flags on Lap 9. Because the leaders had already completed Lap 9 when the red flag came out, this meant we had passed two thirds race distance which meant the result was declared. Unfortunately for us the result was pushed back a lap, meaning Sam finished in 6th place.

This is still a really positive result for Young Sam, giving him his second consecutive Top 6 finish after P5 in Race 3 at Donington Park WorldSBK. Overall we are all really happy with the result this weekend, as we now sit in 11th place in the National Championship, closing in on the Top 10.

We would like to extend our thanks to all of our supporters and sponsors . A special shout out to Nico Mawhinney for your assistance as Sam's rider coach this weekend, and to Ian from BITUBO RACE SUSPENSION for his support.

We now head to Thruxton ready for next weekend as we look to continue this run of form.

Round 2 - WorldSBK Donington

FP1 saw Sam comfortably in the top 10, only 0.7s off P1. FP2 never even got started for us,as Sam was taken out by another rider on the out lap going into the Foggy Esses, meaning we could not improve on the morning's times. 

Saturday morning's qualifying was in awful wet conditions, with Sam finishing in P15 for Race 1 on Saturday afternoon.

Race 1 - P16 - Sam made a great start from 15th on the grid, following the leading pack and making up about a place each lap in tricky wet conditions. He was running in 9th place when he was called in for a ride-through penalty for a jump start. The ride-through cost Sam about 20 seconds, meaning he came back onto the track in 20th position. Over the remaining laps, Sam caught the group in front, eventually making his way to 16th place at the chequered flag.

Race 2 - DNF - In Sunday's first race, we were at another low point after Sam unfortunately crashed out of 8th place in Race 2 after highsiding at the Melbourne Loop while fighting for position on track. However, our fortunes changed just in time for Race 3!

Race 3 - P5 - Starting from P10 on the grid after Sam's fastest lap in Race 2, Sam made a steady start as he built up his confidence after the earlier race. As Sam's momentum grew he began making moves gaining places lap on lap while having a good battle with his group. Eventually working his way to a fantastic 5th place finish at the chequered flag . This is Sam's personal best result in the Pirelli National Junior Superstock Class. 

The team are so proud of Sam for being so determined to keep pushing through the recent tough times last week at Oulton Park and this week at Donington Park. It's so good to see all of the hard work pay off, and for Sam to finally show exactly what he can do on track .We now have two weekends off before we head to Brands Hatch in three weeks time.

A massive thank you to all of our loyal sponsors and for everyone cheering us on from trackside this weekend.

2021 Round 1 - Oulton Park

Photo: Bennetts Bike Instagram
Photo: Bennetts Bike Instagram

A rollercoaster of a weekend to open the 2021 season. FP1 was on a cold drying track, Sam was setting some good lap times in the damp. However we came in too late to change to dry tyres, meaning Sam only managed an out lap on the dries.

FP2 started in dry conditions and Sam was running well in the Top 10. However the rain started, meaning Sam was caught out at Druids by the slippery surface, losing the rear end and taking an unwanted trip into the kitty litter.

Saturday morning's qualifying session saw Sam qualify in 9th place for the opening race on Saturday afternoon. 

Race 1 - DNF -  Sam's Race 1 was brought to an early end on the opening lap thanks to another rider's reckless move into Cascades,taking Sam and Aaron Silvester out of the running before they even had a chance.

Race 2 - P11 - Sunday's Race 2 saw a positive end to a frustrating weekend as Sam finished in 11th place after a great on track battle with Aaron Silvester, seeing him bring home his first points of 2021. After three crashes this weekend, we are very happy to have ended the weekend on a high with a points finish.

We now move on to WorldSBK at Donington next weekend where we have three races to get some more points on the board! 

A massive thank you to all of our sponsors for getting us here, and a special shout out to Ivan Fee for lending a hand in the paddock this weekend.

Sam Laffins Racing #11 2020 Season Review

As we all know, 2020 did not quite begin how any of us wanted, with Covid 19 disrupting the entire world. We had the brand new bike packed and on its way to Spain ready for a week of pre-season testing, and we were ready to board the plane in the coming days as Boris announced lockdown for the UK and the majority of mainland Europe went into their own lockdowns. Months of Covid passed and doubts were beginning to grow over whether we would even see any racing this year, when the BSB organisers released their plans to get us on track at long last.

We finally got to test the new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R at Silverstone in July and then at Donington later in the same month, with positive results at both...and boy it was good to be back on track!

The season got started at long last in August, (4 months later than was originally planned) at Donington Park on the National Circuit for a scorcher of a weekend, with 30°C+ and bright sunshine all weekend. In the race, Sam made a good start crossing the line after the first lap in 10th place, up from 16th on the grid. He was fighting for a top 10 finish when two riders collided at the Roberts chicane just in front of Sam. Sam had nowhere to go and made contact with one of the stray machines, taking him out of the race.

Round Two at Snetterton was a little kinder to us. Sam came over the finish line in 11th place from 14th on the grid. This was decent result, considering that on the first lap a mistake saw us drop down to 20th place, so throughout the race Sam fought through the field to earn a points finish in a good recovery ride.

For the third round, we travelled to Silverstone National. Saturday saw Sam's best every qualifying result in the Superstock 600 class, qualifying 4th on the grid for Sunday's race, despite struggling with a slight gearbox issue. Starting the race from the head of the second row, Sam made a fantastic start, crossing the line in 2nd place after the first lap. Sam spent the first half of the race fighting for P1 with five other riders, making for a great race. The safety car came out mid-way through for several laps after an incident. Unfortunately, from the start of the race, Sam was struggling with selecting third gear, which was making the race challenging. During the safety car period, Sam totally lost third gear forcing him to retire from 3rd place before the race could get going again, so he pulled into pit lane. This was a cruel way for Sam's race to end, snatching away a potential podium finish for us.

Round Four saw us travel to Cheshire's Oulton Park Circuit for a double-header. This was a difficult weekend, with arm pump hindering most of the weekend for Sam. Coming off the back of a largely positive weekend at Silverstone we hoped for a better qualifying, but the difficulty caused by Sam's pain meant we were to start the race from P15. Later that same day we had Race 1: finishing P13 after a hard-fought battle with surrounding riders (and his arm!). Sunday saw us waiting until the last session of the meeting to get out on track, giving Sam over 24 hours between Races 1 and 2 to recover and rest. A two-part race after an early red flag saw Sam fighting for the podium positions early after the restart, but as the dreaded arm pump set in, Sam slipped back to 6th place but still managed to bring it home for his personal best Pirelli National Superstock 600 finish in P6. This definitely made all the waiting around on the Sunday worth everyone's while!

We made the return to Donington Park for the fifth round of the season, this time the weather had turned on us, with Storm Alex wreaking havoc with the timetable on the UK's wettest day on record. This saw Saturday's qualifying session cancelled, meaning the grid was set by FP1, which was the only dry day on Friday. After spending Saturday hiding from the elements, Sunday saw us start the race in P13 in mixed conditions with a drying track. Sam fought through from P13 to P6 after just two corners, before losing a place and holding P7 in the opening laps before a safety car period. Upon release from the safety car, Sam was pushing hard for position but unfortunately lost the front going into Coppice Corner on a cold tyre, bringing a premature end to a promising race.

The team took the difficult decision to sit out the final round at Brands Hatch, after using the reduced 2020 calendar effectively as a pre-season test for the 2021 season.

Overall, the team are happy with how 2020 has gone. Yes, lady luck may not have been kind to us, with more DNF's than we would have liked, but most of these instances were out of our hands and unfortunately that's part and parcel of motorbike racing unfortunately.

However, Sam has shown great progress in 2020 compared to 2019. He has consistently been fighting for position in the Top 10, which was one of our main targets for this season. He also recorded his personal best qualifying result and race finishes in the Superstock 600 class, finally showcasing his true potential.

A special thanks to Tom Fisher from G&S Racing for stepping in this season to help Sam both on and off track, offering his expertise for bike set-up, rider coaching and overall knowledge of the BSB paddock. Thanks also to Alan Harper for sticking with Sam again to help in the paddock. And thanks to Sammy Laffins Snr for putting the team together again and to Andrea Laffins for keeping us well fed (as always!).

A massive shoutout to all of our sponsors, for sticking by Young Sam even during and after the CovJordan Concrete Ltd  

  • Sloan Transport Ltd
  • DB Tiles & Bathrooms
  • G&S Racing
  • Module Road & Race
  • Vital Signs & Print
  • McStitched
  • MB14
  • Atomized Art
  • James Martin Apparel
  • Camper NI
  • Brookfab
  • Border Fine Art
  • Tommy and Steve
  • Knox Engineering
  •  Nan & Andrew Stevenson
  • Ivan Porter - Agricultural Supplies
  •  Ivan McCabe
  • Highwaymen MCC
  • Dromara MCR
  • Motoplus Coleraine Kawasaki

Written by: Sam Weedop, #TeamLaffins11 Media Manager / Paddock Assistant

Round 5 - Donington Park GP

The weekend began with Free Practice 1, on a cold but dry track at Donington Park GP. Sam started steady, ending the session in 13th place, 1.7 seconds behind the fastest rider. The weather soon deteriorated for the afternoon's Free Practice 2 session. Sam shot out of the blocks and immediately set a time which was 2.6 seconds faster than anyone else in the opening laps of FP2. Sam eventually ended FP2 in 9th place, but feeling confident of his pace in the wet, with more wet weather forecast for Saturday's qualifying session.

The weather forecast and amber weather warning issued in the local area, meant that qualifying was cancelled for most classes, including our own, and the track action didn't continue past lunchtime. The cancellation of qualifying meant that combined practice times would decide the grid for Sunday's race, meaning Sam would start from 13th place on the grid.

Schedule changes saw the support class warm ups on Sunday morning cancelled, so we went straigh into a 12 lap race on Sunday, having not been on track since FP2 on Friday. 

Starting from 13th on the grid on mixed track conditions, Sam made a great start, crossing the line for the first time in 7th place. Sam spent the next few laps challenging for 6th place before the safety car came out.

He spent two laps behind the safety car before the race got going again. Sam was close in on the riders in front, when unfortunately he tucked the front end at Coppice Corner, meaning Sam took an unwanted trip into the kitty litter, ending the weekend for us.

With the weather having been unpredictable, and the track being mixed wet and dry, there was no correct tyre to go for. So the tyre choice may well have been a factor for us today.

Sam was OK, so that's the main thing that matters.

We want to thank our sponsors for their continued support.

And also send a very special Happy Birthday to Team Mum, Andrea Laffins! 

Round 4 - Oulton Park

The weekend got off to a positive start, with Sam sitting in 11th place overall after Free Practice on Friday. Saturday started off with Qualifying, which saw Sam qualify in 15th place for Race 1 in the afternoon.

RACE 1 - P13

A decent race start saw Sam well in the pack fighting for track position. Running in 13th position, Sam began to drop back from the group as arm pump kicked in and started to hinder any progress. After a lonely few laps Sam came under attack from the rider in 14th, resulting in a good battle for position. Sam held his own and defended 13th place successfully.

Sam was of course happy for a points finish, but he was also frustrated that arm pump meant he lost touch with the group in front.

RACE 2 - P6!

Awesome job by Sam in race 2 to claim a 6th place finish, which is a personal best finish in the Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship.

Starting from 14th on the grid, Sam made a great start, working his way up to 10th place, closely following the leading pack of riders. A red flag meant that the race was restarted with a 6 lap sprint to the finish. At the restart, Sam made a fantastic start, reaching as high as 3rd place for a lap or two. But as fatigue started to creep in and the dreaded arm pump started to kick in, Sam dropped back to 6th place, but was able to bring it home for his first top 10 finish on the Kawasaki 636.

Sam and the team are over the moon with the result, and this shows that we are making progress in the class.

Thank you to all of our sponsors, family, the team and friends for your support - you are all the best!

We would also like to extend our best wishes for a speedy recovery to Simon Reid. 

Round 3 - Silverstone National

Round three got off to a very positive start at Silverstone. We finished Free Practice 1 in a fantastic 6th place, after Sam set his fastest ever lap around the Silverstone National Circuit. In Free Practice 2 we tried a few different settings, but unfortunately they didn't work how we had hoped...but that's what free practice is for!

Qualifying saw Sam's best ever result, finding himself qualify for the race at the head of the second row from 4th position on the grid in Sunday's race. Early in the session we were setting steady lap times, but after a pit stop for a rear tyre change Sam was quickly back in the groove, setting a 0:57.353 which is Sam's best ever lap time around the Silverstone National Circuit and only 0.001 seconds off of a front row start on the grid. Qualifying has previously been a bit of a sticking point for Young Sam, so Saturday was a great boost for the team.

Starting the race from 4th on the grid, Sam made a fantastic start, coming over the line in 2nd place. Over the coming laps, Sam was sat comfortably in the top 6 riders all fighting for the lead. We knew that tyre wear would be an issue so Sam was managing his tyres while keeping with the leading group for a late race push for the podium.

An incident led to the safety car coming out on track. While following the safety car, Sam incurred a gearbox failure meaning he lost 3rd gear and had to retire to pit lane.

This is gutting for Sam and the team, as he was fighting well for the podium places and his best ever race finish, but the technical issue was not to be expected and was out of our hands as the race progressed.

We still have some great positives to take away from the weekend. With a personal best qualifying position of 4th place, a personal best lap time and the fact Sam was fighting in the leading group showing great progress.

We go again at Oulton Park in two weeks time, where we have two races to get some good points!

Thank you to all of our sponsors and friends for supporting Sam and the team so faithfully.

Round 2 - Snetterton 300

A decent start the weekend at Snetterton on Friday, with Sam sitting P14 after the two sessions today, Sam commented: "Not a bad day, but I'm feeling a bit frustrated as I know I can go faster but just couldn't put it together today. But we will chip away and work hard to make sure we get where we should tomorrow in Qualifying."

On Saturday in Qualifying, Sam set his fastest ever lap around Snetterton, a 1:57.426 early in the session, over 0.9 seconds quicker than in Free Practice on Friday. Unfortunately we were unab;e to improve on that time. This meant Sam would start from 14th on the grid in the race on Sunday.

Race day didn't start as we wanted, with a crash in Warm Up. Luckily Sam was OK and the bike wasn't too badly damaged. However, the team were up against the clock to get the repairs made in tike for the race with was only just over an hour later.

Starting from P14 on the grid, Sam ended up P20 after the first lap after being almost collected by an incident at Turn 2 and then outbraking himself at the end of the Bentley Straight, losing 6 places. On the second lap, Sam made up 4 places and then another 2 placeson lap 3 to be back to 14th place. He was battling well, consistently beating his fastest laps of the weekend.

He eventually finished in 11th place, picking up 5 points. This is a good finish given the fact he was sat in 20th after the first lap. Sam beat his own lap record around Snetterton during the race, a 1:56.697 on the very last lap. He was setting a really good pace, matching riders in the top 10 which is a great positive to take away from the weekend, it's just a shame that the first lap saw us drop back to 20th, meaning we lost touch with the top 10.

Sam commented: "I'm happy to have points on the board after a poor start to the race. I enjoyed the battles as I made my way through the field. I know I need to work on my qualifying pace to improve my starting positions. I just want to say a massive thank you to the Team, Tom from G&S Racing and all of our sponsors, we couldn't do this without you!"

We go again at Silverstone in two weeks time on the National Circuit, on the 4th - 6th September.

Round 1 - Donington Park National

The opening round of 2020 got off to a positive start, with Sam sitting in 15th place in the combined times at the end of Free Practice in a field of 36 riders. Qualifying didn't go to plan, however. Sam's first run saw him set a decent base lap with a purple third sector. But after pitting to make a few adjustments, Sam had an off at the Old Hairpin which ended his session early, meaning we weren't able to improve his fastest time set. This meant that we qualified in 16th place on the grid for Sunday's race. 

Sam made a fantastic start to the race, from 16th on the grid he was up to 10th at the end of the first lap in the chasing pack. Over the following laps Sam kept a great pace that was quick enough to fight for 6th place at that stage of the race, setting his fastest lap of the weekend, a 1:10.683 which was 1.2 seconds quicker than his previous fastest lap.

Then unfortunately, Adam Hartgrove had an incident coming into the Roberts Chicane, leading to a collision between himself and Aaron Silvester. Sam was following closely behind meaning as he came to the chicane he was left with no room for maneuver, so ran into Hartgrove's stranded bike and having an off in the gravel trap. Thankfully Adam, Aaron and Sam were relatively unscathed, but all of their races were over.

We have plenty of positives to take from Donington. With the help of Tom Fisher from G&S Racing we have a much better understanding of the new bike and where Sam needs to focus to get even faster. But that being said, Sam has shown he has the pace to run in the top 10 this season, which is exactly where we want to be. Sam was the quickest rider through Sector 3 in both Qualifying and the Race, which is a very encouraging stat for us to take away from the weekend.

We will hopefully be on track again at Snetterton in two weeks for Round 2 of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship.

A massive thank you to the team for their help at Donington, and to our sponsors who have been fantastic as always! Without you guys we wouldn't be able to help Sam follow his dreams.

#TeamLaffins11 #GSRacing

2020 Livery

Official Test - Donington Park

So we had a last minute opportunity to attend the official Bennetts BSB Test at Donington Park on the national track layout.

It was a very productive day and we left Donington happy that we are making progress and getting used to the new bike. With the help of Tom Fisher from G&S Racing, we were trying various different set ups in preparation for round one at Donington Park on the 7th-9th August.

We ended the day 7th in the Superstock 600 class out of 17 STK600 riders in total. We were only 3.6 seconds off of the top time in the Supersport class, whom we were sharing the track with, along with the GP2 class also.

All in all, a very positive day. We can't wait to finally get going in just over a week's time. We wouldn't be here without the ongoing support from our sponsors and the people who so faithfully support Sam as he follows his dreams, so a massive thank you to everyone for coming on this journey with us!

Official Test - Silverstone

2020 is go! Great day at the Silverstone BSB test, where we saw brilliant weather, that was almost too hot for some!

We tried lots of different settings as we learn the new bike. This was our first proper test after the shakedown at Donington a few weeks ago. Very happy with an overall P15 in class finish to the day.

It was great to be back in the BSB paddock and see so many familiar faces again. We can't wait to get started with the season on the 7th - 9th August at Donington Park on the National circuit.

First Test Of 2020

I would like to thank Mark Fisher from G&S Racing for building young Sam a fantastic new race bike. Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R that Sam threw his leg over for the first time yesterday at Donington. I think it would be a under statement to say he loved it... put it like this we're home again and he's still grinning. I would like to thank Tom Fisher from G&S Racing for all his help at Donington with set up. 

Now looking forward to the official BSB test at Silverstone next month with Tom on board this year in the team to hopefully take Sam to the next level in his racing career. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Alan Harper and Sam Weedop and all young Sam's Sponsors and supporters for sticking with us in these terrible times.

G&S Racing, Bradford Haulage, Jordans Concrete, Sloan Transport, Alan and Clare, Andrew and Nan, Ivan and Ivan, TAS, Vital Signs & Print, Automized Art ni, McStiched Leathers, db tiles and bathrooms, Module Road & Race, Coleraine Kawasaki, MB14, James Martin Apparel & Promotion, Camper ni, Spartan Fitness Belfast, Highwaymen M.C.C, Dromara M.C.R.S Club.

And all the people who put their business on Sam's 2020 Race Calendar and everyone that has bought raffle tickets and team wear over the years supporting young Sam in his Racing.

Not long now to wait folks!

Stay Safe everyone!

- Sammy Laffins - Team Manager

21st June 2020

Revised 2020 Calendar

The news we have all been waiting for is here! We finally have some dates to work towards for the 2020 season finally kicking off.

We are set for our first race of the Season at Donington Park National on the weekend of the 7th-9th August...over 9 months since we last raced at Brands Hatch in the 2019 finale!

The current calendar sets us up for 7 races initially, with the possibility of 2 more at a potential UK round of WorldSBK, but this is to be confirmed in the coming weeks/months by the FIM.

We are really looking forward to getting back on track soon.

A MASSIVE thank you to all of our friends and sponsors who continue to support us, even through the pandemic period. Things are finally starting to look more positive.

See you all soon, and in the meantime, stay safe!

#TeamLaffins11 #BSBRestart

Quarantine Q & A

2020 Season Delayed

All motorcycle sport events are suspended until the 31st May 2020...at the earliest. This sees the postponement of Round 2 at Oulton Park and Round 3 at Donington Park National, on top of Round 1 at Silverstone which had already been postponed.

These are strange times that we find ourselves in and the health & wellbeing of the population matters more than the sport we all love.

So follow the government's advice, stay inside and help prevent the spread of Coronavirus Covid-19.

Team Laffins wish good health to all of our friends, fans and followers. Stay safe, and we will hopefully see you later this year!

#TeamLaffins11

2020 Event Calendar

Spartan Fitness Belfast 

Sam's Winter Preparation

                                                                                               Winter Break??

           Not for Sam! He is working hard with the help of Spartan Fitness Belfast to prepare for the 2020 race season.

2019 Round 12 - Brands Hatch GP

Graham Hill Corner- Brands Hatch
Graham Hill Corner- Brands Hatch

Tricky track conditions throughout FP1, FP2 and also in qualifying. Sam went out onto the damp track during Qualifying, consistently improving his lap time as the session went on but unfortunately the track didn't really improve at all, meaning we never got chance to put a dry tyre in any improve further.

On Sunday, unfortunately Sam's race never got past the third corner.  He made a great start, working his way through the grid. At Graham Hill Bend, another rider high sided in front of Sam, he had no room to avoid getting caught up in the incident so ended up hitting the deck. Sam was unhurt in the collision and the damage to the bike wass only cosmetic.

Sadly, Adam Hartgrove #26 was hurt in the incident and all of us at Team Laffins hope at that Adam is okay and heals up quick!

This wasn't how we wanted to end the weekend, racing can be an unforgiving sport at times.

We apologise to all of our sponsors, thank you all for your support throughout this season. We are heading to the Sunflower Trophy races at Bishopscourt on the 25th/26th October for our final event of the season, so we will be looking to end the season on a high!

2019 Rounds 9 & 10 - Oulton Park

Old Hall Corner - Oulton Park
Old Hall Corner - Oulton Park

RACE 1 - P15

Saturday morning saw Sam's second best qualifying of the season in a damp and tricky qualifying session. Sam showed consistent lap times and was confident of being able to challenge in the first of the double-header races at Oulton in the afternoon.

From 15th on the grid Sam got a little bogged down and lost a few places. As he started to settle into a rhythm he clawed back a few places and continued to fight for position. 

It was a hard fought battle that resulted in Sam claiming 15th place and a points finish to add further to his tally for the season. Unfortunately by the time Sam had got into his rhythm the gap to the next places was just too vast.

RACE 2 - P16

A hard fought race for Young Sam from 23rd on the grid (based on Race 1's lap times). He got a great start and was sat in 14th place at the mid way point of the race. However the dreaded arm pump returned for the second half of the race.

It was a hard fought race for Sam that saw him drop back to 16th place in the final stages of the race, narrowly missing out on a second points finish of the weekend.

Here's what Sam said after the race; "had a really good race with a good battle with the riders in the middle of the pack. I'm gutted that the arms started to hurt again that resulted in me dropping out of the points in the last lap."

The team are happy after a consistent weekend for Sam fighting for the points scoring positions, getting more valuable experience on the bike.

We now look forward to the penultimate round of the Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship at Donington Park GP in a few weeks time.

A massive thanks to all of our sponsors for their continued support, without you none of this would be possible!

2019 Round 8 - Cadwell Park

Cadwell Park
Cadwell Park

RACE - P11

From 25th on the grid to an 11th place finish, a difficult weekend topped off nicely!

This weekend did not get off to the best of starts. Sam had struggled throughout Free Practice and Qualifying with arm-pump again, eventually setting a time only good enough for 25th on the grid for Sunday's race. This was a shame as Sam's ideal lap time would have seen him much further up the grid.

On Sunday, after a couple of red flags and restarts, we finally got going over a reduced race distance of 7 laps. Sam made a great start, making up quite a few places in the first lap. As the race endured, Sam continued to make passes.

The race had been declared wet after the second red flag being brought out because of rain, but the track was dry, meaning that we stuck with our dry tyre choice as did many others. Towards the end of the race, the spots of rain began to fall again. This played right into than hands of young Sam as he made up a few more places in the tricky track conditions.

Here's what Sam had to say after the race; "YES! Absolutely brilliant race in iffy conditions. I pushed hard from the start (on each of the three race starts), getting a good start and making up places as I went. The arm pump was playing up again, but the shortened race distance and the red flag breaks made it more manageable. We have had a tough weekend to be honest, we didn't qualify where we wanted to, but I'm absolutely over the moon with this result! A massive thanks to the team and my sponsors for their support!"

This result matches Sam's best result of 11th place this season and adds more points to the championship leaderboard.

The next round is at Oulton Park in September, so we have a few weeks to get prepared.

2019 Round 7 - Thruxton

Thruxton
Thruxton

RACE - P16

A 16th place finish for Sam in the Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship race here at Thruxton BSB.

Having started in 20th on the grid, Sam made a good start, taking a few places and getting himself into points contention. A safety car period meant that the field were brought closer together as Sam was sat in 15th position.

Once we got racing again Sam was fighting for more positions in the group and was setting a blistering pace, matching many of the riders ahead of him and setting his fastest lap of the weekend. However, coming into the chicane on Lap 11, Sam hit a false neutral, resulting in the loss of a few seconds and dropping him into 16th place.

Unfortunately he was unable to recover enough time to get back into the points. Sam struggled with arm pump yet again in the closing stages of the race which meant he couldn't close the gap.

Looking back on the weekend, the team know where we need to work harder to be able to keep going and make more progress. Sam's fastest lap (1:19.7) would have been quick enough for a top 10 start on the grid if it were set in qualifying. So qualifying pace is going to be a key area of focus in the remaining rounds this season.

A massive thanks to all of our sponsors for their continued support this season - we couldn't do this without you!

We now travel home and start preparations as we look forward to Round 8 of the Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship at Cadwell Park in two weeks time.

2019 Round 6 - Snetterton

Coram - Snetterton
Coram - Snetterton


RACE - DNF

An unfortunate end to the weekend. After starting in P17 in the revised grid after the earlier red-flagged race, Sam made a fantastic start to the race up to 12th within the first lap.

His pace looked great, but as he was fighting for another place he almost ran into the back of another rider at Coram Corner on the second lap. Sam grabbed a handful of front brake and lost the front end, bringing a premature end to the race for Team Laffins.

This is a real shame after Sam's weekend started so positively on his Kawaski Ninja ZX-6R, finishing in a fantastic 10th place in FP1.

With regards to the earlier postponed race; our thoughts are with Aaron Clifford #9, his family and his team after he sustained injuries in an incident on the formation lap. We wish Aaron a full and speedy recovery.

Keep fighting Aaron!

2019 Round 5 - Knockhill

Hairpin - Knockhill
Hairpin - Knockhill

RACE - P12

Another fantastic points finish for Sam Laffins #11 at Knockhill in Round 5 of the Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship in association with Black Horse.

A strong weekend for Sam, consistently improved his fastest lap time in each session, closing the gap to the leaders. We ended Friday Free Practice in 14th place and went on to qualify 13th on the grid only 1 second of pole for Sunday's race, which is Sam's best qualifying position of the season so far on the Kawasaki ZX-6R machine. 

With persistent rainfall before the race, we had a wet race declared for the second race in a row. Sam made a steady start, holding his place in the top 15 throughout. As the race progressed and the riders became more confident with the track conditions, Sam began to make moves and earn himself a well deserved 12th place finish. 

Sam said the bike felt good as he got more confident with the conditions as the race went on, he is now looking forward to Snetterton in 3 weeks time.

Thank you to all of our sponsors for their continued support this season!

2019 Round 4 - Brands Hatch

Druids Corner - Brands Hatch
Druids Corner - Brands Hatch

RACE - P12 

Round 4 saw Sam's first ever experience of a wet race on a 600cc motorcycle. Despite this curve ball Sam made great progress from 24th on the grid to finish a fantastic 12th place at the chequered flag.

During Free Practice sessions and Qualifying, Sam made steady progress, learning the track on the bigger bike to the Standard Motostar bike of last season, improving his fastest lap time in each session, while bringing down the gap between himself and the leaders.

During the race, Sam made a good start, riding smooth and keeping focus. As the race went on, Sam's confidence grew lap by lap, saying that the bike felt great after making some changes after the damp Warm-up session in the morning. He continued to overtake riders, moving up the field to eventually take 12th place on the final lap, narrowly missing out on 11th place.

He said he was over the moon with the result. He was setting lap times comparable to many of the top 10 and had the pace to run with them had he not got stuck at the start of the race. Out of the 4 races this season, Sam has finished 3 of those in the top 15 spots, taking home 10 points this season so far. The team are all thrilled with this result and the amazing progress Sam has made in the opening rounds in his debut Pirelli National Superstock 600 season. 

A massive thanks to all of our sponsors for their continued support. And a special thanks to Sam's father; Sammy Laffins as race day was on Father's Day, as without him, none of this would be possible!

2019 Round 3 - Donington Park National

Donington Park National
Donington Park National

RACE - P15

A points finish in Sam's third race in the Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship.

The weather luckily managed to hold out and remain dry for the duration of the Stock 600 race.

A fantastic start saw Sam up from 22nd on the grid to as high as 13th within a couple of laps. Sam faced a good battle with the riders around him, changing places regularly. Race pace was consistent for the majority of the race, until the dreaded arm pump decided to turn up and slow proceedings down in the closing stages of the race.

However, Sam dug deep and fought hard for 15th place at the chequered flag and a well earned points finish! Given how difficult the start of the weekend was for us, we are thrilled at the progress made through this weekend.

We now look forward to Round 4 at Brands Hatch on the weekend of the 14th - 16th June!


2019 Round 2 - Oulton Park

Druids Corner - Oulton Park
Druids Corner - Oulton Park

RACE - DNF

With warm up cancelled this morning due to track contamination and the subsequent cleaning of the track, followed by rain showers throughout the morning meant for tricky track conditions. With a damp track and a drying line the team had a tough decision to make for the race tyre choice. We changed the wet rear tyre for a dry option on the grid but decided to keep the wet front in.

Sam made a fantastic start, making progress up to 16th place from 21st within just 3 laps. But with the track drying so quick, the front wet gave way at Shell Oils Corner meaning Sam unfortunately slid out of the race on lap 4.

This is a real shame as Sam was comfortable on the bike and was keeping a great pace, looking likely to keep progressing through the field, challenging for more championship points.

After all, this is all part of the learning curve for Sam, with this race being only Sam's second in the Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship.

We now look forward to Donington Park National in a few weeks time, where we aim to come back stronger and keep making strides forward

2019 Round 1 - Silverstone National

Silverstone National
Silverstone National

RACE - P11

Sam finished an incredible 11th place, scoring points in his debut race in the Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship.

The race saw young Sam set his best lap time of the weekend (58.0secs) and set a very consistent race pace. The team are thrilled with the progress Sam has made this weekend, and are already looking forward to Oulton Park in two weeks time!

The race was initially red flagged due to an incident at the start. Our thoughts are with the riders & teams involved.

2019 Pre-season Testing

Well everyone, that's the pre-season testing all finished for young Sam on his ZX6R Kawasaki. Four days at Cartagena in Spain with no limits and the Official BSB test at Silverstone Both tests went really well and now looking forward to the first round at Silverstone ( National ) on the 19th - 21st April.

Pre-season test at Cartagena
Pre-season test at Cartagena