Luca Wilkinson and Aleisha Layton are competing in the Team Green Junior Cup championship
Rising motorcycle racing stars, Luca Wilkinson and Aleisha Layton, are both competing their first forays into competitive motorcycle racing, in the form of Bemsee’s Team Green Junior Cup race series.
Both riders are utilising Kawasaki Ninja 400 motorcycles, complete with EBC Brakes’ GPFAX brake pads and X-Series discs (front) and HH pads and Contour discs (rear).
Following a great start at Brands Hatch, the duo next found themselves at South Wales’ Pembrey Circuit, with both achieving some of the best finishes of their respective careers so far.
The Team Green Junior Cup – Part of the British Motorcycle Racing Club (‘Bemsee’) – allows riders between 13 and 18 years of age, providing a level playing field to illuminate the quality of the riders, not the investment in, or calibre of the machines they ride. To achieve this, the class is restricted to un-tuned production motorcycles.
You can read both riders’ race reports below in their respective team’s own words.
Luca Wilkinson
“On Friday we did a track walk with the one and only Andy Wales – Luca’s instructor – and Aleisha Layton. In Friday’s practice, we chipped away at the times with lots of learning thanks to Andy.
“On Saturday, it was straight into qualifying. Not a great pace, but managed P4 in the very last lap and within 0.2 seconds off pole.
“Race 1 – I got the holeshot, but dropped to third halfway through the lap. Settled in and felt good hanging on to the second-place rider. Unfortunately, on lap 4, I was hit from behind and lost three places. With a bent shock adjuster, I couldn’t get my foot on the peg properly. Brought it home 5th for some valuable points.
“Race 2 – Starting 7th and another great start. I was again sitting in third but the group were all together. Red flag so a restart, followed by a four-lap dash. Not a great start and ended up on the outside of turn 1 on the still-wet kerbs. Dropped down to 6th, the battle was on. Managed to work my way back up to 4th and get the fastest lap so pole for Sunday’s race.
“Race 3 – Straight into the lead until lap 5 where he dropped down to 4th. Time to dig in. More laps of dicing, with backmarkers playing their part & a fair few place changes. Into the final lap and 3 changes for the lead ending in 1st at the line by just 0.002secs. So close he didn’t even know until we told him in the pits.
“Race 4 – Starting 4th, great start into the lead but race red-flagged on lap 5. Restart running in 1st but with two laps to go I hit a false neutral coming into turn 1 and dropped to 4th. Last lap and it was three abreast going into turn 1, and I almost ended up on the grass, but had the inside line full ‘block pass’. So into the lead and set my personal PB and first time into the 1:06s – an amazing 1st-place finish.”
Aleisha Layton
“Where do I start?! During Friday practice, we built up our pace gradually and were in the 1:08s which I was very happy with.
“Qualifying: the track was pretty busy and I just couldn’t get a clean flying lap in, so had to settle for P10.
“Race 1: I managed to get amongst the leading group, due to another great start which put me in P6 straight away. I managed to get up to P3 with one lap to go, but ended losing out and settled for P4. But this was a race I was very happy with.
“Race 2: The weather was a mixed bag most of the day, so dad tried a new setup and let’s just say it didn’t work… but another lesson learnt!
“Race 3: We woke up with the sun shining, so we went and did a track walk. Off the lights, I got my usual good start. But I just struggled to get going after that. I can actually say this was my worst race to date. This is something that’s been noted and I must work on.
“Race 4: After a weekend that basically didn’t go as smoothly as I liked or expected, this lit the fire for the last one before the journey home. I ended in P5 but was with the leading group and only 1.4 seconds off from the leader. So was super happy with this. I finally sort of woke up and set my PB of the weekend with a 1:07.4, which I believe was the second fastest of the weekend.
“I enjoyed the weekend but it was a weekend we learnt from the most. My first wet qualy. My first dry race which ended up full wet, on dry tyres. So, lots to take in. To me, all these new things are another step in the right direction and I’ll carry on giving it my best to get to where I need to be.”
GPFAX Pads
EBC’s GPFAX Sintered Race Brake Pads are for RACE ONLY use. This is a blend of brake pad that has higher friction and far better grip than any other brake product on the market.
X-Series Floating Discs
Since their introduction, EBC’s ultra-lightweight floating motorcycle rotors have become one of the worlds best selling lightest and best performing discs available for all modern sport bikes.
