2015 SEASON REVIEW
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Luke Stapleford
Sam Hornsey
Last year, Luke topped the Speedy fastest lap league on his way to sixth overall in the championship. With four podium finishes at Oulton Park, Knockhill, Silverstone and Cadwell Park. His favourite track is Currently Assen.
Last year, Sam rode for the Anvil hire Tag triumph team in the British Supersport class. He finished the season in 11th place overall, Sam favours the mixed conditions as he feels confident with the bike sliding around. His favourite track is Donington Park.
Rider #8
Rider #94
Jason Brown
Paul Curtis
Jack Blake Ford
Terry Williams
Jason is the data man, he analyses all the data for both Luke and Sam. His job is to help the bikes and the riders go faster. He analyses everything from ride height to brake pressure. Jason works for Land Rover during the week, where he devlops the electronics for the cars.
Paul is a welder/ fabricator by trade but on a race weekend he is with the team as a mechanic for Sam. Paul is an experienced race mechanic having previously worked for the likes of Scott Smart. He is Rikki’s father and a good friend of Pete’s.
As the entertainments officer Jack organises activities for the evenings of race meetings, this includes everything from organising go kart tracks to booking tables for dinner. He is also the pass controller, meaning it is his job to keep track of the passes that the team are allocated.
Terry is the team’s Photographer; in fact nearly all the photographs in this magazine were taken and edited by Terry. He also has to organise all the tyres on Luke’s side of the garage, this means changing all the tyres over the race weekend and making sure that the wheels are ready to race.
Electronics
Mechanic
Entertainments Officer
Photographer
Tristan Palmer
Michael Randall
Dean Brown
Rikki Curtis
Tristan manages the team, as well as being Luke’s mechanic. On a race weekend you will find Tris maintaining the bike and making any setup changes that Luke requires. Tris is also a former British superbike racer himself.
Michael is Luke’s second mechanic, and like Tristan you will find him making adjustments to the number eight machine during a race weekend. Michael works for the McLaren F1 team throughout the week as an assembly and test technician.
Dean is Sam’s crew chief/ mechanic, this is Dean’s first year working for a racing team. His role is to maintain the bike over a race weekend and he will also make any changes that Sam feels are necessary.
Rikki is Sam’s second mechanic. His role is to assist Dean and again help maintain the 94 machine. Rikki has started riding his own Triumph 675 on a few track days. Who knows in a couple of years’ time he could be the racer.
Richard Brendish Rich Griffin Suspension Technician
Personnel trainer
Pete Stapleford
Scott Gower
With the team switching from K-tech to Ohlins. Richard is in the team to help with the suspension set up for both Luke and Sam. His work has really helped the riders feel comfortable on the bikes. He works for the Ohlins company and helps many riders and teams on a race weekend.
Rich, or otherwise known as Griff is Luke’s personnel trainer. He is a Bike enthusiast and will come to every race that he can, when he does he acts as the onsite Physio making sure that both Luke and Sam are fit and healthy, so that they can perform to the best of their ability.
Pete is the team owner, and Luke’s father. Pete owns and runs the Profile logistics company which is obviously the main sponsor to the team. On a race weekend he oversees the whole team, but he has put together a squad that he knows he can trust allowing him to enjoy the racing.
Scott is the media man, he makes the videos following a race weekend, as well as keeping the Profile racing social media up to date, with live updates accross Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. Scott is also in charge of organising the tyres on Sam’s side of the garage.
Team manager
Mechanic
Crew chief
Team owner
Mechanic
Multi media coordinator
Know Your Riders Name: Luke Stapleford Age: 24 Location: Hinckley How did you get into racing? I’ve always been into some form of motorsport. I started off karting and then at the age of 16 I started bike racing. What’s your most memorable racing moment? When I won the championship I think, when I was karting, that was a good moment. But also when I finished second in the stock 600 championship in 2010. I only missed out by a point, so that was a pretty good season.
What’s your favourite track? After last year I’ve not really got a favourite track to be honest, I like them all. Assen is probably one of my favourite at the minute, I like Donington also. There are several good tracks but probably Assen stands above the rest. What’s your least favourite track? Umm Thruxton, it’s got to be Thruxton, I’m struggling there. I don’t know why, it’s just a track that I’ve always struggled there, it’s something with the circuit I just don’t get on there. Who is the hardest worker in the team?
Ooo this is a hard question. Tris it’s got to be Tristan. He’s non stop he will do what ever needs to be done, he’s flat out all the time. Who is the most annoying in the team? Ahh that’s got to be jack, that goes with out saying I think every one is of the same opinion. If you weren’t racing, what would you be doing? Umm I don’t know that’s a tricky one. I think I would just be getting my head down with work to be honest. If I wasn’t racing I’d actually have to do a bit of work.
Name: Samuel Hornsey Age: 21 Location: Bucknell, Shropshire How did you get into racing? I started motocross at around the age of 8 had a bit of an accident which scared me off so I packed it in. I had a year out , went and did some mini motoing and stuff, because my dad used to race back in the day and it’s just escalated from there, and here we are. What’s your most memorable racing moment? My most memorable racing moment is for sure when I’ve been at the worlds. When I’ve done the wildcards like last year we qualified 10th in the rain and we just missed out on the points in the race. What’s your favourite track? Umm definitely Donington park. Like I say, I’ve done all my World Supersport races there I’ve always gone well there. I just know the place. There are a few others like Assen and Snetterton but Donington is in my heart my favourite track. I think it’s just because it’s a real fast flowing track that really suits my riding style. What’s your least favourite track? Umm it’s got to be Thruxton. Being a car track
it’s bumpy and fast. There’s being fast and then there is being dangerous fast. And that track to me is just, nah I don’t like it. Who is the hardest worker in the team? I’ve got to say Dean being my crew chief. It’s his first year being a mechanic. He’s definitely my main right hand man in this team. Him and Rikki really work well together. Who is the most annoying in the team? Definitely Jack. Fat Jack is definitely the most annoying person in this team. We love him but he can get on your nerves. If you weren’t racing what would you be doing.? I don’t know, well what would a normal 21 year old do. Party, spend your money on cars but I don’t know but as a sport I probably would go into four wheels, if it wasn’t bikes I would definitely do karting or rally cross, something like that.
Pre season “Slowly but surely we’re getting there.”
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re-season for the profile racing team was successful, both the riders are comfortable on the bike and are going fast. Things are looking promising for the 2015 season. For Luke Stapleford it was business as usual as he is already established in the team and he knows the bike inside and out. The major change this year is the new Ohlins suspension, there were no dramas, it was just a case of finding a set up that he was comfortable with. Then making the minor tweaks which would enable him to get the most out of the bike. This didn’t take too long as he was able to set a personal best lap time in sunny Spain on only the 3rd day of testing. However, for the newcomer Sam Hornsey he had a lot more to get used to coming into the 2015 season. It is a new bike to Sam, even though he was still on board a triumph in 2014, Profile actually use the older model so it meant that Sam had to take some time just to get comfy on the bike. These were all minor changes but they are all important as they wanted Sam to be 100% comfortable in terms of riding position, before they started to change the set up too much. Some things that the team changed were the seat foam and the foot pegs, just so that Sam felt comfortable on the bike before he started to chase those lap times. The team did manage to get a lot of laps under their belt in pre-season
they had two days at Mallory Park, four days at Cartagena in Spain and then the official BSB test at Donington Park. The first day at Mallory was a few days before the team headed south to Spain. This day the team just wanted to check everything over and make sure that the bikes were running smoothly, this was just so that they didn’t have any dramas when they got to Spain and they could just get straight to business. This day at Mallory was a great starting point with both the riders putting in over 60 laps and just started the ball rolling. The team then went to Cartagena for what they would consider as the main test. The team spent four days on track and it gave both Stapleford and Hornsey the time on the bike that they needed to perfect their set ups. Once Luke got the suspension where it needed to be for him, he just got focused on getting his head where it needed to be. He did this with great succes setting a personal best lap time on the 3rd day, which was almost a second faster than he had ever gone before. For Sam it was again a case of getting comfortable, he also had the added difficulty of having to learn the track. However, he kept his head down and kept pushing and it all started to come together. “Slowly but surely we’re getting there” Sam said, after you could see that he was coming to terms with the new bike and new team. He also had a great few days in Spain after smashing his target set by team owner Pete Stapleford. All he wanted was
for Sam to be able to lap consistently in the low 1:36s but by the end of the test he was able to consistently lap in the mid to low 1:35s, which is a great lap and is even faster than some of the superbikes that where at the same test. After the success of Spain they wanted to have another day at Mallory to see how things improved. This time round they both managed over 80 laps so they certainly weren’t shy of time on the bike. Luke managed to do consistent low 51s which again is super-fast on a 600 around Mallory and he looked comfortable and ready for the season to start. The same for Sam, he looked fast and comfortable on the bike and he was able to break in to the 51 second lap time which is a personal best for him, this also shows he is ready. The official test at Donington was tricky, both the riders were fast in both the wet and dry but there were too many riders on track and finding the space proved difficult. Then on top of that the wind was catching a lot of people out, so there were a lot of yellow flags being thrown. The wind even got the better of Hornsey in the final session as he came up the hill into Coppice, the wind caught the bike and he tucked the front. Anyway these things happen and he walked away. Both Luke and Sam are healthy, and fast and ready for round one.
/Ohlins racing
/Ohlins racing
w w w . o h l i n s . c o m
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rofile Racing got off to a terrific start to the season as Luke Stapleford secured his first race win in the Supersport class, the race was shortened due to a red flag.
The weekend started off with both Stapleford and Hornsey setting a strong pace in practice, proving that they are fast enough to win. Qualifying was a tense battle for pole, with Stapleford and rookie Kyle Ryde constantly swapping times. Hornsey had good speed and was fighting for top five starting spot. In the closing stages he managed to get a good lap in and posted a 1:32.340. This put Sam in 4th place temporarily as Dixon jumped up the field into 3rd which pushed Sam down to 5th. Luke managed to get the better of Ryde and on his second to last lap, he posted a 1:31.717, which was two tenths faster than anyone and was good enough to secure the top starting spot. At the start of the sprint race both Stapleford and Hornsey got a good jump off the line. However, the Gearlink Kawasaki’s were the bikes on the move and Glen Irwin made the move at the top of Craner curves to take the lead off Stapleford. Meanwhile Sam moved into 4th and was in a battle with Dixon and Reid. The first two laps were intense with the top group constantly swapping places. However, at the end of the second lap there was a crash at the Foggy esses, and a lot of gravel was sprayed across the track which bought out the safety car. The marshals were not able to clear the debris fast enough and the laps were just counting down so this meant that race control had no option but to red flag the race. This then meant there would be a 6 lap dash for the line, and the grid would be determined by the running order at the end of the previous lap. So this meant that Stapleford
would start from second behind Irwin and Hornsey would start from 7th. The race started and again the top group were fighting hard and with it only being a six lap race everyone wanted to be at the front. Unlucky for Sam, whilst running at the tail end of the front group, he made a costly mistake and ran on at the chicane forcing him to take to the grass and drop down the field. Meanwhile, at the front Stapleford knew he had to pull the pin and get out of the fight. He made his move with a few laps left and managed to build enough of a gap to run his own race. He crossed the line ahead of the charging Jake Dixon to take what he hopes is the first of many victories. Sam managed to battle his way back to 11th place to score some valuable points. With Dixon setting the fastest lap of the sprint race he would start from pole with Stapleford 2nd and Hornsey in 7th. Luke got a great start and got the holeshot, he really went for it and tried to get a gap from the start. Meanwhile, Sam was staying with the front group and was pushing hard, unfortunately he crashed coming out of Redgrate and that was the end of the weekend for him. Luke was running a quick pace and it looked like Dixon was the only one that could run the same speed. Then
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on lap six Dixon made the move at the old hairpin and the two started to charge away from the pack gapping over a second on Ryde. Then on lap 10 coming into the Melbourne loop Luke made a mistake and hit neutral allowing Ryde and Irwin to come past and Dixon to have a substantial lead at the front. Luke made quick work to get back into second and set his sights on closing the gap, but was unable to do so as he was having to defend the rookie Kyle Ryde. Luke crossed the line in second to take the joint lead in the championship with Dixon into round 2.
If someone had have offered me at the start of the weekend a pole, my first Supersport win, a 2nd and the Championship Lead I think I’d have took it!
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The team now look forward to building on a strong weekend as the series moves onto Brands Hatch in two weeks time.
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rofile racing had another great weekend at round two of the British Supersport championship, with Luke Stapleford extending his lead in the championship as he battles hard with youngster Kyle Ryde in an exhilarating feature race. The weekend started strong for the team, in the first two practice sessions both Stapleford and Hornsey got to grips with the track and started to feel comfortable. They both set fast lap times that they knew would put them at the front for when qualifying came around. Both the riders made changes to their machines to try and get the full potential out of the bike, these changes were mainly suspension tweaks as they felt they wanted the bike to handle a little better in the corners. When it was time for qualifying, the
pace was high and Sam and Luke felt strong and capable of putting it on the front row for the sprint race. They both went out and set personal best lap times, and were breaking the lap record set by Alastair Seeley the previous year. Sam Hornsey set a time of 46.699 and thought that had to be good enough for front row; however it was only good enough for 5th place and would start from the middle of the second row. Luke Stapleford’s thoughts were similar when he put in a time of 46.368 he thought that he had pole position in the bag but in fact both Irwin and Ryde would go faster so Luke would start in 3rd place. The Sprint race was a great ride for both the riders, both made a good start and were 3rd and 4th going round the first corner. The front three consisting of Ryde, Irwin and
Stapleford set a blistering pace and managed to get away at the front. In the meantime, Hornsey was stuck in a four way battle for 4th place. He was sat comfortable in 7th behind Wilson, Rispoli and Dixon. Then on Lap 9 Wilson ran wide going into Druids hairpin, Sam did not need a second invitation to sneak through on the inside into sixth. He then stuck with Dixon and Rispoli for the remainder of the race but struggled to find a way through. Then on the last lap Rispoli went for the overtake on Dixon but crashed in the process which granted 5th position to Hornsey matching his best ever finish in the Supersport class. However, while all this was going on, at the front Ryde had managed to build a gap at the front which left Irwin and Stapleford to scrap over the two remaining podium positions. Luke was on the
“The weekend went well up until the feature race. We were strong throughout the weekend and had a good result in race 1!” Sam Hornsey
tail of the Gearlink Kawasaki the whole way round the lap but he just couldn’t find a way past and would finish the race in 3rd. For the feature race, Luke would start from 2nd on the grid and Sam 7th. Luke got a great start and would lead round the first corner, then going up the hill to Druids Irwin lunged up the inside forcing Luke wide which allowed Rispoli through as well. Meanwhile, Sam made a good start and was holding his position. Then, again at Druids Wilson went up the inside and unfortunately Sam went down and was so unlucky after a strong finish the previous day in the sprint race. Luke was sat in 3rd and knew he needed
to get to the front fast because of the pace that Ryde had, he knew that he would be hard to beat. So he got to work and at the start of the third lap, Luke dives up the inside of Rispoli into 2nd and set his sights on Glen Irwin, he then made an identical move just one lap later and moves into the lead. Stapleford then put the hammer down and tried to build as much of a gap as he could. At the midpoint in the race, Ryde was in second and Luke had a one second lead and was setting a good pace lapping in the mid 46 seconds. However, Kyle Ryde was lapping in the low 46s and was catching. Taking little chunks out of the lead,
lap after lap Ryde was closing in and Stapleford was just trying to stay consistent and not make any mistakes. He knew that it would be hard to pass as they were lapping with similar times. Coming onto the last lap Luke’s lead had gone and Ryde was right there, he then was pushing a little too hard and ran wide in the first turn which gave Luke enough space to keep him safe for the remainder of the lap. Luke said “It was the hardest race to date! I gave my all in that one after a real tough weekend.” Luke now leads the championship by 12 points as the series moves on to Oulton Park in two weeks’ time.
OULTON PARK
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ulton Park proved to be a tough weekend for the Profile race team. A full rollercoaster ride with the team experiencing the great highs of race wins and lows of crashing and DNFs. The mixed emotions started straight from the start with Stapleford continuing his great form and showing his love for the Oulton Park circuit as he sets a good pace in free practice one on the Saturday morning. Unfortunately for Sam, he went down in free practice as he was accelerating out of the chicane at the bottom of Clay hill, he got on the power a touch too soon and high sided on the exit. The weather became an issue for free practice two, five minutes before the start of the session the heavens opened and soaked the track. However, with the weather still being a worry for the sunday sprint race both Luke and Sam had to try and get some sort of wet testing in just in case. Sam finished the session in 8th place and Luke, who favours the dry conditions, was 16th fastest. Sunday morning the track was damp, however it dried up just in time for the Supersport qualifying. Stapleford took a few laps to get up to speed but once he did, there was no way that he was going to be caught. He led most of the session with at least half a second to spare. Luke’s fastest time was 1:38.200 and eventually the gap did close, but it wasn’t enough and Luke would take his second pole of the year ahead of Jake Dixon and Glen Irwin. Hornsey on the other hand, was having some major bike issues and was losing revs mid corner, which was impacting his exit speed dramatically. This was an issue the team could not fix during the short session. This meant that Sam had to do the best that he could on a slower machine. He managed to put in a time of 1:41.188 this was a time that would place him 19th on the grid and left him with plenty of work
to do in the 12 lap sprint race. The sprint race started strong for Luke Stapleford has he grabbed the holeshot. However, Dixon made a move up the inside of turn two and Irwin followed pushing Luke dow into third. He then regrouped and started to work forward making quick work of Irwin as he surged up the inside of the last corner, he then set his sights on Dixon and did the exact same move just one lap later. He then found himself leading the race and tried to move away. Meanwhile further back in the pack, Hornsey was doing just what he needed to do after a poor qualifying. He was moving forward and battling through the pack but also trying not to take any risks, as he knew that he needed some good points to put on the board. He was running just outside the top 10 which was a good ride considering his starting position. Then at the beginning of lap 10 Sam
tipped into turn two and as he did the engine in the Triumph 675 went bang in a spectacular fashion. He was lucky to stay on the machine as he almost crashed on the spilt oil but he managed to direct the bike onto a slip road and bring it to a safe stop. The ploom of smoke and puddles of oil meant the officials had no choice but to red flag the race and because the race was over three quarters distance the result would stand. This meant that Stapleford took the victory as he was able to keep Irwin behind him for the length of the race. Stapleford extends his championship lead to 21 points over Ryde. Monday mornings warm up and Stapleford was flying, setting lap times that matched his race times from the day before. He was pushing a little too hard and tucked the front in the same corner that Sam had his crash in the first practice session. So this gave the team just a little more work
to do before the feature race. The start of the feature race was almost identical to the sprint race, with Stapleford dropping to 3rd at the start. Howeve he then made the same moves to get to the lead, it was clear that Lodge corner was his favourite place to pass. This time Irwin was putting up more of a fight, Irwin was able to get the better of Luke at Island bend on a number of occasions, but Stapleford would bounce straight back at Lodge corner and would lead over the line lap after lap. It was looking to be an epic battle for the win, then on lap 8 Luke’s bike developed an issue and caused him to retire from the race. We believe it was an issue with the clutch that caused him to head back to the garage. Meanwhile, Hornsey was having a strong ride in 7th after starting down in 11th. He was having a good battle with Ben Wilson however, he was just too good on the brakes for Sam to have a good go for the overtake, he would bring the bike home in 7th and finish his first feature race of the year. So overall it was a weekend with ups and downs, Hornsey got some valuable points on the board in the feature race and learnt a lot. Stapleford looked set to take his first double victory but it just wasn’t to be. The team now have a good long break to regroup and sort any issues with the bikes and look forward to round 4 at Snetterton.
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ound six of the World Supersport championship saw the series come to England and the beautiful riders’ circuit of Donington Park, having visited the track already in the British Supersport series, the Profile Race team decided to see how they match up to the World’s best Supersport
riders. Coming into the weekend there was no pressure on both Luke Stapleford and Sam Hornsey they were both hoping for a strong top 15 result and push for the top 10 if they could. The first practice session both Stapleford and Hornsey and had good pace and ended the session fifth and sixth fastest. However, the team were trying not to get too excited as they had a good set up having raced the circuit a month ago, so they expected the championship contenders to find more speed as the weekend went on. The speed of the competition did increase but so did the speed of Luke and Sam. Both riders were setting faster lap times than they had ever done before in the second practice session, which ended with Luke in 3rd place and Sam 9th however, sam did lose a chunk of time in the session due to a small crash at Mclean’s corner, a crash that he said was an “amateur mistake” as he clipped the kerb >>
on the entry to the corner which caused him to tuck the front. Going into the third and final session is where the team would really find out what pace the other riders would have as everyone tries to perfect their set up for qualifying. In this session the pace was high and both Stapleford and Hornsey were breaking their personal lap records as they both looked comfortable on the bikes and got used to the softer stickier tyre that they are not allowed to use on the British series. Luke ended the session 4th and Sam 6th so now the team knew that they had the pace to run inside the top ten and this then became their goal for qualifying and the race. Qualifying came around and the team was pushing hard knowing that a front row start was possible as the time wound down Luke was situated in 6th place for a lot of the session with Sam in 12th. Then when the last set of tyres went into the bike the fuel was low, it was now or
never for them to put in the lap times and make that final surge for the front row. Sam put in a fast lap and Jumped up to 5th then Luke matched the time and the two were swapping places on the timing screen. Then Sam put in his best ever lap of a 1:30.837 a time that would have put him on pole by a second if it was at the British Supersport round. Luke then managed to put in a hot lap of 1:30.627 this was good enough to put him 4th on the grid and Sam would start from 7th. 3rd to 7th was spilt by just 0.3 of a second so it was unbelievably close. Race day, it was slightly strange to only have to prepare for the one race for the Supersport class because in the British series you get two races but on the world scene you only get the one. Luke had a few issues with the bike throughout the weekend and the team decide to change the engine as they could not figure out what the problem was. The weather was a major concern for them, just
before the pit lane opened the rain very lightly started to come down, so it was a mad scramble in the garage to get the right tyres ready to go to the grid. Luckily the rain stopped and didn’t affect the track. At the start of the race Luke got a good start and moved up into third, Sam didn’t get quite as good of a jump and got passed by the regular brit Gino Rea. It didn’t take him long to recover though as going up through Schwantz curve he made a brave move on the inside and regained his 7th position. Luke meanwhile was struggling to get up to full speed, he went from 3rd and dropped to 6th. It was the two Profile Racing triumphs line astern then Sam made the move on Luke, but Luke came straight back by and started to set some good lap times as he started to chase Jacobson. At one point he was the second fasted on the tack and right on the Kawasaki’s rear wheel. However, as the laps ticked by he was unable to make the
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Awesome weekend at WSBK doing world supersport well happy with my 6th place.
The best racing weekend of my career. Sam Hornsey
Luke Stapleford
pass because Jacobson was benefiting from the traction control and the other electronic aids that Luke did not have on his bike. This meant that he had to settle for sixth place which is still a very strong finish in his first attempt at world championships. While all this was going on with Stapleford, Hornsey was locked in an intense battle with Rea. He was trying to hold him off but again as the laps went on he couldn’t keep him behind. However, Sam then matched the pace and kept the pressure on Gino which meant that he had to continue to push hard and this showed as on the final lap and the final corner he ran on, gaving Sam the opportunity to make the pass and cross the line in 7th place. “It was the best racing weekend of my career.” The team now look forward to getting back into their usual routine and hopefully carry this confidence onto the rest of the British Championship.
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ollowing a successful test at the Snetterton circuit, the Profile racing team were feeling confident ahead of round four of the British Supersport championship. The confidence was clear when practice got underway; Stapleford set the pace early on and was fastest for most of the session. However, he knew that he had more speed, but the grip levels on the track where not to the same level as they were during the test. With this in mind he was not comfortable on the bike, but felt like he needed to wait until free practice two to see what changes needed to be made. Meanwhile Hornsey had a good session, he was also complaining about the lack of grip but was still able to set the 6th fastest lap time just 0.623 off Luke’s time. With the track starting to rubber in the second practice session was a lot better for lap times with Luke setting a time that was faster than the lap record. He was very comfortable on the bike and this meant that no major changes needed to be done and Luke could just focus on the race pace. Sam also had a much better session, he really felt comfortable with the higher grip levels and could really push. He set his fastest and personal best lap time of 1:51.223 towards the end of the session on a tyre that had done at least 8 laps. So heading into qualifying, the team knew that both bikes could be on the front row. The threat of rain meant that the pace was very high right from the off. The battle for pole was tense with Kyle Ryde and Luke Stapleford battling hard and swapping places lap after lap. Then when the flag dropped Luke’s time had him in pole position with a time of 1:50.244. However, Ryde put in a great lap with his last lap of the session to go faster by 0.122 of a second. Sam had set a good time early on in the session and was sitting in 3rd after completing five laps.
Then on his sixth lap he set a personal best first sector then was pushing just a little too hard and went down and had to just watch the rest of the session. Luckily, his time was fast enough to hold down his 3rd position and Sam would have his first front row start this season. With both Profile Racing bikes on the front row, the start of the sprint race was looking good. Luke grabbed the holeshot and lead into the first corner, Ryde slotted into 2nd and Horsey held position in 3rd. Then, going into the Montreal hairpin, Ryde slid up the inside on Stapleford. It did not take long for the front two to get away, it was clear that the battle for the win would be between those two. Meanwhile, Sam found himself in a tough battle with the two traction control Yamahas and Jake Dixon on his Smiths triumph. The group was swapping positions corner after corner, at the mid-way point Hornsey
had a bad lap and dropped to the back of the pack behind Rispoli’s Yamaha. Sam got a good drive out of the last corner and was in the slip stream going up the start straight, he went for the move into Riches and out braked himself, tucking the front in the very fast first corner. He slid across the grass and luckily he got up uninjured, just a little sore. At this point the battle at the front was close, the only time either rider would pass was due to a mistake from the other. On the 8th lap, Luke hit neutral on corner entry and he had to sit up mid corner, this allowed Ryde to pass and it looked like it would be tough for Stapleford to get the lead back. Then on the last lap he dived up the inside in the hairpin and took the lead. He then managed to hold Ryde off for the rest of the lap and took his fourth victory of the season.
Stapleford set a new lap record and would start the feature race from pole position ahead of Ryde. Because of Hornsey’s crash, he was only able to set the 9th fastest time and would start from the back of the third row. However, Sam had an issue with the front brake on the out lap and it proved to be something that the team couldn’t fix. He had to pull out of the race, this put an end to a bad weekend for Sam. Luke got another great start and led while Ryde dropped to fourth. Then down the back straight Andy Reid and Ryde got a great slip stream and this demoted Luke to 3rd. Reid made a big mistake on the entrance to start straight, this meant that the top group was able to simply drive past the Irishman. So now it was Stapleford and Ryde at the front and it looked to be the same as the previous sprint race. This time however, Ryde put the hammer down
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and managed to pull a one and a half second lead. But with two laps to go Stapleford was not going to give up and gave his all to close the gap, he did just that and was right on the tail going into the last lap. Going into the second corner Ryde took a wide line so Luke saw his opportunity and went for the pass, however he left his braking too late and tucked the front, then the sliding bike took out his competitor who was just inches away. This meant that the two championship rivals would not finish the race, instead the victory was gifted to Glen Irwin. The series now moves north over the Scottish border to Knockhill where Sam hopes to have a better weekend and score some solid points. Luke also hopes to extend his 5 point lead in the championship.
It was a good weekend, shame about Race2. I never meant for that to happen, I gave 110%. it was a racing incident in my eyes but I am sorry to Kyle Ryde! Roll on knockhill! Luke Stapleford
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ound 5 of the British Supersport championship saw the series move north beyond the border to the national motorsport centre of Scotland, Knockhill. The Profile team arrived ready for a strong weekend, this showed in the first practice session as Luke Stapleford meant business and lead for most of the session, his fastest lap was a 49.933 just 0.3seconds off the lap record which he holds from 2014. Meanwhile, Sam Hornsey had a good strong session ending 6th fastest with a 50.332 just 0.4 seconds off Luke’s time. With both riders feeling fairly comfortable with their bikes, only minor changes were made going into the second practice session. So this meant it was just up to the riders to
go out and get comfortable and more confident with the track and bikes. They did just that with both riders going faster. Luke setting a time of 49.789 and topping the time sheets once again. Sam managed to get up to 5th fastest with a 50.249 ahead of Kyle Ryde. In the early hours of Saturday morning, storms struck the circuit and damaged the track. This put a delay on the days proceedings and meant that the Supersport class wouldn’t get qualifying until half past two in the afternoon. Luckily, the track had dried out in this time and only had some damp patches. It was a tight battle at the top with the top 8 covered by less than a second. Hornsey’s fastest lap came right at the session on his 22nd lap of 23. He put in a personal best time of
49.995 which was good enough for 5th place and would start the sprint race from the middle of the second row. Meanwhile, Stapleford was in a tense battle for pole. With other riders trying to get the tow it was hard for him to find a clear lap. However he managed to do so on his 18th lap. He then was trying to improve on this and unfortunately had a small crash into the hairpin, but his time was fast enough to secure the front starting spot. The weather had shown chances of rain thoughout the afternoon but the track remained in a similar condition, dry with damp patches. The start of the race was strong for Luke but not quite enough to hold first position as Dixon made the move up the inside in the first turn. Sam made a strong start as he moved up to 4th
past Kyle Ryde. However it wasn’t long before Ryde made the move back up into 4th. Sam then rode a very smart race knowing that he needed the points and that he didn’t quiet have the speed of the top 4, he settled into a good rhythm in 5th place. Meanwhile, at the front of the race the top 4 were swapping places left right and centre. Irwin was at the front leading Ryde from Stapleford then Dixon. Stapleford looked faster but was struggling to find places to past, but then on lap 9 Luke made a brave move up the inside into 2nd surprising Ryde in Clarkes corner. He then set his sights on chasing Irwin and was quickly on the back wheel of the Gearlink Kawasaki. Dixon was flying and had just made the move on Ryde but was pushing too hard to close the gap and went down.
This promoted Sam up to 4th who was coming under pressure from the American James Rispoli but would just hold on to 4th position for his best finish of the year. Luke was all over the back of Irwin, but the Irishman refused to make a mistake and Stapleford just couldn’t quite make the move and came home in 2nd. The weather was again a big question mark with spits of rain throughout the day. However, it remained dry for the 26 lap feature race. Luke was starting from 3rd and Sam 8th. Hornsey made a strong start and made up two places and moved up to 6th. Luke was able to hold his 3rd place and it looked like a similar race was shaping up. Sam was in a tough battle for 5th with Ben Wilson and Rispoli, he was making some brave moves and was in the 5th place
spot when the safety car came out because of a fall from Wilson. When the safety car returned to pits, Luke was in 3rd and Sam looked settled in 5th. Luke was clearly not happy with 3rd though and was trying hard to make the move on Irwin and with just 5 laps to go. He made a move into the hairpin but was just too late on the brakes and ran wide, which cost him his 3rd place and he dropped to 4th behind Dixon. The mistake meant that he couldn’t close back up to a podium finish and both the Profile racing Triumph’s would finish 4th and 5th. They now head to the midpoint in the series with Luke just 3 points off the championship lead.
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he half way point in the British Supersport championship, and the series would return to Brands Hatch and this time the widely favoured GP circuit. For the Profile race team the weekend started with mixed emotions, Luke Stapleford started the weekend strong and it was clear that he was determined to regain the championship lead, as he topped the first practice. However it was close at the top as the top 8 were covered by less than a second. On the other side of the garage Sam Hornsey really struggled with bike set up and feeling comfortable, as he was in and out of the pits and he only managed 19th. Luke Stapleford proved that the first practice was no fluke, as he went out and did the same in free practice two. The laps were getting closer and closer to lap record pace and Stapleford was looking comfortable. Hornsey had a much better session ending in 9th place but was still not happy with that, he was having a few issues with the front end of the bike which meant that he couldn’t ride the way that he wanted too. Qualifying was probably the closest battle for pole position that we have had all year. Stapleford and Ryde would swap places lap after lap. Both
the riders were breaking the lap record with every lap. It was only the top two that managed to get into the 1:27 lap times and Luke eventually took pole with a 1:27.567 just 0.087 faster than his championship rival Kyle Ryde. Hornsey looked like he had ironed out some of the issues with the bike and was looking like his usual self. He managed to put in a lap of 1:28.744 and that was good enough to put him in 6th place on the grid. The sprint race started brilliantly for Stapleford as he got a great jump off the line and led into the first turn. However, Glen Irwin was keen not to let Luke get away at the front and on the opening lap, going in to Hawthorns, he lunged up the inside and took the lead. Luke was not happy about this and knowing that the second half of the lap was his strongest, he retaliated immediately and took the lead straight back. In the meantime, Hornsey didn’t get the best of starts and dropped down to 9th place and then set his sights on picking a few places off. With Irwin crashing out early on and then Dixon a few laps later, Sam found himself in a very tight battle for 5th place with Luke Hedger. He was under constant pressure from the former 125cc champion but the Gearlink Kawasaki couldn’t find a way through. Sam would eventually cross
the finish line in 5th place just 0.031 ahead of Hedger. Stapleford was able to dictate the pace at the front and never let Kyle Ryde get close enough to make a move. He controlled the gap and won the race convincingly by three and a half seconds. Stapleford set the fastest lap and would start the longer 18 lap feature race from pole position. He again would get the perfect start and this time Ryde would follow. Sam started from the middle of the third row in 8th place, he would hold that position for the first lap and would start
making progress towards the front. The first man he had to deal with was Ben Wilson and on lap 3 Sam made a brave move up the inside of Paddock Hill bend and moved up into 7th. Glen Irwin then seemed to run out of luck, he would drop to the back of the battle and just couldn’t regroup from that. So this left Hornsey and Dixon to fight it out over 5th place. It was a great battle for the entire race and on one lap the two would swap positions at least 4 times. But then on the 17th lap Sam made the move and made it stick, it was too much
for Dixon to come back and Hornsey would finish in a brilliant 5th place. Stapleford did the same in this race as he did in the shorter sprint race, he controlled the pace kept a nice advantage over Ryde and did not make a single mistake all race. Luke would be the first man to do the Supersport double since Alister Seely who won both races at the same event a year ago. Stapleford now takes an 8 point lead in the championship into round 7, Thruxton.
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s the British Supersport championship really starts to pick up the pace, it’s fitting that the series heads to the fastest track in the country, which is Thruxton, for round seven. Famous for its high speeds and fast flowing corners, Thruxton is a true test to the riders. In free practice one, both riders looked comfortable from the off as they both did a lot of laps. Stapleford would lead for almost the entire session and Sam was able to get into a good rhythm and was able to set the second fastest time just 0.440 of Luke’s time of 1:17.339. With both riders happy with the machines not much was changed for the afternoon session. Stapleford would again go out and dominate the session and was able to consistently lap faster than anyone else. This time it was Jake Dixon that was the runner up, Hornsey was struggling in the afternoon sun, he didn’t have enough grip form the rear tyre, and was struggling to put in a clean lap. He went slower in the second session and only managed a time of 1:18.279, which was good enough for 9th fastest. With minor tweaks made to both the bikes, the team hoped for the same result as first practice. In the early stages of the qualifying session it was on to be a Profile one two. However, during a pit stop for new tyres, Hornsey dropped from 2nd to 5th, with Stapleford still comfortably at the top the two headed out together so that Sam would have the perfect tow down the back straight. This plan worked perfectly with both riders going faster than they have ever been and both under lap record time. The two Profile triumphs topped the timing sheets and these times could not be beat, so both Stapleford and Hornsey would start from the front row and confident for the sprint race. The sprint race started strong, both Luke and Sam got great jumps off the line and ran a really strong pace on the leading lap. Stapleford made the break and had almost a second lead by the end of the second lap. In the meantime, Hornsey was showing that he had the speed to run with the front boys as he broke away from the rest of the pack with Kyle Ryde and the American James Rispoli.
The Three of them would swap places lap after lap, it was clear that Sam was faster on the back part of the circuit but would then struggle on the breaks into the Club chicane, which is the best passing spot on the track. While the 3 battled hard for the final two podium positions Stapleford was able to skate away to a 5 second lead, and he would eventually win by 3.9 seconds as he cruised over the line to win his 3rd race in a row. Hornsey fought right till the end and only missed out on the podium by 0.080 of a second as he came home in 4th. Things were looking strong for the longer feature race, with Stapleford starting from 2nd and Hornsey 3rd. The two got another great start and were straight into the lead, and instead of settling into 2nd Hornsey lunged up the inside of his team mate and into the lead. It wasn’t for long though as Stapleford was determined to try and get away from the pack to run his own pace, he went up the inside on the ever so fast Church corner and tried to settle into his rhythm. Sam looked happy with this as he
knew if he could hang on he would be dragged away in a comfortable 2nd. However, Ryde was not going to let this happen as he made a huge move up the inside, which sat Sam up and he would drop to 4th. This was the start to a eight rider race long battle for the final two podium positions. This was put on hold for a few laps during an early safety car period. Stapleford would again escape at the front riding a faultless race and would take his 8th win of the season while the rest went hammer and tong. Going onto the last lap it looked like Hornsey might be able to take his first podium, but then a mistake allowed Dixon and the Gearlink Kawasaki’s through and Sam would eventually cross the line in 6th place. Due to an investigation for passing under the safety car Sam Hornsey was docked one second which dropped him two positions to 8th place. Still a strong weekend for the team who look forward to an extra week off before returning to action at Cadwell park.
Cadwell Park
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fter a dominant round at Thruxton, the target was certainly on Luke Stapleford’s back as he was the man to beat. Hornsey also came to Cadwell park feeling confident as he showed he had the pace to run up front. The weekend started strong with Luke setting the fastest time in free practice one and proving that he can be fast on any type of circuit. He set a time of 1:30.224 which was 0.206 faster than anyone else. However, the times were sill over one second away from lap record pace so there was time to be found. Hornsey had a steady first session also and was in amongst the top runners, his fastest time was a 1:31.590 but he knew that with a few adjustments to the bike he could be higher up the field. He managed to achieve just that with a 1:30.041 in free practice two, this time was good enough for 4th place and left the team feeling comfortable for Saturday’s qualifying session. Luke however, still managed to improve his time to 1:29.111, but wasn’t happy as this time it wasn’t his name at the top of the timing sheet. It was the Gearlink Kawasaki
of Glenn Irwin who was able to go 0.056 faster than Luke, this meant that he was more determined to be back on top for qualifying. He was able to do that but it wasn’t easy for Stapleford, he was challenged for the entire session this time though it wasn’t Irwin that was the closest competitor, it was the Smiths triumph of Jake Dixon who was closely followed by Luke’s main championship rival Kyle Ryde. Sam Hornsey had a strong session also, he was sat comfortably in 5th spot for a lot of the session but was knocked down to 6th by the American James Rispoli, Sam was lining
up for retaliation on his final lap but was pushing the edge a little too hard and went down coming out of the last corner. Still, a second row start was a good position for him. In the sprint race Luke made his usual strong start and led through the first turn, he was challenged by Irwin early on but was quick to retaliate so that he could control the pace at the front. Meanwhile, Sam made some mistakes on the opening lap causing him to drop a few positions, in his rush to get back to the front group he lunged up the inside of evo rider Jamie Prerrin but was too late, causing both riders to go down.
It was Hornsey’s first DNF since Snetterton in the middle of June. The race was then red flagged due to oil being on the track which meant there was a full restart. Luke again made a strong start and controlled the pace at the front. This time, he wasn’t able to open up a gap as he was always under pressure from Dixon and Ryde. However, they were too busy fighting amongst themselves that they couldn’t put a move on Stapleford and Luke would eventually win the race by 1.6 seconds ahead of Ryde, closely followed by Dixon who had the fastest lap meaning he was on pole for the feature race.
The 16 lap feature race was much more eventful and overall a great race, Luke didn’t get the start that he’s been used to and came under fire from Irwin and Rispoli on the first lap, this allowed Dixon and Ryde to make the break and get a slight cushion on the chasing pack. Sam was starting from 12th place on the grid and got a good jump, but then on the first lap he was having issues with the clutch and struggled to get the bike into gear. This caused him to run onto the grass dropping him down to 23rd position and a lot of work to do. He then settled down and just started to get on with the
task in hand, he was coming through the pack brilliantly on a track that is narrow and hard to pass on. The pack was spread out so he made his way through one by one and eventually ended the race in 8th place and made the best out of a bad situation. Luke was having difficulty getting round Rispoli and Irwin, but on lap 6 Rispoli made the move on Irwin and Luke was able to follow the American, then immediately launch an attack to get into 3rd spot and chase down Dixon and Ryde. On the 14th lap Luke made his move and it was an amazing one at that, as he went from 3rd to 1st in one motion and looked like he had done it again. However, Dixon was always going to have a go back and he did as he slipped back into first on the last lap and Luke had to settle for second but continued to extend his championship lead over Kyle Ryde. He now looks forward to one of his favourite tracks which is Oulton park in just two weeks time.
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Oulton Park
fter a weekend full of ups and downs at Cadwell park, the team would return to Oulton park determined for even stronger results. With the track still damp from the overnight rain, free practice one was a tricky session for all the riders as they tested the conditions. Hornsey finished the session 3rd fastest and Luke Stapleford only did a few laps and was 8th fastest. The second session was completely dry and the pace had picked up. Stapleford managed a 1:37.700 which was fastest of the day. Sam meanwhile, was having a slight issue with gearing and was 7th fastest with a time of 1:38.734. With a few adjustments made to Hornsey’s triumph it was clear that he was more comfortable in qualifying as he was posting times over a
second faster than he has ever been round the Oulton park circuit. He topped the session momentarily but the competition was fierce and Sam would eventually drop to the middle of the second row in 5th spot. Stapleford was lapping in under lap record pace and was sure that his time of 1:37.330 would be fast enough for pole, but a blinding lap by Andy Reid and Jake Dixon would bump Luke down to 3rd for the start of the sprint race. Stapleford still felt like if he could get into the lead he would be able to get away. However, it was clear from the start of the race that the competition would not let him do so. As the riders exploded off the line Reid would come straight across to block Stapleford as he surged up the inside of Dixon into 2nd. Hornsey also made a strong start from 5th,
he got a good jump and immediately was ahead of Ryde as they went round the first turn. Stapleford was determined to get away from the chasing pack and made a move on Reid at the end of the first lap into Lodge corner. However, Reid knew if Luke was able to get half a lap he would be able to get away, so he would counter straight away, this set up an almighty battle in the top six with Reid, Stapleford, Dixon, Ryde, Rispoli and Sam Hornsey. They would all be separated by no more than a second for the entire race. There were passes at almost every corner, lunges left and right, as they all wanted to be in the lead. Stapleford had the most to lose and he had to think carefully about every manoeuvre, as he could not crash. However being a racer, he got stuck in and wouldn’t give up without a fight,
which is what everyone wanted to see. He was able to maintain a top 3 position for the majority of the race. Then with just a lap to go, Stapleford in 4th and Hornsey looking like he could pick up the pieces in 6th, Jake Dixon made a brave move up the inside of Kyle Ryde. Ryde didn’t want to give up the place and tried to ride around the outside of the first turn, but eventually he would run out of room forcing him to go down, which was a huge moment in the championship. This promoted Luke to 3rd where he would settle for the points. Hornsey managed to force his way past the American on the final lap and the Profile Triumphs would come home line astern in 3rd and 4th. Morning warm up caused even more drama in the championship as Ryde would go down again resulting in a broken toe for the 18 year old and a bike that was beyond repair for the
Pacedays team, forcing Ryde out of the 15 lap feature race. Both Profile triumphs would start the feature race from the front row, Stapleford wanted to get out in front to stay away from any danger but again Andy Reid was not going to allow that as every time Luke would get into the lead the counter attack would happen immediately. Hornsey made a strong start but would lose places to Dixon and Rispoli on the opening lap, Sam was keen to get on the podium in the feature race so he knew that he had to be fighting in the front group. On the 3rd lap, in an effort to get back past the American, he found himself on the dirty part of the track at Cascades. As he got on the power, the bike would step out of line and eventually spit him off in a huge high side. The accident bought out the safety car so the race would effectively turn into another sprint
race. This time it was a four way fight instead of six. The two monster Yamahas wanted to be on the podium as did Dixon, and Stapleford wanted to capitalise on as many points as he could. It was another thrilling battle and would leave Luke in 3rd on the last lap and as they came down into the final corner he had appeared to have settled. Reid however wanted the win and lunged up the inside of Dixon and then got on the gas too early resulting in another massive high side, this forced Stapleford onto the grass and knowing he had to stay on the bike he was cautious on his return to the track allowing Rispoli back through. It was another strong weekend for the team as the lead in the championship is now up to 69 points. Hornsey briefly scared the team but came out of Oulton with just some pretty big bumps and bruises.
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ound ten of the British Supersport series, was the only trip overseas all season. It’s a round that everyone gets excited for as the championship heads to the cathedral of speed, Assen. Stapleford thought that he had the win here one year ago but ended up in 4th spot. This year he was keen to set the bench mark and prove that he was once again the one to beat. In free practice one he did just that, as he set the fastest lap of the session 0.664 clear of anyone else. Sam Hornsey also loves the Dutch TT circuit as he was on pole position 12 months ago. In first practice he proved that he could also be one to watch as he was 4th fastest with a time of 1:41.663. Free practice two was a tricky session as the weather was playing games. The session started totally wet but was constantly drying throughout the entire session. Stapleford who doesn’t like the mixed conditions surprisingly had good pace, as he ended the session 2nd fastest behind an on form Jake Dixon. Hornsey was 5th and was happy with his Friday performance and felt like he could surprise a few people this weekend. For the Saturday morning qualifying session again the
weather was playing games, it looked like it could rain at any moment, this meant that all the top runners were keen to get a banker lap in. Luckily the session had approximately 20minutes before the rain started to come down, and who was on top? None other than Luke Stapleford who was closely followed by Sam Hornsey. It was the second one two performance in qualifying for the team with the first being at round 7, Thruxton. Both riders were very comfortable on their bikes and made very little changes throughout the weekend so far. The start of the sprint race was again very strong for both the Profile Triumphs as Hornsey would lead his team mate through the first corner and around the first half of the lap. It was at the end of the back straight that Stapleford would make his move. He slide up the inside of his team mate and got away from all the carnage that would unfold behind him. With Stapleford running off into the distance it left Hornsey, Dixon, Rispoli, Ryde and Irwin to fight it out for the final two podium positions. It
was another wild race with moves coming from almost every corner. It was clear that no one wanted to give up their podium positon. Dixon looked like he had second place until a mistake on the second to last lap bought Hornsey, Rispoli and Irwin back into the mix, as Ryde dropped off the pace. The last lap was just a dog fight for positions with every one swapping positions, but coming into the final chicane it was Rispoli from Dixon ahead of Hornsey. Sam couldn’t pass them on the breaks, so went wide and squared off the corner making a charge for the line but came home fourth just 0.070 behind Jake Dixon. Meanwhile, Luke had a great ride and controlled the gap at the front, with a stylish wheelie across the line he took his 10th victory of the season. The weather was again a factor on Sunday for the feature race, the track was still damp in places but everyone was on dry tyres. Stapleford could wrap up the title if he was to win and Ryde finish 7th. With the championship in mind Stapleford got off to a steady start just to test
the conditions, he would drop down the pack to around the 6th place. Then on the second lap the damp patches caught out three riders, one being James Rispoli and this bought out the safety car and closed the group back up. After the restart, Hornsey was in 4th and Stapleford 5th but Luke now knew the conditions and started to push. In the space of a lap and a half, he went from 5th to 1st and now it looked to be a challenge of who could stop him. Jake Dixon gave it his all but Stapleford was not going to give up on his 11th and record breaking victory. During Stapleford’s charge to the front, Hornsey had climbed up into 4th spot and was chasing Glen Irwin who is always fast in mixed conditions. The top 4 broke away but this time they would stay line astern and could never get quite close enough to make the moves stick. Hornsey would again miss out of that podium finish but proved to everyone that he had the speed. Stapleford took his 3rd double victory but the title would have to wait until Silverstone, as he now needs just 3 point to become British Champion.
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ound 11 of the Supersport championship will certainly go down as one to remember for the Profile racing team. Luke was also debuting in the superbike class on the JG speedfit Kawasaki, a bike that he hadn’t seen before the weekend. He wanted to gain some experience in the premier class to help make his decision on what is happening in 2016. First practice in Supersport, Stapleford just wanted to make sure that they could find a base setting and he was able to do this early on, this meant that he did not do many laps. He still however was 2nd fastest overall in the session after just five laps. Sam seemed to be struggling with set up but he was still able to set the 4th fastest time. Free practice two was much of the same. Luke was again second fastest behind Glen Irwin and this time Sam was able to move up one place to 3rd. Saturday morning qualifying was an intense battle at the front, Glen Irwin was able to put in a blistering lap really early on of 2:08.754 which is 0.3 under that lap record and it looked like he had secured pole position on just his 3rd lap. Sam was struggling and was 7th fastest for a while, then
on his second to last lap late on in the session he managed to get down to lap record pace which bumped him up to the front row in 3rd place. However, Rispoli was also on a flyer and he just manged to pip Sam and bumped him down to 4th. Stapleford wasn’t happy that he wasn’t the fastest, so with a quick pit stop and a new rear tyre he was back on track and he had enough time for 3 flying laps. The first two laps were not fast enough, with the time ticking away, Luke only just made it over the line to start his final lap. With the chequered flag already waving Irwin thought that he had pole position, but Stapleford had other ideas, he crossed the line and went pole by 0.260. With just 3 points needed to secure the championship, Stapleford could afford to just cruise around and secure the points. However, Luke wanted to win the championship in style. The first lap was a tight battle with Glen Irwin, with the team biting their finger nails, the battle intensified. On the 2nd lap Irwin made a slight mistake leading onto the Wellington straight and this gave Luke the chance to sneak round the outside and take the lead. It was from here that he didn’t look back. Sam meanwhile, found him-
self in a tense race long battle with Jake Dixon, Kyle Ryde and Ben Wilson for 4th place. Sam got the better of Wilson early on and set his sights on the two in front. He looked like he was getting held up but just couldn’t find his way through. He would finish the race in 6th place. The Championship was on its way to Stapleford who said “That was the longest race of my life.” he crossed the line and the emotion came out, he won the title with a dominant race win. The newly crowned Champion had a very busy Sunday; he had his usual feature race, two superbike races and a number of press interviews to do. For the feature race he again would
be on pole position, Sam however was back on the 3rd row in 7th. He knew that it would be a big task for him to get on the podium from there. The start of the race was similar to the sprint race with Irwin and Rispoli trying to get the better of Stapleford. The safety car would come out on the second lap due to an incident further down the field. During the safety car, Stapleford had to retire from the race due to a mechanical issue. It was just the 4th time this year that Luke would not be on the podium. Hornsey found himself in a two way fight for the final podium position with the Gearlink Kawasaki of Ben Wilson. At around the half way point he was able to make the move
and pull away. He closed in of the leaders of Irwin and Rispoli but just couldn’t get close enough to join the party, but he was there to pick up the pieces if anything did happen. Sam rode a very smart race and bought it home, he took his maiden Supersport podium in what he said was his longest ever race. Luke had a good strong weekend on the superbike also. There was no pressure for him to perform, but he just missed out on the points in his first race. In the second he finished 12th and scored his first ever points in the premier class. Overall, it was a very good weekend for the Profile team, a few tears shed but they were all tears of joy.
Brands Hatch
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ith the championship already wrapped up, the final round of the British championship was all about having fun and enjoying the racing. The weather was always going to be an issue in the middle of October. Friday both the practice sessions were wet. Stapleford has made it clear all year that he prefers the dry conditions but he was still able to hold his own and in the first session he was 6th fastest with Hornsey just ahead in 4th. This result showed the competition that the Profile boys were podium contenders even in the wet. The second practice session was much of the same. However this time the track was starting to dry up slightly towards the end of the session. Hornsey had a strong pace and put in a long run of consistent times which were fast enough for 3rd place
in the session. Stapleford didn’t do as many laps, as he felt good on the bike and wanted to get ready for practice on the JG Speedfit Kawasaki. This meant that he didn’t benefit from the drier conditions meaning his time left him down in 10th place. Qualifying was another tense one, the track was damp in places but had a narrow dry line. The battle for pole was between Dixon Rispoli and Stapleford. Hornsey was also in the fight for the front row. Towards the end of the session he put in a flying lap that was able to put him into 3rd, but he wasn’t finished yet, he was going for another lap but on the way into Druids the engine let go and that was the end of his qualifying. He would be bumped down to 4th place. Stapleford found himself in 2nd right at the end but on his final lap he pulled it out of the bag to get yet another pole positon by 0.445 of a second. The Sprint race was another great
race. Luke found himself under pressure from Dixon at the start but by Druids hairpin Luke was back in the lead and then started to get into his rhythm. Luke started to edge away and it looked to be a fight for the final podium positions between Dixon Rispoli and Hornsey. Dixon and Rispoli were fighting hard early on, meanwhile Sam got up to speed and into his rhythm. At the half way point Sam made his move up to 3rd past Dixon. He looked strong to take his second consecutive podium. Then a lap later he made the same move on Rispoli up the inside of Paddock hill bend and he looked to check out immediately and put a gap on the other two. It looked like it was going to be the first ever one two for the team. However spits of rain started to fall and Luke backed off slightly but he had built up such a lead that he was comfortable at the front. Sam also slowed up a little once he saw
the spits of rain, this allowed Dixon to go back though. The next lap the rain became too much and the red flag came out, meaning both the Profile triumphs would be on the podium in 1st and 3rd. The Feature race would start with Stapleford on pole position and Hornsey just behind in 2nd. Stapleford would take the holeshot once again in the final race of the season. The champ would again clear off into the distance proving why he has that number one plate. Hornsey didn’t get the jump that he wanted and dropped back to 4th place. The first few laps he just looked like he couldn’t settle into his rhythm as he was making mistakes this was costing him positions. He would eventually find himself in 7th when he started to put some laps together and close the gap on the group ahead that was fighting for 2nd position. He was starting to put Kyle Ryde under some serious pressure, then on lap 12 coming out of Surtees a big puff of smoke and the engine couldn’t take it anymore. He would pull off the track safely but that was the end of Hornsey’s championship in 7th place overall. Stapleford had built up such a lead that he could just enjoy the moment as he won his 14th race of the season after completely dominating the series.
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