Luca Wilkinson aka El Loco #76

Friday Practice

鈥淔riday鈥檚 practice went well. Small issue with the bike, but it wasn鈥檛 affecting my lap times, so we just rode around it.鈥�

Saturday

Qualifying

鈥淲ent out and pushed on a bit, I knew I didn鈥檛 have to put it on pole, so I just rode smart and pushed for a few laps and put it on P2 with Ollie Sims on P1, with our lap times separated by 0.03 of a second.

Race 1

鈥淪tarted the race but I noticed Ollie hadn鈥檛 gone to the grid. I pulled an 8-second lead after 3 laps and just brought it home in 1st place. Unfortunately, I came in to find out Ollie had crashed in the Minitwins qualifying and broken his collarbone.

Race 2

鈥淧retty similar to race 1; a good start, pulled a big gap and just kept at a consistent pace and brought it home in 1st place and secured the championship win.鈥�

Sunday

Race 3

鈥淚t was cold so I had to think about how to ride so I didn鈥檛 overdo it. I put a gap to 2nd and brought it home in 1st place.鈥�听

Race 4

鈥淢y 1st wet race! Good start and just rode smart but after a few laps I caught some back-markers and lost a lot of time letting a few other riders catch. Sean took me into turn 1 after I ran wide, but I retook the position and pulled a little gap to bring it back home in 1st for the last time of the year and with the championship win.

鈥淔antastic last round with 4 from 4 wins. Big shout out to Ollie who I鈥檝e battled hard with all year, not the way I wanted the year to end. GWS mate.

鈥淭hank you each & every one of our sponsors supporters and friends.鈥�

Qualifying听

鈥淎fter a good test, doing pretty much every lap of every session, I was feeling good going into qualifying. Got out front and got some clear laps in, but just didn鈥檛 manage to put a fast lap together. I made a mistake and went wide at Coppice on my best lap, which was a bit frustrating. But not too bad in P7 and on the left-hand side of the grid going into turn 1.鈥�

P7 // Best lap: 1.33.7听

Race 1听

鈥淏SB champ, Kyle Ryde, was making another guest appearance and unsurprisingly started P1 right in front of me off the start. As the lights went out, he seemed to stall or get bogged down and I almost collided with him. It was a close one but managed to avoid him by rolling out of the throttle which ruined my start and put me in about P10.

鈥淟uckily, two laps later, it was red-flagged and restarted for a five-lap dash. This time, I got a great start and ran in about 5th for a couple of laps. It was a scrappy race; I got passed and made a couple of nice passes myself. What seemed like five minutes later, the checkered flag was out and I realised I鈥檇 got my first podium of the year which I was over the moon about! The lap time wasn鈥檛 amazing, but it was just one of the those races where lap times didn鈥檛 tell the whole story.鈥�

P3 // Best lap: 1.33.0听

Luca Wilkinson

Round 2 鈥� Oulton Park

鈥淪o, after the incredible (until it wasn鈥檛) weekend at Brands, it鈥檚 been a full-on two weeks to get the bike fixed & ready for听Bemsee听Round 2听Oulton Park.

鈥淲e owe a massive thanks to Team听NW Racing听and a lot of other people for the huge effort to sort the bike 鈥撎齳ou sure are the best!

鈥淲ith beautiful weather, it was amazing to be at this iconic track for Luca’s first time.

We knew we would have some teething issues with the bike having such a big rebuild, but the team worked flawlessly and by the last three sessions, we were in a good position.

鈥淔riday Qualifying went great, finishing P8 鈥� P3 in class.

鈥淩ace 1 – Great race with Luca taking the F400 lead and finishing P9 鈥� P3 in class. Very happy with that, having never ridden the track before and knowing the calibre of the riders in the F400.

鈥淩ace 2 – Another great start and again fighting for 3rd, Luca finished P4 in class behind the flying听Team Marshall Racing.

鈥淩ace 3 – Great start and into the class lead down into Cascades, Luca pushed hard and again managed a P3 in class behind听David Lindemann and听Craig Dance.

鈥淲e are so happy with the results, learning every lap, following some amazing riders who are happy to help and give advice to help Luca improve 鈥� we have to say a huge thanks for this it鈥檚 an incredible gesture and much appreciated. Each race Luca managed to close the gap to the class leaders, which is our aim this year.鈥�

Zack Weston

Round 2 鈥� Oulton Park

鈥淨ualifying – After a good practice, I was feeling good on the bike and was happy with the setup. I didn鈥檛 get out at the front, but I was still able to set my laps on my own and put it on the front row!

鈥淩ace 1 – I got an amazing start from P2 and pulled the holeshot. After leading for a few laps and setting good pace, Nathan Harrison came past so I stuck in and tagged onto the back of him, finishing P2.听

鈥淩ace 2 – After a good race 1, I was hoping for the same in race 2, it was a good first half of the race starting in P2 and pulling on P3, but the second half I struggled really bad with rear grip and dropped back into p3.听

鈥淩ace 3 – After a disappointing race 2, I put everything into race 3. I didn鈥檛 get a good start, dropping back to P3, so I sent it into the lead down cascades T3. After a lot of moves and close racing, it came down to the last corner. I tried to drag it to the line but missed out on P1 by 0.03 seconds.

鈥淥verall, a great weekend of racing, time with family and friends and some of our amazing sponsors.

鈥淗uge thank you to all of my sponsors.鈥�

Image credits:

Luca Wilkinson

鈥淭he dust has settled on the first race weekend on the new听Kawasaki UK听ZX-4RR at Brands Hatch and what an amazing weekend it was.

鈥淔irst, we have to thank the听NW Racing听team for all the support coming into this weekend. We have worked hard and everything was in place with the setup looking听great.

鈥淲ith the weather bright and sunny but very cold, in Friday practice we just chipped away. Happy with progress and with the whole team having put in good times, we were ready for qualifying.

鈥淩acing on a mixed grid consisting of SuperTwins, Thunderbike Sport and the F400s made for an interesting mix of bikes. Qualifying went really well and Luca ended up P6 overall and P2 in class behind the ever-quick听Craig Dance.

鈥淩ace 1 – Great race where Luca ended up in P1 in class and 11th overall. Not a bad start.

鈥淩ace 2 – With the sun setting, it had gone very cold. Luca carried on pushing and put in a PB but didn鈥檛 have the pace to go with Craig and came home P2 in class and P12 overall.

鈥淩ace 3 – Great start and into the class lead down into Paddock Hill, after that Luca lead from start to finish to get P1 in class and P6 overall.

鈥淩ace 3 鈥� Again, last race of the day and the sun was going down and the temperature was again dropping. Another great start and following Craig who was setting a great pace. Hitting PBs on every lap, Luca took advantage of a back marker and managed to pass Craig on the Brabham Straight. Unfortunately, that鈥檚 where the weekend went down fast. Coming into Graham Hill Luca lost the front on the brakes. He was fine but the bike decided to protest.

“Overall, it was a fantastic weekend for not only Luca but the whole team.鈥�

Zack Weston

鈥淧ractice: I went out thinking it would take some time to get up to speed, but I felt really comfortable and confident on the bike, and I was able to get up to speed straight away, surprising myself and the team.

鈥淨ualifying: After a good practice, I was confident going into qualifying. I didn鈥檛 quite get out where I wanted to but I was able to dig in and set a lap time that put me on the front row!

鈥淩ace 1: After an amazing qualifying, I was ready for race 1. I didn鈥檛 get the best start but it was a long race so I knew it was fine, it was a difficult race as it was 18 laps and I was struggling with rear grip but I managed it to the end and missed out on a podium by 0.1 seconds, to achieve P4.

鈥淩ace 2: After missing out on a podium in race one, I went for it in race 2, I got a good start getting into P2 into turn 1 and then taking the lead into turn 2 鈥撎齣t was a good race with lots of changes in positions and I was able to get up into P2 and finally get the podium.

“Race 3: After a good start, I had a huge slide out of T3 and dropped back 6 positions, I thought my race was finished, after a couple of laps I got back into my rhythm and picked riders of one by one, going onto the last lap I was in p4 and gave it everything and was able to get P3 on the line.

鈥淥verall, a great weekend with some amazing racing, time with friends and family along with a some of our amazing sponsors and Club35 members.鈥�

鈥淩ound 4 saw us go to the spectacular听Donington Park听鈥� another new track for Luca, but we had enlisted the awesome听NW Racing to help learn the track on Friday morning with our mega instructor, Andrew Wales, booked for the afternoon. It was tough and Luca worked really hard learning the track, especially the section from Redgate to McLeans. Pleased with the pace, we were ready to go.”

Qualifying:

鈥淲e had a target, and Luca absolutely smashed it, with his first ever qualifying pole position and 0.5 under the track record.”

Race 1:

鈥淕ot the holeshot, but this was no walk in the park. Beat the official track record with a blistering 1:21:920听and finished 2^nd behind Zack 鈥� just in front of听Kade Watt after a race-long battle which was cut short due to a red flag.”

Race 2:

鈥淕reat start and another race-long battle with Zack and Kade. Lost the lap record to Zack but gained the win 鈥� very happy with that.”

Race 3:

鈥淪traight into the lead and Luca and Zack started to pull away. With a 1.8sec lead, it was looking comfortable until Luca lost the front in the last chicane and down he went, taking Zack with him so a disappointing DNF for both but no injuries and bikes fixable.”

Race 4:

鈥淒espite the DNF, Luca and Zack were still 1 and 2 on the grid. The pace was a little slower this race which played into Luca鈥檚 hands as he settled in after the off in Race 3. Lots of place swaps ensued and with a bit of luck encountering the back makers on the last lap Luca, finished 1^st.

鈥淪o, to summarise, we went from a DNF to PRETTY AWESOME! As always, thanks to all our sponsors and all the help we鈥檝e had along the way.鈥�

Luca Wilkinson

鈥淥n Friday we did a track walk with the one and only Andy Wales 鈥� Luca鈥檚 instructor 鈥� and Aleisha Layton. In Friday’s practice, we chipped away at the times with lots of learning thanks to Andy.

鈥淥n 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.

鈥淩ace 1 鈥� 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鈥檛 get my foot on the peg properly. Brought it home 5^th for some valuable points.

鈥淩ace 2 鈥� Starting 7^th 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 6^th, the battle was on. Managed to work my way back up to 4^th and get the fastest lap so pole for Sunday鈥檚 race.

鈥淩ace 3 鈥� 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鈥檛 even know until we told him in the pits.

鈥淩ace 4 鈥� Starting 4^th, great start into the lead but race red-flagged on lap 5. Restart running in 1^st but with two laps to go I hit a false neutral coming into turn 1 and dropped to 4^th. 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 鈥榖lock pass鈥�. So into the lead and set my personal PB and first time into the 1:06s 鈥� an amazing 1^st-place finish.鈥�

Aleisha Layton

鈥淲here do I start?! During Friday practice, we built up our pace gradually and were in the 1:08s which I was very happy with.

鈥淨ualifying: the track was pretty busy and I just couldn’t get a clean flying lap in, so had to settle for P10.

鈥淩ace 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.

鈥淩ace 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鈥� but another lesson learnt!

鈥淩ace 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.

鈥淩ace 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.

鈥淚 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鈥檒l carry on giving it my best to get to where I need to be.鈥�

Luca Wilkinson

鈥淭he journey begins.

鈥淨ualifying: Saturday morning the weather had turned for the better but the track was still a little damp and we opted to give Luca confidence from the off and ran wets. First ever qualifying and he brought it home in P3 overall and P2 in class

鈥淩ace 1: Very nervous but the team did a great job of preparing Luca. The first race start was great and he led Lap 1 (junior class), then the lead changed no less than seven times in the 9-lap race. Unbelievably, Luca crossed the line behind Phil Atkinson to take the Junior Win. Totally blown away.

鈥淩ace 2: Starting from P2, Luca had a good start but his teammate Aleisha Layton got out in the lead. Lots of battling saw Luca down in 4th for a time, but took the lead on Lap 3. This didn鈥檛 last long and again Luca was shuffled back in the pack. On Lap 7, the back markers worked in his favour, and he took the lead and managed to hold on to finish again, behind Phil to take the TGJC 1st place. Unbelievable.

鈥淩ace 3, Sunday: Well, this was a new ballgame. The rain was well and truly falling, and the track was very wet. Again, a bit nervous, but the team again worked their magic, and the race was on. Luca took a little while to settle and was cautiously building his pace, but this let the two class leaders pull a lead. There was a gap to 3rd and Luca was in a little pack of 4. He kept his head down and worked his way up to 4th and set about catching 3rd. He took 3rd on the penultimate lap and kept it to the line so a well-fought 3rd with lots of learning done.

鈥淩ace 4: Unfortunately, this is where things went a little bit Pete Tong. Forming up for the race start, the bike suddenly cut out听鈥� despite the help of the Marshalls and the awesome Aaron Lilly there was no starting the bike and the ups and downs of racing really hit home, so a DNS.

鈥淚f someone had offered us the results we had before the weekend we would have never believed them and would have taken it 100%. So proud of Luca and all he has achieved. Lots of hard work to be done and no doubt the TGJC class is going to be incredible, but we have loved our first experience and can鈥檛 wait to see how the season pans out.鈥�

Aleisha Layton

鈥淩ace 1: I got a good start, but it took me a couple of laps to settle in. Managed to bring it home in P3 (with the top three split by just 0.3 seconds).

鈥淩ace 2: off to a better start and lead most of the race, then we hit some back markers. Some worked for me and some went against me. But another solid P3 in another very close race, which was a great eye opener for me!

鈥淩ace 3, Sunday: this is an interesting one! This was my first ever wet race, so I was a bit nervous. I have ridden in the wet on track days, but very limited time, due to my late start to motorcycle racing (last year was the first time I rode a bike). Anyway, I did my best and brought it home in P10 in class, which give us something to work with.

鈥淩ace 4: with my not-so-good Race 3, this put me back to P19 on the grid. Conditions were damp but drying fast which I like, so I was determined to do the best race possible and managed to bring it home in P4 in class which put a smile back on my face and was absolutely amazing.

鈥淥verall, an amazing weekend with a lot of info to build on and move in the right direction, this round has really motivated me to succeed.鈥�