GSCEs and podium finishes

16-year-old Sophie Walls is not your common teenager, along with achieving 14 GCSEs yesterday she balances her studies with being one of the youngest female racers in the country.

Sophie rides a Honda RS125 in the Classic Motorcycle Racing Club and was fortunate that the Sir Graham Balfour School she attends in Stafford gives her sporting leave so she can travel to race meetings.

She told thisisstaffordshire.co.uk: "My school gave me sporting leave, normally on a Friday, so I could travel to the race meetings. I had to catch up with the work I had missed. I was lucky, because none of my exams clashed with racing."

Sophie was born into a racing family, as her father Stephan Walls has been racing for 32 years and is a winner in the Pre-TT Classic Road Races. She got her first track experience at the age of 13 when her parents bought her a track day.

"I went on to do practice races at 14. But the rules of my club are that you have to be 15 to enter proper races. I've now got a racing licence," added Sophie.

"As soon as I started racing, I just fell in love with it. I haven't won any races yet, but I've had third places."

By Robin Goodwin