Livingston kart racer John Boulter aims to follow his hero Lewis Hamilton into motorsport, and was given a taste of the limelight at Silverstone earlier this month.
Boulter, 16, finished third in the British Indoor Karting Championships in the middleweight section, and in so doing became the first Scottish driver to podium at the national finals.
His triumphant finale was also live-streamed on YouTube, attracting over 20,000 views.
John was presented with his trophy at the glittering British Karting Awards at Silverstone, and loved every second of his experience.
And Boulter is in pole position to nab second spot in the Larkhall Karting Championships when he races at Larkhall Circuit in December
Dad Chris said: “Winning third place is brilliant, we’re delighted!
“John started karting when he was about eight and this is his third season in British Indoor, now.
“This is the biggest thing he has achieved.
“It was amazing to see him finish third. It was down in Warrington where they had the finals, so it was the culmination of a long day and exciting stuff.
“It’s quite a big event, it’s a good one, and we’ve been back and watched it again since on YouTube.
“It is quite fun with the last 10 minutes of the race – even though we know what the result is going to be!”
John travelled to Silverstone with mum Gael for the awards, and was delighted with the evening.
Chris said: “It was absolutely fantastic. It was a brilliant event. I think they had about 200 people there in total, a black tie dinner kind of set-up, and it felt really special.
“John doesn’t get to go to awards very often and I think it was the biggest night out he has ever had.
“It’s the home of motor racing, it’s a nice venue, and they get to walk across a glass walkway that goes across the circuit, so you get your photos and things taken there before you go into the reception centre within Silverstone.
“You also get a Motorsport UK trophy that goes alongside the one you got on the day.
“John is dedicated to it. In all his free time he’s either karting or watching it, because there’s lots of stuff to see online, so he loves racing in general.
“This is something he really wants to pursue. He’s desperate to get some kind of career in racing, it’s what he really wants to do.
“It’s hard, because it’s really competitive, but it is his dream.
“He’s a big Lewis Hamilton fan, I think most drivers would probably say that, but I think that’s his biggest hero in the sport.”
Chris hopes for further success and added: “It’s almost the end of the season, there’s one other championship race to go, which is at Larkhall, they’ve got an outdoor karting championship.
“They have a championship at the course for the season, with one more race to go, and he’s sitting second in that at the moment.
“To lock in a trophy there would be good. I think first is going to be almost impossible, but locking in second would be the goal, and that would be the end of a really good season.
“There are about 40 people who go in for this, so it’s a pretty good result again.”