Episode 1 The Racing Set

These teenage racers aren't old enough to drive on the roads.

I'm 15 years old driving race cars, there's nothing better than that.

As soon as the engine starts, your mind's in gear.

But at the weekends, they tear up the track.

-COMMENTATOR:

-He's through on the inside track and

up into fourth place. Come on!

This season, two teams go head-to-head.

-COMMENTATOR:

-Two out of two.

One is brother and sister.

We're both competitive and we both want to... Want to beat each other.

The other - a team of mates.

They're always going to win.

Racing is my dream.

It's a tough fight and we'll be with them all the way.

Expect the unexpected, there's no guarantees in this sport.

-Yes!

-So, who will be crowned winner of The Racing Set?

None of my school friends are doing anything as cool as this.

It's a new season for a fresh batch of 14 to 17-year-old wannabe

Lewis Hamiltons.

All are competing in the Ginetta Junior Championship,

the first round on the racing ladder.

Come on, Dad, I want to go race! Come on.

All right, all right, I'm here.

Each time they take to the track in these 120mph speed machines,

everyone has to promise to play fair.

Jamie, you need to look through those rules and regulations and sign them.

I guess now the reality begins and it's my first year so,

the only expectation on me is the one I put on myself

so I don't really feel too nervous at the moment.

As it's 14-year-old Jamie's first season, she's being shown

the ropes by her 16-year-old brother, Ollie,

and their coach, Chris.

There will be situations during the race

when you might need to look after each other.

Will you do that for me in the race?

Only if you can keep up.

Ha-ha-ha.

Jamie is so promising that she is the first girl to win

a £40,000 scholarship to compete in the Juniors.

It's obviously great being the only girl in the championships

but it also puts a lot of pressure on me

and I hate it and they're always going on about it cos it always

makes me feel like I should be doing a lot better because I am a girl.

Jamie and Ollie form Team Chadwick.

But her personal goal today is to win the Rookie Cup.

The dream for every new driver here.

Another new racer chasing that dream is James.

It's absolutely amazing driving a proper car.

I'm only 15 years old and I can't even drive on the road yet.

James lost out on the scholarship to Jamie

and he knows that she's the one to beat.

Jamie Chadwick probably is one of my biggest rivals.

I think she is probably one of the

best rookie drivers out there.

James's family have stumped up the cash for his season

so they need him to do well.

Any tactics?

I don't know, really. Just win.

-ALL:

-Ha-ha-ha.

-Is there a corner at all that you're worrying about?

-Well, erm...

It's probably the old hairpin mostly,

to be honest, cos the car likes to slide through there so...

And you do get penalised if you take four wheels off the circuit.

-Oh!

-I did a couple of times in the practice,

so I have to just keep control of that.

But before James can show off his racing tactics,

they all have to take part in the qualifying round.

How you do in this could make or break your chances later on.

It's a great opportunity to get the car ready and yourself ready.

The fastest person in the qualifier will start the race

right from the front.

It's called pole position, or P1

and everyone is after it.

Hoping in the qualifier I can get P1 or at least on the front row

which would be good.

As qualifying begins, Jamie

and James drive out onto the track for their first head-to-head.

Whoever's fastest will have the advantage in the race later on.

Even James's mum and dad are on edge.

Unfortunately this is the most nerve-racking part, is this.

Before the race even starts, you know,

-the timed qualifying...

-Terrible.

Cos you need to have good qualifying to be at the front.

-Front of the grid.

-Oh, dear.

It's scary stuff.

And it's not just James's qualifying time that's troubling his parents.

He's a teenager racing a car worth nearly £30,000 and this season

will cost him a whopping £90,000 - that's a lot of pressure.

It's up to Mum and Dad to worry about the finance side of things

and James to concentrate on his racing.

As qualifying finishes, none of the drivers know how they've done

until they're back with their teams.

The results are in.

For his first time round the circuit, James has done well.

Harry, my team-mate, he came first pole.

It was Ollie Chadwick next and then my second team-mate, Will Palmer.

And then me for fourth so...

Cos it was my first time around the circuit, erm,

you can't really get any better than that, to be honest.

James's performance has surprised everyone.

Even his team-mates, Will and Harry.

First time here, and he's doing quite well for his first time.

Like, we normally do quite a few days here before this meeting

but he's just come here and he's quite quick, he is.

-It's quite annoying because...

-Maybe if he was in front of us...

Yeah, but he's not so...

Until he is, then we'll be all right.

But Jamie's had a disappointing qualifying round

and has come in sixth.

I think there's a lot of people that consider me

as someone that's paving a path, I guess,

for other girls to maybe start motorsport but I...

personally feel like that therefore leaves me a job to do, to do better.

Yeah, there is a bit of additional pressure in that sense.

Back home in Gloucestershire, the pressure of racing is

lifted as Jamie and Ollie dust off some of their childhood toys.

And luckily, they have their own field to play in.

-Having fun?

-Yep. Might go and find...

-Ah, there's Jamie.

-Jamie's got a little motorbike.

This motorbike - when did you get this? When you were about five?

It's the same age as Max.

Mike has always supported both of his kids' racing ambitions

and has been buying them things to race around on

since they were small.

When, erm, I was about 10 or 11,

my dad bought a really old Peugeot 205 to have a bit of a,

a little drive around and it wouldn't matter if we wrecked it a little bit.

Then,

sort of taught by my dad and Ollie,

I learnt how to drive

and by the end of it we were doing handbrake turns going down the hill.

So, having two teenagers constantly on the move can be difficult

to control,

and Ollie usually takes the lead.

Jamie!

Stop that!

I sometimes tell Jamie to do things and sometimes she just will so...

It's quite good.

I just sort of do what he tells me to do most of the time.

I don't know if it's a good thing.

Jamie and Ollie aren't the only ones who've been driving

since they were tiny.

James started his racing career in go-carts at the age of nine.

These are just all my carting trophies.

All that I've come in the podium or the top five.

I've won the GP Plate

and over here, I've won the Open Championship, the O Plate.

Winning it for the team and everybody in the team was absolutely amazing.

James fixes go-karts for other people to help the family finances.

This is the cadet car which I'm basically stripping down and building

back up and cleaning everything, making sure everything is perfect.

I'm doing all of this to build up money for my Ginetta's,

because it cost so much money to do,

I have to do something in the weekend.

But even with James's help,

finding the money to support his racing is tough for the family.

So, mate, it's this season.

-We're going to have to do the best we can do.

-Hmm.

There's no pressure on you.

We get one crack at this, erm...

It doesn't matter where you finish

but you know our financial situation, you know

what Mum and I are having to go through to put you out there.

-The main important thing for us is that you enjoy it.

-OK.

-OK?

Yeah, yeah.

Fingers crossed

we'll pull a sponsor in.

You know, it's so important for us

to get this sponsor on-board

if we're going to carry this motor racing on.

Without a sponsor, James is asking a huge amount from his mum and dad.

And back at the track, as the race approaches,

he's very aware of their sacrifice.

I'm nervous, my heart's definitely beating,

I've always got a thing in the back of my head -

bring the car home with no scratches or it'll cost my mum and dad.

But as soon as the engine starts, your mind's in gear

and you basically go and do your business and go and race.

Meanwhile, Jamie's got her head down studying the track.

When the race begins, she'll start in sixth,

two places behind James.

So she needs to work hard to make up the time.

-This is your really strong area from here...

-Yeah.

..all the way through to here.

When I was sort of, on people, lining up down here, I braked too late to

get on the bumper and didn't get quite the run out, so yeah...

Exactly. Right, so don't...

If necessary, sacrifice.

If you think they're going a bit quick or right on the edge,

you've got to think to yourself,

-"I'm out of this little bit to get the run."

-Yeah.

To get them come down here.

And that's it.

All we can do is hope that we have a great one.

It's race time and at moments like these

the parents are as nervous as the kids.

All right, James, are you ready?

-Ah, you had a drink?

-Yeah, I've had a drink.

-Have you been to the toilet?

-I've been to the toilet!

I know, I know, I know. I'm your mum.

-Right, get in the zone and good luck...

-OK.

-..and I'll see you at the end.

-OK, thank you. See you. Thanks, bye.

I'm really looking forward to it, actually.

I'm not as nervous as I normally am.

It's a weird combination of emotions

because even though you want them to stay safe, you want them to win.

Everyone's in position and...

They're off!

-COMMENTATOR:

-Lights on here, at Donington Park.

Harry Woodhead in black. Ollie Chadwick in yellow.

If you just look at the light blue car there,

that is Ollie's younger sister, Jamie.

Coming across from fourth on the grid, it's James Kellet,

top rookie on the grid.

Just seconds into the race, James's team-mate, Harry, is in the lead,

whilst Jamie's brother, Ollie, tussles for second place.

COMMENTARY CONTINUES

Ollie is off the track.

It's a terrible start for him.

It means Jamie and James move up a position.

But with a determined Ollie behind her, that doesn't last long.

-COMMENTATOR:

-Trying to go through on the inside

to pass his younger sister, he's through on the inside...

Ollie then overtakes Jamie and James,

and leaves them to fight it out for fourth place.

-COMMENTATOR:

-Jamie Chadwick is trying to go the

long way round as well...

..but no, she's been muscled out...

In a bold move, James nudges Jamie off.

It's in the rules, but she's left behind.

Quickly Jamie gets back on James's tail and then disaster strikes!

-COMMENTATOR:

-Oh, my goodness!

With a punctured tyre, her race is over.

Now, James speeds up to battle for second.

-We're P3.

-Oh!

-Come on!

As Ollie pushes too hard, James takes full advantage.

-COMMENTATOR:

-He's going to come out on top!

James is neck and neck with Ollie in the final straight.

And then, unbelievably, James comes second.

He's won the Rookie Cup.

I don't have any words.

Excited and happy.

Proud.

Whoo.

Emotional wreck. Ha-ha!

I don't really know what to say to be honest cos

I just stayed behind and they were battling.

I was able to get through on the last corner but, erm...

Yeah, it was a really good race.

James has done himself and his family proud.

You know, we came here on the back of everybody,

and he's put it together.

Good old Yorkshire.

But not everyone is so jubilant.

When you do have a crash and something goes wrong and it ends

so quickly, it's obviously massively disappointing for not only

myself but everyone who has put the hard work in.

Results and podiums and things is what everybody is working for

and when you don't get them, it's massively disappointing.

And Jamie's not the only one disappointed.

I made a mistake which dropped me back down the order,

and that cost me second place, really.

With Ollie coming third, James second, Harry first

and James securing the Rookie Cup as well,

James has had an amazing day.

Frenetic final corner with cars going left right and centre...

Yes, it was amazing. Amazing race.

James is the star today.

But there are plenty more trophies to fight for

in their bid to become champion of The Racing Set.

Next time...

Ollie rides high.

Sister, Jamie, finds it tough.

This is really devastating.

And they are all pushed to their limits

as they hit the fastest track

in the UK.

It's so scary, you have to hang on for dear life.