Boy Racers My Life

ENGINES ROAR

15-year-old Jake Dennis and 13-year-old Ben Barnicoat share a driving ambition...

..to become Formula One world champion.

ENGINE CHANGES DOWN GEARS

There's only 24 drivers out there,

so if I make it into that 24 it'd be quite a big achievement.

Motor sport's my life.

It's the thing I'm best at.

But if they want to be the next Lewis Hamilton or Jenson Button,

first they must conquer the exhilarating,

sometimes dangerous,

world of professional go-karting.

The amount of dedication that you need is enormous.

I just love the speed and the adrenaline of it.

This year they're competing for the British, European and World Championships.

Could this be the summer that changes their lives?

When you're on the track you've just no friends, take them all as prisoners.

The British excel at motor sports. We've produced more Formula One World Champions than anywhere else.

And the place they all start out

is kart racing.

Good mates Ben and Jake believe they've got what it takes to go all the way too.

But their roads to glory couldn't be more different.

While Ben relies on his dad to pay for his racing, Jake has a big-money sponsorship deal.

I started karting through my dad.

For my seventh birthday, he bought me a go-kart.

It was a bit scary, but if it's not really scary it's not really that much fun.

You're going about 80 mph - 85 mph.

The adrenaline's going in the blood,

all the pit girls when you line up on the grid.

And becoming rich and famous is always a bonus as well.

I was in Cornwall on holiday and I saw lots of leaflets

and I saw a go-karting one and took it to my mum and dad.

I went on it about five or six times.

I just loved it. Then we bought my own proper go-kart,

a red one cos I wanted it to be red like Michael Schumacher's Ferrari.

And it was from there on where I got really obsessed. I was British Open Champion at ten.

And fingers crossed, I'll get to Formula One.

With around 200 trophies to his name already, Jake's well on his way.

I won the first round of the under-18 World Championship.

I've still got all my prize money from it as well.

Then there's this one, the Las Vegas Championship.

This was one of the biggest things to win,

plus it's in Las Vegas, a massive bonus.

And then this one. This is when I came second in the world.

I got knocked off and came all the way back up to second.

Probably the best race in my life as well.

Every nook and cranny in this boy racer's home is stacked with silverware.

So we've sort of run out of room in the house,

so now we have to put them all in here.

There's about 20 over there,

20 over there, and then there's about five down there.

Like Jake, Ben also started karting aged seven,

but his passion for driving was ignited in a rather surprising way.

Right then, Ben, if you just push the button, please.

He's at home in the field as he is on the track,

but only under Dad's watchful eye.

I was about six when I got this tractor. It's a bit slow, but I still really enjoy driving it.

He's always been on diggers,

on tractor, anything he can get his hands on.

Just seems to come natural like with loader or anything.

Two minutes and he's away.

It's not very hard, it's just clutch and gears and brake and throttle.

And then I've just taught myself how to do it,

and I picked it up really quickly.

-TANNOY:

-'Welcome everybody to Karting Genk.

'It's the European Championships here on this lovely sunny afternoon in Belgium.'

It's early July, and Jake and Ben are in Belgium

to compete against each other and 90 of the continent's best drivers for the title of European Champion.

It's the most important event of their summer so far.

If I have good heats I could probably start about sixth on the grid

which is easily possible to get a podium and go for the win.

I'm racing against my main competition, Jake, so it would be really, really good to beat him.

Hopefully I'll win and become European Champion.

To do that, Ben and Jake must first get through their heats.

But while Jake, in the red suit, is flying through his heats,

Ben is struggling in his.

Got to win this heat to get into the final,

and it's going to be really hard. I might do it, but the chances are slim.

Dad Paul offers a few words of encouragement.

So keep your head up. You never know what'll happen,

we might just bail her out, might just sneak it.

You can do it.

Ben, in the white helmet and silver kart, weaves through the traffic.

But with just ten laps remaining,

overtaking everyone is almost impossible.

'Good drive by Ben Barnicoat from stone last into the top ten,

'finishing in ninth place.'

'I was really fast but I just couldn't do anything

'cos I was right at the back.'

I did my best, and I couldn't have done no more.

-You all right, eh?

-Good drive.

Oh, well, brilliant drive.

Ben's failed to qualify for the final,

and his European dream is over almost before it began.

But his friend and rival Jake has made it through his heats

and into the semi-final.

He's well-placed on the inside going into the first corner,

but with 36 karts all fighting for position, it's a dangerous place to be.

The pile-up has dumped Jake to the back of the field.

He's now got just 12 laps to claw his way back.

Where he finishes this race will determine where he starts in the final.

That didn't exactly go the best.

I got knocked off at the start and that dropped me back to dead last.

I came back through, got to about 13th which wasn't bad,

but hopefully we'll have better luck this time.

We should come top five, cos it's going to be quite hard to get a win now, so we'll see how it goes.

But it's not just Jake's position that's been dented by the crash.

His kart has also felt the full force of the shunt.

If something goes wrong in the pre-final it is quite manic,

cos you don't have very long from the pre-final to the final. So it's quite a mad rush.

I'll give Brian a quick hand taking this track rod off.

So Jake's got just 20 minutes to repair his kart,

hardly the ideal preparation for the European final.

I normally get focused when I'm on the grid to stay calm.

And something's gone wrong now, it's quite difficult,

but all drivers have to do it,

and that's what makes them a good driver, to stay calm.

Jake's made it in the nick of time,

and starts to compose himself for the race.

'And we are racing!'

Once again the first corner claims its victims,

but Jake survives and starts charging through the field.

'Jake Dennis finding a little bit of form at last, going a lot better in the final, running seventh.'

He's got just a few remaining laps to keep his ambition of becoming European champion alive.

'And Pierre Gasly bids to go second and goes second.

'So the Frenchman goes into second place.'

Jake's fought his way up to fourth, and he's piling the pressure on the top three.

'In third place, Harrison Scott. Still under pressure from Jake Dennis.'

He's battling for a grandstand finish but he's running out of laps.

'Alexander Albon wins it, Pierre Gasly in second place. And Jake Dennis trying to take third place.'

He's driven brilliantly, but just missed a place on the podium.

I'm a bit disappointed, but at least we went forward in the race

which is probably the main thing, and we had quite a good result at the end of the day.

Coming fourth in Europe isn't too bad.

But it's not the result he wanted.

For Jake, every race matters.

Back in the UK, a huge amount of time and money has been invested in his future

since he was first spotted by his manager, Martin Hines.

I just thought Jake had got something special.

He was a bit more aggressive in areas, but exciting, and seemed very determined.

And I thought well, young Jake is exactly what RSF stands for.

Having worked with Lewis Hamilton, Martin knows a thing or two about talents,

and has secured hundreds of thousands of pounds of sponsorship for Jake

with the Racing Steps Foundation.

People say, "How can you spot someone when he's eight or nine

"that is going to be a future champion?"

Like Lewis, or someone. You can.

There's something about them.

They only think about winning.

Suddenly they tick all the boxes and you think, "Perhaps we've got a champion here."

And you think Jake is in that company, do you?

I wouldn't be standing here talking to you if I didn't.

In the expensive world of motor sport, money is everything,

so Ben and his parents are hoping that just like Jake, he too will get sponsorship.

It's very difficult because we can't fund Ben as much as we'd like to.

We just can't afford, you know, to keep buying set of tyres after tyres.

I'd just love him to get some sponsorship so he can certainly try

and go abroad a bit more next year.

We used to go on holiday in caravan. We sold that just to finance things.

He's got the talent, it's just getting the lucky break.

I really hope that somebody sees him.

Without the money for practise sessions at the track,

Ben has to find other ways of perfecting his skills.

We've got quite a big field round the back of our house

and I use it to have some fun with and pretend I'm racing

cos I want to be racing, but I can't,

so I just pretend I'm racing against people in my head and I overtake them

and sort of practise the things you've learnt and how to get them right.

They tell me it's good practise but I'm not sure.

I think they just like to get out and churn the field up.

He's definitely got a natural talent,

I know that's a dad talking about his son.

But at the moment, he's proving it on track without me saying anything really.

But racing driver Ben doesn't just practice at home in go-karts.

Woo-hoo! Let's go!

It's against the law for children to drive on public roads,

but under supervision on Dad's private land,

Ben can perfect precision handling.

'I learnt to drive when I was quite young.'

I just sort of taught myself.

Ben would spend all his day and night driving if he could.

He's absolutely driving mad.

My mum should be very pleased!

For Jake, things are a little different.

With his sponsorship he CAN afford track time,

but with money comes added pressure to perform well.

Right, here we go.

We have a left-right here. It's quite fast.

When you're out there you have to stay really calm.

If you think anybody's better than you, you're weak-minded.

We have a right and a left here. Quite late braking.

If you lose concentration, things do start to go wrong.

I've ended up rolling it two times in my karting career.

And that's a right. And a flat out left.

If it worried you that much you'd stop racing,

but normally you don't think about like, "Am I going to crash and die in this next lap?"

Karting is the only sport that you're travelling up to 70-80 mph

with your backside half an inch off the ground.

Take another one.

It's like jungle warfare on wheels.

And that's a lap of shake and bake.

It's August,

and Jake and Ben are putting the disappointment of the European Championship behind them

by setting their sights on the British title.

If I do win this championship it will be a big thing to win.

This is where Hamilton and Button won their first championships,

and if I do win it this year it will be a good thing to have on the CV.

The British Championship is like the premier league of the karting world,

with around 30 drivers competing for the title.

'The rivalry through this championship is very high.

'I've got some competitors who are quite fast'

and Ben who's very fast, so I'm going to have to push hard and see how it goes.

But Ben and Jake aren't the only drivers in it to win it.

Hot on their heels hoping for a place on the podium,

fellow driver 15-year-old Charlie Eastwood.

Two of my main rivals is Jake Dennis and Ben Barnicoat.

They're first and second in the championship.

I'll have to do a lot to win it, but I'd like a podium, a top three,

by the end of the championship.

The championship is made up of seven rounds,

each of which scores points for the overall title.

After a flying start to the season Jake went top of the table,

but Charlie fought back with victory in round three, and then Ben scored a victory of his own in round five.

They're closing the gap, but with two rounds left, can they catch Jake?

I know it's not nice, but I need Jake to have a bad race.

I think I might just reel him in, but it's going to be very hard to do it.

I hope I don't fall out with him though cos he's still one of my best friends,

but when you're on the track it's just no friends, take them all as prisoners.

Today it's round six and Jake's keen to get back to winning ways.

It's just one of those things.

Sometimes you're off the pace and next weekend you're two tenths faster

than anyone. Nothing to worry about at the minute.

Fresh from his last victory, Ben's confident.

I do need another good ride here to try and gain on Jake.

If I continue on my current form I should be in a good shot for winning the title.

Having been in the top three,

Charlie is also hoping for a good result.

I'd love to win the championship, but there's two rounds left

'and I need to get as much points as possible,'

so this weekend I really need to perform to try and stay in the championship.

But it's Jake who's still top of the league.

If he wins at this meet he will clinch the championship, and his sponsors have come to watch.

They're here this weekend, so it's quite a big deal if I do well.

If I win the races I'm sure they'll be pleased, so I've got to try and do them proud.

At the start of this round he's qualified on the all-important front row of the grid.

Charlie's third and Ben's fifth.

At the dangerous first corner, Charlie, kart 36,

gets a shunt and spins out.

It's bad luck for him, but Ben's up to third.

Ben has to beat Jake to keep the championship alive...

..and takes the lead, but Jake's right on his tail.

Jake darts inside...

..but Ben's not going down without a fight.

As Ben and Jake battle bumper to bumper...

..Charlie's pushing hard to catch up.

Up front, Jake sees a gap.

But Ben bounces back.

Jake patiently waits for a chance.

Charlie's fighting to get back into the race,

but Ben shows nerves of steel...

..forcing his way through, and Jake drops to third.

Ben is now in the driving seat,

but Jake's in no mood to be the passenger.

He claws back second place...

..then edges past Ben.

It's an amazing move, and Jake takes the win from his friend.

Meanwhile Charlie drops back, but comes home a respectable 16th.

Well done, Jake. Shake and bake, man!

Good race, Jake.

Really good race. Me and Ben had quite a good battle

and then I just managed to get a kart-length gap all the way to the flag. So a really good win.

And he's not just won the race.

The victory has also made him British Champion.

But it's not been such a good day for Charlie.

I got a good start and was in, I think, second or third,

and then I got hit. I went on to the kerb and spun on the grass.

So about a lap behind after that.

It's also a massive disappointment for Ben.

'First thing he said when he's come off, "Dad, I've let you down."'

Bull. He's not let nobody down.

'I can't say how I proud I am of him.'

The title may have slipped away,

but Ben's still looking on the bright side.

This year made a lot of people sort of look at me

and see how good I am cos I've been pushing Jake all the way, and I'm happy for him if he's won it,

cos he's got a much bigger budget than what I have.

Hopefully I'll get second in the championships this year,

then next year I'll be able to go one step better like Jake has.

His electrifying drive today has also caught the eye

of a talent scout from Formula One.

A few interesting people come to watch him, they're a bit interested in him,

and by end of season maybe we might just get a bit of help, and fingers crossed.

In second place, Ben Barnicoat.

And the winner, Jake Dennis.

That makes him champion, so let's have a round of applause for him.

-Shake and bake!

-'I'm really happy that I've won the British championship.'

Quite important that I've won it this year cos it's the only year that I've won it, so I'm just happy really.

While Ben and Charlie will have to wait for the last round of the British championship

to see where they finish, there's no let-up for Jake.

The final challenge of his season, the under-18 world championships, is just around the corner.

To help him perform at the top level,

Jake's sponsors are sending him to Silverstone race track, but he's not here to put in the laps.

Hi, Jake. All right. Ready for your session today?

He's heading for the drivers' gym with Formula One trainer Gareth Evans.

COMPUTER: 'Get ready. Go.'

What Jake's using at the moment is the Batak reaction board.

And what it's helping to do it's not only improving his reactions and his coordination,

but also the peripheral vision of the drivers.

You might think sitting in a car is easy, but F1 drivers are supremely fit.

They need strong shoulders and necks to support their heads when cornering...

We'll do 15 of these.

..and powerful arms to control the car during those long races.

Can you feel it in your forearms, your hands? Now lower it.

Don't let it slip through your fingers.

ENGINE ROARS

It's October, and Jake's come to France for the most important race of his life so far.

The World Championship is the biggest event of the year, and it's based over three rounds.

Today he has to deliver,

and after good performances in rounds one and two

earlier in the year, he's now lying joint first, level on points with a Finnish driver, Teemu Suninen.

Suninen's quite a good driver. He's normally always at the front,

battling for the lead, so we'll just have to see how it goes.

I could crash and get knocked off, or he could crash.

There's quite a lot of pressure.

Thanks to the points on the board so far, to become World Champion he doesn't have to win this race,

he just needs to beat Teemu and cross the line inside the top ten.

It's quite close in qualifying so it's going to be close in the races as well,

so we'll just have to see how it goes.

It's the final, and Jake, the youngest driver in the race,

has qualified on the front row,

with his Finnish rival in kart number 65 in seventh.

At the dreaded first corner there's a crash,

but it's not Jake biting the dust, it's Suninen.

At the start, my main rival, he spun off, which was a big relief.

As I saw him off the track, I was pretty much one of the happiest men on earth.

With his nearest rival out of the race,

Jake must now drive tactically.

He still needs a top ten finish, so he can't afford any mistakes.

For a few laps he's comfortable in sixth,

but then the conditions take a turn for the worse.

The rain coming down quite heavily, the kart was sliding quite badly.

It brought a lot of pressure towards the last three laps.

Playing it safe, Jake lets two karts past, dropping him to eighth.

It was very nerve-racking. My legs were shaking with three laps to go.

"I'm going to be World Champion in three laps if I stay on the track."

All he has to do now is hold himself together.

As we're going over the line I was celebrating, punching the air and everything, absolutely crazy.

But as I got halfway round the lap I was like, "Oh, no, have I won?"

We worked the points out and I had won, so it was a big relief.

It was one of the hardest races, but the most enjoyable.

Incredibly, the least experienced driver in the race,

15-year-old Jake from Leicestershire, has conquered the world.

Well, winning the British Championship was amazing as well.

I thought nothing could get close to it, but winning them both, really,

British and World Champion, amazing really.

Jake's not the only one whose summer's ending on a high.

There's also been a turnaround in Ben's fortunes. A few days ago,

dad Paul received a phone call that could change Ben's life.

We've had some fantastic news. We've had a phone call from McLaren,

wanting to put him on the young drivers' training scheme which is absolutely fantastic for us.

He couldn't want no more opportunity than that.

McLaren is the Formula One team who spotted Lewis Hamilton

when he was racing karts aged 13 and took him all the way to world champion,

and now they've spotted Ben.

I couldn't believe it. I was like, "Wow."

Whilst I was there in the gym Lewis Hamilton was there

and I got a hat signed by him so it was really cool, yeah.

The head of youth development at McLaren is Indy Lall.

We try to look out for young talent,

and certainly Ben this year has more than expressed himself,

and amazingly, on an absolute tiny budget,

and if we can guide him more, I think he's got a fantastic future ahead of him.

Being backed by McLaren is the big break Ben's been waiting for.

There's no money yet, but there is a commitment to his future.

It's not as if all the pressure's off my shoulders now.

I've still got to work hard cos if I don't they'll drop me.

And Ben's future starts here.

It's the final round of the British Championship.

He wants to secure second place today and perform well for McLaren.

Charlie's here too, and he's keen to put the disappointment of the last race behind him.

'In terms of the championship, third is still possible'

but it's very hard, but hopefully I'll be able to get on to the podium for the end of the year.

I just want to end the season on a high.

With the race about to begin, Jake has come along to support his friends.

Ben's on pole, Charlie's on row three.

Round the first bend, Ben powers ahead.

He's doing a good job. We'll be all right.

Charlie's tussling for fifth.

But out in front, Ben's pulling away and keeps the pedal to the metal.

Go on, Ben.

He's led from the start...

..and now he takes the win.

Yes! Yes, he's done it.

Charlie crosses the line in sixth, giving him fifth place overall in the championship.

Yeah. Pretty pleased.

It's the best result that I've had in the British Championship, so yeah, it's pretty good.

Meanwhile, Ben's victory means second place in the championship,

his best season ever.

If you go back to a year ago, I wouldn't have had a clue that I was going to be signed up by McLaren,

'cos it's like one of the biggest teams in the world.

'I don't know what to think, I'm just so happy.'

And it's been a summer to remember for Jake too.

'This year has been my best season by far,'

winning the British Championship and then going on to winning the World Championship.

There's not much more you could ask for in karting.

To make it to Formula One you have to do this, and I want to be in Formula One.

-ANNOUNCER:

-And the winner of the third final, Ben Barnicoat.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Next year, Jake will be turning 16 and stepping up to the seniors,

so the two friends will have to put their rivalry on hold, for now.

All right, I've had a good year.

Ben's been a good competitor all year. Really enjoyed racing against him,

and I'll miss him next season. You're meant to say something good about me.

Well, Jake, he's OK.

He's an all right driver, you know.

BOTH: Shake and bake!

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