Boy Racers My Life


Boy Racers

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ENGINES ROAR

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

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..to become Formula One world champion.

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ENGINE CHANGES DOWN GEARS

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There's only 24 drivers out there,

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

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Motor sport's my life.

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It's the thing I'm best at.

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

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first they must conquer the exhilarating,

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sometimes dangerous,

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world of professional go-karting.

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The amount of dedication that you need is enormous.

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I just love the speed and the adrenaline of it.

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

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Could this be the summer that changes their lives?

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

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

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And the place they all start out

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is kart racing.

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

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

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

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I started karting through my dad.

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

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

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You're going about 80 mph - 85 mph.

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The adrenaline's going in the blood,

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

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

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

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

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I went on it about five or six times.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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This was one of the biggest things to win,

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

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

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

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Probably the best race in my life as well.

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

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

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so now we have to put them all in here.

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There's about 20 over there,

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

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Like Jake, Ben also started karting aged seven,

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

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

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

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but only under Dad's watchful eye.

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

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He's always been on diggers,

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on tractor, anything he can get his hands on.

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Just seems to come natural like with loader or anything.

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Two minutes and he's away.

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

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

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and I picked it up really quickly.

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-TANNOY:

-'Welcome everybody to Karting Genk.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Hopefully I'll win and become European Champion.

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

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

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Ben is struggling in his.

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Got to win this heat to get into the final,

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

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Dad Paul offers a few words of encouragement.

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

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

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You can do it.

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

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But with just ten laps remaining,

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overtaking everyone is almost impossible.

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

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'finishing in ninth place.'

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

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'cos I was right at the back.'

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

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-You all right, eh?

-Good drive.

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Oh, well, brilliant drive.

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Ben's failed to qualify for the final,

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and his European dream is over almost before it began.

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

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and into the semi-final.

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

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

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

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

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

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That didn't exactly go the best.

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

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

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but hopefully we'll have better luck this time.

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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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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hardly the ideal preparation for the European final.

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

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

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but all drivers have to do it,

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

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Jake's made it in the nick of time,

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and starts to compose himself for the race.

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'And we are racing!'

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Once again the first corner claims its victims,

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but Jake survives and starts charging through the field.

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

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

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

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'So the Frenchman goes into second place.'

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Coming fourth in Europe isn't too bad.

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But it's not the result he wanted.

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For Jake, every race matters.

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

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

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I just thought Jake had got something special.

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

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

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

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

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with the Racing Steps Foundation.

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

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"that is going to be a future champion?"

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Like Lewis, or someone. You can.

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There's something about them.

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They only think about winning.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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and go abroad a bit more next year.

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

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

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I really hope that somebody sees him.

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Without the money for practise sessions at the track,

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Ben has to find other ways of perfecting his skills.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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He's definitely got a natural talent,

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

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

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

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Woo-hoo! Let's go!

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

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but under supervision on Dad's private land,

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Ben can perfect precision handling.

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

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I just sort of taught myself.

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

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He's absolutely driving mad.

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My mum should be very pleased!

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For Jake, things are a little different.

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With his sponsorship he CAN afford track time,

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but with money comes added pressure to perform well.

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Right, here we go.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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with your backside half an inch off the ground.

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Take another one.

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It's like jungle warfare on wheels.

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And that's a lap of shake and bake.

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It's August,

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

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by setting their sights on the British title.

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

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This is where Hamilton and Button won their first championships,

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

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

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with around 30 drivers competing for the title.

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'The rivalry through this championship is very high.

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

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

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

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

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fellow driver 15-year-old Charlie Eastwood.

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

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They're first and second in the championship.

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

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by the end of the championship.

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The championship is made up of seven rounds,

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each of which scores points for the overall title.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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It's just one of those things.

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

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than anyone. Nothing to worry about at the minute.

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Fresh from his last victory, Ben's confident.

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

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

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Having been in the top three,

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Charlie is also hoping for a good result.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Charlie's third and Ben's fifth.

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At the dangerous first corner, Charlie, kart 36,

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gets a shunt and spins out.

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

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

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

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Jake darts inside...

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

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As Ben and Jake battle bumper to bumper...

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..Charlie's pushing hard to catch up.

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Up front, Jake sees a gap.

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But Ben bounces back.

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Jake patiently waits for a chance.

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Charlie's fighting to get back into the race,

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but Ben shows nerves of steel...

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

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Ben is now in the driving seat,

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

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He claws back second place...

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..then edges past Ben.

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

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

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Well done, Jake. Shake and bake, man!

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Good race, Jake.

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

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

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And he's not just won the race.

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The victory has also made him British Champion.

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

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

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

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So about a lap behind after that.

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It's also a massive disappointment for Ben.

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

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Bull. He's not let nobody down.

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

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The title may have slipped away,

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but Ben's still looking on the bright side.

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

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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,

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

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

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

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His electrifying drive today has also caught the eye

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of a talent scout from Formula One.

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

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

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In second place, Ben Barnicoat.

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And the winner, Jake Dennis.

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

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-Shake and bake!

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

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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.

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

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

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

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To help him perform at the top level,

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

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

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

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COMPUTER: 'Get ready. Go.'

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

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

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but also the peripheral vision of the drivers.

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

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

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We'll do 15 of these.

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

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

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Don't let it slip through your fingers.

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ENGINE ROARS

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

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

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Today he has to deliver,

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and after good performances in rounds one and two

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

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

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

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

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There's quite a lot of pressure.

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

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

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

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

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

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has qualified on the front row,

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with his Finnish rival in kart number 65 in seventh.

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At the dreaded first corner there's a crash,

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

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

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

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With his nearest rival out of the race,

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Jake must now drive tactically.

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

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For a few laps he's comfortable in sixth,

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but then the conditions take a turn for the worse.

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

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

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

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

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

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All he has to do now is hold himself together.

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

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

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

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

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Incredibly, the least experienced driver in the race,

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

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Well, winning the British Championship was amazing as well.

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

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British and World Champion, amazing really.

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

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

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

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

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

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He couldn't want no more opportunity than that.

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McLaren is the Formula One team who spotted Lewis Hamilton

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

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and now they've spotted Ben.

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

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Whilst I was there in the gym Lewis Hamilton was there

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

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The head of youth development at McLaren is Indy Lall.

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We try to look out for young talent,

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and certainly Ben this year has more than expressed himself,

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and amazingly, on an absolute tiny budget,

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

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

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

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

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

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And Ben's future starts here.

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It's the final round of the British Championship.

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

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

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

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

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I just want to end the season on a high.

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

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

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Round the first bend, Ben powers ahead.

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

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Charlie's tussling for fifth.

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

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Go on, Ben.

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He's led from the start...

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..and now he takes the win.

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Yes! Yes, he's done it.

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

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Yeah. Pretty pleased.

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

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

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his best season ever.

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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,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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-ANNOUNCER:

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

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CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

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

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

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All right, I've had a good year.

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

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

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Well, Jake, he's OK.

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He's an all right driver, you know.

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BOTH: Shake and bake!

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Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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