Boy racer!

IN the fast lane: Tom with North Chadderton School head Joy Clark

A TEENAGER aiming to be a top racing driver has already beaten F1 champion Lewis Hamilton.

North Chadderton School pupil Tom Brown is only the second person ever to get 100 per cent in the theory and driving sections of his racing car licence test - in which Hamilton’s scored only 70 per cent and 85 per cent!

The 15-year-old racer shared his achievement with classmates by taking his dad’s Formula Ford car to school.

Tom is now looking for sponsorship to allow him to compete in next year’s Ginetta Junior Championship, a support event for the British Touring Car Championship.

Several teams are interested in having Tom drive for them. But while they would cover his expenses, he would have to raise around £30,000 to compete and is now looking for sponsors — big or small — to help.

Tom, from Chadderton, was born into motor sport; he went to the British Racing and Sports Car Club annual awards when he was 11 days old and has attended race meetings almost every weekend.

He tried driving karts when he was 11, which fuelled his driving ambitions.

Last October he took part in an X Factor-style competition in which 60 hopefuls battled to win a fully-funded drive in the 2013 championship. Tom made it to the final — despite having never driven a car before!

Tom has almost raised enough sponsorship to make his debut as a rookie at the end of this year’s winter series from October: “Over the summer holidays I’ll be zooming around race circuits,” he said.

North Chadderton School head Joy Clark said: “It was wonderful to see the racing car. We’ll watch with great excitement to see how his career develops.”