He had never driven a single-seater before, indeed never so much as set foot inside a racing car at all – but still that didn’t prevent Ash Hand from turning heads on a hugely impressive test outing at Bedford Autodrome, with assessors left waxing lyrical about the young Nuneaton star’s ‘fantastic’ performance, ‘exceptional’ speed and ‘great potential’.

Ash was one of five leading contenders from the Lewis Hamilton and Bernie Ecclestone-backed Formula Kart Stars (FKS) British Championship to be invited to Bedford for a special shoot-out, the winner of which would receive a £10,000 bursary towards a season’s competition in the Formula Palmer Audi (FPA) junior single-seater series. The 15-year-old earned his place for having thoroughly dominated the second round on the 2009 FKS calendar at Kimbolton, brilliantly triumphing by nigh-on five seconds – a near eternity in karting terms.

Ash gets ready to take to the circuit, first time out in a single seater

“I found out I was going the week beforehand,” he revealed. “I was really excited about it, though I didn’t really know what to expect, which meant I wasn’t too nervous until it got to the point of actually getting in the car. I didn’t have any idea how hard it was likely to be – though I knew it would be tough to get through to the final three, and that if I was going to do that I would need to push.”