Meet the Sussex 11-year-old who drives at 40mph and hopes to be the next Lewis Hamilton

Ronnie Deacon, from Shoreham, went to a friend’s go-karting birthday party in Lancing last year and initially wasn’t sure he wanted to take part.

But after his mum convinced him to give it a try, another parent saw him behind the wheel and asked if Ronnie raced for a club because he was so good.

It planted a seed leading to Ronnie, who is in year seven, signing up to the TeamSport Brighton academy. Since then, his dedication and drive have propelled him to compete nationally, earning 8th place at the British Indoor Karting Championships (BIKC) in 2024.

Ronnie said: “Getting behind the wheel is quite exciting. My friends all think it’s pretty cool.

"The tracks I race on have lots of corners and ramps up to three floors high. I really enjoy it and when I’m older I’d love to be an F1 driver.”

Ronnie's ultimate goal is to secure a full sponsorship deal and compete at the highest levels of karting in the UK and beyond. This year, he will race in the u12 section of the prestigious Club100 series, where he hopes to climb the ranks and become the number-one karting driver in the UK.

Some of the races are streamed to thousands of people on YouTube, and Ronnie could be racing at tracks around the UK.

His mum Gemma said: “Ronnie’s had to be really structured to manage the karting around school and homework, but he’s really dedicated. We’re really proud of him as this wasn’t something we ever knew anything about. Football always used to be his thing, but this has completely taken over his interests.

“It’s such an expensive hobby, and for us it won’t be sustainable without some sort of sponsorship, but we feel like because he’s shown such talent we really want to pursue it for him.

"He’s really excited for the year to come and the new challenge, it’ll be fun and he’ll get to travel the country. He just loves it, racing is his whole world. He watches F1 races to see how they race, where they take their corners – he really does a lot of research.”

Gemma said being a spectator is not for the faint-hearted, with the 20 competitors reaching speeds of up to 40mph. She added: “I get really nervous because they go so quick and because I know how much it means to him. I’m happy wherever he comes in the races, but I know it means so much to him to do well. I knew nothing about this world, but once you get into it it’s really exciting.

"We were just blown away at how quickly he’s taken off in the sport. To go from only starting a year ago to placing eighth in the country is unbelievable.”

As well as racing once or twice a week, Ronnie practices at a track in Crawley.

His parents are looking for sponsors to ensure he can achieve his dreams of making it all the way to the top of the sport. Anyone interested can get more information by emailing [email protected]