A KARTING whizz whose obsession with all things four wheels started on the PlayStation is gearing up to race at a national championship this weekend - having made it to the final 30 out of 5,500 entrants.
Ten-year-old Freddie Sellars’ rise has been eye-opening for his dad, Phil, who saw his son’s talent begin on Mario Kart and F1 games.
Since then he’s gone through the e-sports route but then joined an indoor karting academy last year, where instructors fast-tracked Freddie through the ranks.
He reached the semi-finals of the British Indoor Karting Championships (BIKC) aged just eight, recording the fastest lap of the year at his local track despite being one of the youngest there with most competitors several years older.
Freddie will compete in this year’s BIKC final, which will be held in Warrington on November 15.
Phil said: “When he joined the academy last year we were told on average it’s nine months to get through each stage, but Freddie was fast-tracked through it.
“They said his lap times would already be testing their fastest members.
“After qualifying through local heats in Leeds and the regionals in Manchester, next weekend he will be up against the best in the country in the cadet category.
“He is one of the final 30 racers out of 5,500 BIKC entrants nationwide.
“His next step would be to enter outdoor karting and we are looking for any local businesses who could support his racing.”
At a day out at Silverstone - home of the British Grand Prix - he asked if he could compete at the British Army e-sports event.
All the competitors were adults but Freddie won ‘quite easily’, according to his dad.
He then won two e-sports events in Manchester and got to race against Paddy McCarthy - originally ‘The Stig’ on BBC’s Top Gear - on a simulator of Silverstone as the prize.
However, it’s go-karting where he’s flourished since and the sport is often cited as the starting point for where most F1 drivers begin their careers, with world champions Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna just several names who followed the route.
Phil added: “He was too small for the simulator at first with The Stig so we had to prop him up with bags and cushions so he could reach the pedals.
“The Stig gave him some great advice and said he had a real natural talent, and that we needed to get him in a go-kart.
“We did that and he’s gone on to flourish in that, too, so we’re very hopeful he can do some great things this weekend.
“We’re all very proud of him and how he’s taken to racing, from the e-sports beginning to now competing just a few years later with some of the country’s most talented prospects.”
The BIKC final will be broadcast on YouTube.
