Lochlan Bearman returned to action in more familiar surroundings on Sunday and finished second at round four of Whilton Mill Kart Club despite several hiccups.

Having competed in Belgium the previous weekend, the 13-year-old from Theydon Bois was unable to attend the practice day and went into the competition having had just three practice laps.

Starting fourth in heat one, Bearman finished in first before being flung out of his kart on heat two and required medical attention. After being cleared to race once more, heat two was re-un and Bearman crossed the line in eighth.

Twelfth on the grid for the final qualifying heat, the teenager came home in fourth to secure third place for the final.

There was no change to Bearman’s position for the first five laps of the final as he drove well to cling onto third position. Bearman eventually crept into second but was unable to depose the eventual winner.

He said: “To be honest I am quite happy with the result. I just did not have enough to make a clean move and did not want to risk crashing.

“I was also having to defend so making a challenge was always going to be hard. We had a number of issues today and I just could not get the kart working how I wanted it to but the team worked really hard and we got better and better during the day.”