Schoolboy racing driver Lochlan Bearman zoomed into fourth spot in the Fiesta Junior Championship at the weekend.

The 14-year-old Epping-based racer was the youngest driver on the grid, in the series for 14 to 17 year olds, but he made light of that as he laid down a real marker for the season in only his second weekend of car racing.

The five-time former karting champion took on the second round of the championships in aggressive mood and qualified seventh out of 17 drivers.

But race one did not go to plan and he soon slipped back among the back markers and was later hit by another car, only to work his way back up the order and set a new fastest lap record as he reclaimed the seventh position he had started the race in.

He said: “I was really enjoying the race and without the contact and a safety car for five minutes I think we could have got onto the podium.”

That meant he started the second race in seventh again, but this time he made a much better start and was fourth as they came into Stowe where he ran wide and dropped back to seventh.

That was just a temporary setback though, and he fought his way back up the standings to find himself in a group battling for third spot before having to settle for a sixth-place finish.

Bearman said: “I feel like we are so close to challenging for the podium but we need to spend money on the car and that’s a real problem as we don’t have any sponsorship right now. Hopefully we will find some soon and then I am sure we will be in the mix for a win."

Bearman will be hoping for a podium finish at Rockingham in three weeks.