Meet the kid racer pushing the pedals towards Formula One
“You can't think of it as a hobby. Karting is life. Eat, sleep, kart, repeat.”
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00:00 When I put my helmet on, I go into my zone.
00:05 I just focus on the race, what I can do and how I can win.
00:10 When you go in high speeds, you do need to really concentrate on what you're doing,
00:16 because one bad mistake could lead to a crash.
00:20 Every race that I go into, I am excited.
00:23 That's what I like doing the most.
00:25 My name is Jacob Ashcroft. I'm a go-kart driver.
00:30 Go-kart racing is a sport.
00:32 You drive around the track and you compete in races and world championships.
00:36 The aim is to obviously win.
00:38 I do enjoy karting pretty much every weekend.
00:44 My role is to obviously drive.
00:47 I'm a go-kart driver.
00:49 I'm a go-kart driver.
00:51 I'm a go-kart driver.
00:53 I'm a go-kart driver.
00:55 I'm a go-kart driver.
00:57 My role is to obviously drive.
00:59 My mum does work in the motorhome,
01:01 and she makes lunch and gets all my kits ready.
01:07 My dad is my mechanic.
01:10 He will set up my kart and build the kart.
01:13 My dad sometimes shows me what needs to be done.
01:17 I can do that to save my dad some time.
01:21 He can focus on the rear end and I can do the front,
01:25 so then we will make the grid and we won't miss the gate.
01:29 Every time we get the tyres, I put the tyres on.
01:32 I was five years old when I started.
01:38 My parents were really interested in motorsports.
01:41 We were at a racetrack for a round of the British Kart Championship.
01:45 There was a small go-kart on the floor which I'd never seen before,
01:49 the Bambino kart.
01:50 I was like, "Jacob, what do you think? Have a sit in."
01:53 At first, I was a bit scared of the sound of it.
01:57 But as I drove around the kart path a few times,
02:01 I got used to it and then I started to enjoy it.
02:03 I said to both my parents, "I really want to do that again."
02:06 And then that's where the journey started.
02:09 Now I'm here and now I'm European champion and hopefully world champion.
02:13 This year, I've attended four main championships.
02:19 I've done the Ultimate Karting Championship,
02:21 which I came first place in a Euro trophy.
02:24 I was European champion.
02:26 And I came third in the British Championship.
02:30 The B&L Karting Series, I finished the championship winning
02:34 and having the maximum score possible.
02:37 I feel proud of myself when I get my trophy because I know that's an achievement.
02:41 When I do lose in a race, I obviously don't feel great
02:48 because I know that I can do better.
02:50 That's karting. You get really high highs, but you also get really low lows.
02:54 It's about then bouncing back from those lows.
02:57 We're racing at the top level of karting for children Jacob's age.
03:02 So the pressure is on.
03:04 You then need to manage because you don't want their mental health to suffer.
03:09 It's not your average childhood.
03:11 When Jacob looks back on it when he's older,
03:14 he's got those memories of that time that we spent together.
03:17 It's something that we always do as a family.
03:20 There's kids who are run by professional mechanics
03:29 and then there's kids who are run by their parents.
03:32 The paid mechanic wants to see the driver do well, but that's my son.
03:36 I have a much more vested interest in how Jacob performs on the track.
03:43 We walk on the track each morning.
03:46 Our data person can tell us what lines and where to brake in corners.
03:51 It's to also look at the track to see what conditions the track is.
03:56 Karting is dangerous because you can have a brakes failure,
04:03 you can have stuff falling off.
04:05 When you're watching your child on track, it can be the longest 15 minutes.
04:10 As time goes on, I get more and more nervous watching him at the track.
04:14 These days I don't watch the start of the race.
04:17 That first lap is so manic.
04:19 She can worry a few times.
04:22 Most incidents happen at the start of the race
04:24 because the entire field is bunched up into one big pack.
04:28 I obviously want to keep myself as safe as possible.
04:32 You've just got to use your head a lot.
04:35 You have to make sure you have a lot of practice in it.
04:38 I have a professional racing simulator at my house.
04:43 You can change all types of stuff.
04:45 You can change your weather, you can change your tyres.
04:48 Every time we go to a different track, I test around that track on the simulator
04:52 to make sure I'm all ready for that race weekend.
04:55 If you're going to do this karting at the level that we do,
05:03 you can't think of it as a hobby.
05:05 We are at track 46 weekends a year.
05:09 Karting is life.
05:12 Eat, sleep, kart, repeat.
05:15 Keep going until I run out of money.
05:19 If Jacob was playing football, he could have 10 pairs of boots every weekend
05:22 and it would still be cheaper.
05:24 We've just got to see where we can go with this journey.
05:28 I want to get as far up as I can.
05:31 I want to be a Formula 1 driver.
05:34 That's where we focus, to go and race to the best.
05:37 I know how hard he works at this, so I feel incredibly proud.
05:41 We will continue to support him as much as we can.
05:44 Ultimately, I just want my child to be happy.
05:46 (TRACK FORMULA 1)
05:49 (FORMULA 1 DRIVING)
05:52 (FORMULA 1 DRIVING)
05:55 (FORMULA 1 DRIVING)
05:58 you