Eight-year-old go-kart driver Jayan Prakash dreams of being the next Lewis Hamilton

ITV Granada Reports sports correspondent Mike Hall went to meet Jayan Prakash

An eight-year-old go-kart driver has ambitions of becoming a Formula One champion - just like his hero Lewis Hamilton.

Jayan Prakash, who lives in Lancashire, is one of brightest young stars in the world of karting, having first got behind the wheel at the young age of six.

The primary school pupil recently won the Global Karting League Bambino National Championship - his first year of competitive karting.

He aspires to follow in the tracks of British driver Sir Lewis Hamilton, who was also an outstanding young go-karter and is now a seven-time Formula One world champion.

"He never gives up and if something goes wrong he keeps going," Jayan said.

Clocking speeds of more than 60 miles per hour, Jayan has recorded 20 podium finishes to date and now is now sponsored by Porsche.

Charlotte Brown, from Porsche Centre Preston, said: "We've decided to back Jayan because he's such a talent at such a young age.

"He's out there competing with kids triple his age and beating them. It's unreal.

"The speed he's producing and times he's producing. It's everything we look for in a talent."

His dad, Sandeep Prakash, says his son always "played with cars in the toy room and loved watching Formula One", and admits watching from the sidelines can be "scary".

"You have to have faith in what he's doing. He seems to have good control on the track," said Sandeep.

"I wouldn't like to get on the track with him. He keeps asking when are we going to race each other but I think he would embarrass all of us."

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