Teenage Folkestone karting star Elijah Hazelwood is continuing to make massive strides.

This year, Hazelwood, 13, will compete in the SuperOne National Kart Championships - once won by Lewis Hamilton - and the JKC Kart Championship, supported through a £25,000 X-Kart Scholarship.

He beat off stiff competition to win the scholarship at Whilton Mill in Daventry.

“That meant a lot to us,” he said. “We were just going there for the experience.

“We were more thinking of doing it to just see where I was.

“My interviews and my fitness parts went really well, with where I’ve been going to the gym, and I just seemed to keep going through to the next stage.

“Then when we got to the final bit with the owner-karts, I really loved the kart and that also went really well. So, they decided to pick me.

“With the scholarship, they provide a year in the JKC. That’s a national championship.

“Then to keep me fit and near the front, we’re going to be doing another championship called SuperOne.”

On how Hazelwood had won the scholarship, dad Nathan added: “He’s a bit modest. It was crazy!

“It was at Whilton Mill - that’s one of the biggest tracks in the country and it’s near Silverstone - and they do driving assessments, fitness assessments and media interviews. We weren’t allowed in there with them so they do put them under quite a bit of pressure.

“They just whittled it down. The last three are interviewed with their parents and then they make the announcements.

“It was very emotional. We didn’t know what we were going to do this year because it’s expensive, although we have been fortunate with sponsors, but this has helped.

“It means he gets a championship funded.”

The hard work and early mornings continue to pay off - although they are something the youngster, who has ambitions to become an F1 driver, generally doesn’t struggle with.

“I’m not really like that,” he said. “I do love it.

“But, obviously, there are times that I do have to wake up really early - and that part I don’t enjoy quite as much!”

While 2025 will represent another huge step, Hazelwood is eager to not simply make up the numbers.

He said: “It’s a whole other ball game, really. It’s a completely different kart.

“So, we’ll go back to what we used to do, which is just focus on getting better lap times.

“My goal is to, hopefully, be on top-five pace and get on the podium near the back-end of the season.”

Winning the scholarship capped a superb 2024 for Hazelwood, who started racing at Chatham’s Buckmore Park.

He came top in the BMKR Intermax Championship with a round to go while he also was Club100 National Championship vice-champion.

“With the owner-karting, that was my rookie season,” he explained. “I was more basing everything on my times, really, and didn’t think that I’d be at the front straight away.

“I’d done the track in rental karts when I was younger so I just seemed to be on the pace quite quickly.”

The 2024 season saw Hazelwood head across the UK.

He said: “There were a couple of new tracks for me.

"There were a lot more up north. There was Rowrah, Warden Law, Llandow and Ellough Park among them.

“But most of the tracks were, basically, the same.”

He is also now working with Steve Alvarez Brown - also known as Super GT with more than 950,000 followers on YouTube - who supports him off the track, and with building Hazelwood’s social media following.

Nathan explained: “Elijah met him and they got on really well. Steve is part of Quadrant, which is McLaren F1 driver Lando Norris’ online team.

“Steve races online and on track, and he’s just won loads of races at the Nurburgring. He has gone from simulation to track in GT4 cars.

“He just liked Elijah’s personality and character. He was presenting trophies for his Club100 season and, basically, came up to us and said ‘I want to sponsor and mentor him’. It seems like quite a big deal.

“He’s going to help us build Elijah’s social media presence and give us access to some more teams, and some more cars.”

No stone is being left unturned by Hazelwood, who is often found at home listening to racing podcasts or on his racing simulator.

On what he gains from podcasts, he said: “It’s more about the mental side.

“You learn a lot about the karts and the inside of the engines, which really helps.

“When you come in (to the garage), if something doesn’t feel right, you need to give good feedback.”

But the upcoming campaign will see Hazelwood come up against some drivers as old as 16, the brutal side of racing often on display for many youngsters.

Nathan said: “They have to grow up so quickly.

“Elijah has had it a couple of times this year where he has been the quickest all day. For example, he was at a new track

where he was the quickest all day.

"He qualified on pole, won the pre-final, was on the grid for the final - and the kart just gave up!

“He started to go back and there wasn’t really anything he could do.

“He stayed on track to win as many points as he could for the championship but that was just a kart failure. Someone could knock you off, as well.

“There is an element of skill and talent, obviously, but also there’s a little bit of luck involved in motorsport.

"When they’re young, it’s amazing to see how quickly they have to mature.

“There’s not many sports where something out of your control can ruin your day.”

Hazelwood continues to balance his racing commitments with his studies at Folkestone’s Turner Free School.

“The school have been fantastic,” said mum Emma.

“They understand he’s going to have some time away in the week where he has to test on certain tracks. Sometimes, that’s on a Wednesday or Friday.

“They have actually set up a really good system at Turner School where they created a Google classroom for any classes that he can’t sit.

“He can sit down to do them on evenings and weekends.”

Although the season won’t start in earnest until March, Hazelwood already has plans in place for the back-end of 2025.

He said: “When I’m 14, near the back-end of the season, I want to start testing in single-seaters.

“SIM Motorsport will help a lot with that, really, with their sims being as good as they are.”

Hazelwood continues to be an ambassador for Run4Your-Mind, which supports mental health and wellbeing in children and young adults.

He also thanked AW Group, NGE, Way-Better Payroll, Prosperity IFA - Financial Advisors and Casterbridge Wealth, as well as Steve Alvarez Brown and Gillingham-based SIM Motorsport for their support.