Teenager Jack Lead is continuing to flourish - as he prepares to compete in an international karting event.

Jack, the winner in the Junior Pro Summer lightweight group Karting Championship in 2023, has stepped up to the adult category at Chatham’s Buckmore Park.

In the adult lightweight Sprint League, the 18-year-old finished six points ahead of second-placed Daniel Campbell on 472 points and clear of Jack Thorpe, who was four points further back in third, last October.

Now, Jack has been offered a prestigious invite for a competition at Buckmore in mid-May.

“All these achievements I have won have brought me an invite to an event, which Buckmore Park holds,” he explained.

“It’s called the Kart Race of Champions, which is held yearly.

“It’s a whole weekend event for, not just champions nationally, but you can get other people from the likes of Belgium and Germany competing.

“I’d heard about that event and was thinking ‘I’d like to do well because I’d like to get to this event because that would be quite a dream’ and here I am!

“After the Sprint Series, Buckmore sent me a message saying that I had been invited.

“That was a massive thing.”

It comes as Jack, from Hawkinge, continues to make the jump from junior racing to senior look a seamless one.

On Jack joining the adult ranks, mum Nicola said: “He had a choice of doing the Pro Series or the Sprint Series and Jack chose the Sprint Series, just because he seems to be more sprints than endurance.

“So, he decided to go with that - and then he went and won that, as well!

“We did eight months’ worth of sprint racing between March and October last year and he won the championship.

“October was the last round. He won the championship and then he got invited personally by Buckmore Park to attend what they call driver-of-the-year in February.

“He came third in the actual race. Then, we all got taken upstairs for a presentation.

“It got to third, Jack hadn’t been announced, it got to second, Jack still hadn’t been announced, and they decided that first place - which was being presented by Michael Crees, who is a race touring car champion - was going to be presented to Jack!

“His driving was good, as was his attitude with everyone in terms of how he supports his friends, on and off the track.

“It really was quite something.”

On stepping up from the junior ranks, Jack admitted: “It did feel different.

"When I joined the adults, it’s like they specifically know what to do.

“It can be brutal but, overall, heading into the adults has definitely been good.”

As well as competing on the track, Jack is juggling his college commitments with a job in the sport.

He said: “I’m working at Lydd.

"It’s marshalling so it’s, basically, all about maintenance and safety. You have to, not only be there to make sure everyone is safe but, also, that they are having a good time.

“Ever since I started working there, it’s definitely brought out my confidence.”

Nicola added: “Jack’s autistic and it’s his life. It’s really helped bring him out of his shell.

“He’s supportive of everyone and it’s just really good for him.”

It’s clear to see how just four years in the sport has made such an impact on Lead.

On why he loves the sport so much, he said: “You see other sports and what they’re like - and they’re okay.

“But when it gets to karting or motorsport, there’s more to it than just the enthrallment.

“There is also, on and off the track, the respect and I guess the passion.”

While Jack, who also does the Club 73 Karting championship, now goes around the UK, Buckmore Park is a venue he has really fond memories of.

He said: “We mainly went there because it’s the closest one to us.

“It’s one of those tracks that was just perfect and we’ve actually just stuck with the track.”

Nicola added: "It’s only when you start to travel around a bit that you realise how well-run and well-managed that Buckmore is.

“We have stuck with it and Jack seems to be getting every accolade going!

“We’re just seeing where it takes us year-by-year but, at the moment, he’s enjoying it and succeeding in it.”

He is supported by Canterbury-based ADM Computing and online school Purple Ruler.