West Hatch High School student Darshan Pindoria is aiming for the top in the world of karting.

Darshan, 13, started leisure karting at the age of seven competing in a cadet kart at Tilbury, Essex, and Rye House, Hertfordshire.

He gained the Motor Sports Authority’s kart driver’s licence on his eighth birthday and now races every other weekend.

A typical racing weekend sees him get up at 5am, get driven some 100 miles  to the race track, set up awnings and equipment, prepare his kart, undertake track walks and attend a driver briefing – all before 9am.

A race weekend involves up to seven testing sessions on the Saturday and four races on the Sunday with the events attracting drivers from as far as Spain, Russia, Kenya, Argentina and Japan.

Darshan, a Year 8 student at the Chigwell school, has spent the last three years gaining experience on the UK’s 14 good quality karting circuits competing in the British championships – ‘Karting Super 1’ championship which involves racing in Scotland, England and Wales in seven challenging rounds.

This year (2013) Darshan has been in the top ten for the mini-max competition series at Hunts Racing Club, Cambridgeshire and Whilton Mill Stars Kart Club, Northamptonshire, where both competitions attracted more than 100 young national and international competitors aged 11 to 16.

Last year (2012) Darshan was runner-up at the Hunts Racing Club, Honda cadet class while the previous year he was cadet champion at Beccles Kart Club, Norfolk at the age of ten.

Darshan, who lives in Chigwell, has been coached and mentored by his dad, Kam, throughout his racing experiences from 2008 and this year the Pindorias joined Cooper Motor Sports Racing team.

Team principal Gary Cooper said: “‘When Darshan joined our Cooper Motorsport Kart team he was a driver with a few years of karting experience racing in the Honda cadet class which is for eight-year-olds.

“Since joining us he has moved up to mini max class (a class for 11-year-olds and up).

“Over the last four months we have worked with Darshan as a matured driver using data logging and GPS data and have vastly improved his lap times.

“We have also changed his race kart manufacturer and have had his race engine rebuilt. This coupled with his own hard work and determination has brought Darshan up to the top five in the mini-max class.

“The future is very bright for Darshan. In 2014 he has a very good chance of winning many of his races and potentially becoming the club champion at a variety of circuits.”