BRDC Stars of Tomorrow front-runner Jordan King has swapped his Mini Max mount for horsepower of a rather greater variety of late, by taking a Formula Renault Italia machine for a spin around the Llandow circuit in south Wales. The young Harbury ace clearly enjoyed his maiden foray into the world of single-seaters, even if he admitted to ‘only’ being able to do 100mph down the straight due to a specially-restricted half-throttle on the car’s 2.0-litre engine.

“It was amazing!” the 13-year-old enthused. “Before I went out they were like ‘Don’t crash it – just go round steady for the first five laps’, so I wasn’t going too fast. We were just really learning the basics, so that when we get in the car again it will all be a bit easier to adapt to.

“It felt as if I was driving a Formula 1 car. It had five times more grip and ten times more g-force than I had been used to in a kart; going round the corners my whole body kept getting pushed to the side. I would do it again like a shot!”

He will not have to wait too long, as a further two-day test has been planned at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit – home to the Belgian Grand Prix and also Eau Rouge, the most daunting curve on the F1 calendar.

“That’s going to be really good,” Jordan stressed, “especially going through Eau Rouge! It’s one of the best tracks in the world.”

In the meantime the Xtreme Racing star still has his karting to focus upon, and after testing alongside the locals out in Dubai he entered the most recent meeting on his schedule – a club round at Whilton Mill – on the back of a consistent run of success and in high spirits.

“I was really confident heading to Whilton,” he confirmed, “because I had had quite a lot of good weekends leading up to it. We were really quick in dry practice, but then it rained on race day and we had to change things on the kart.

“Usually we get there straightaway – we put on the basic set-up we normally run at the circuit and just modify it for the conditions. The change in weather didn’t throw me at all because I’m quite quick in the wet, so it was just a question of keeping my head. We got it right in time for the third heat.”

Indeed, three good finishes throughout the heat races were testament to that, and Jordan would line up in seventh spot on the grid for the final, going on to pick his rivals off one-by-one in a supreme display of wet weather prowess en route to the chequered flag.

“I knew what I had to do,” he asserted. “I got up to fourth at the start and made up a couple more places over the first two laps. I then chased down my team-mate Pippa Coleman. She made a mistake which allowed me to get past, and after that I was just able to pull out a bit of a gap. To win after not making any mistakes in the tricky conditions was really good.”