A TEENAGER racer from a village near York has been crowned the youngest ever V8 Hotstox the world champion.
Thomas Brighton, from Full Sutton, made history on Saturday night (September 2), when he won the V8 Stock Car World Championship - and just a few months after his 17th birthday, making him the sports youngest ever world champion.
“I can believe it, it all seems so surreal, I won the British Championship earlier in the year, this is my first full year racing V8s, it’s all come around so quick,” Thomas said.
The race was held at Mildenhall Stadium, Suffolk. Thomas took the lead from pole position but got baulked by a back marker and was passed by Evan Bullock from Sheffield and New Zealand competitor, Mitch Vickery.
The teenager racer overcame this set back to retake the lead with a few laps remaining. He said: “I got hooked up with Ian Lewis as I was lapping him and lost the lead, at that point I said to myself keep my head down and focus on getting back in front as soon as possible.
"I knocked Vickery wide and then set on catching Bullock. When I retook the lead, I tried to keep it nice and steady and managed to open a big lead by the end of the race."
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