Like many little boys, Leonardo Panayiotou is obsessed with cars. But while his friends have to make do with toys, this four-year-old has got his hands on the real thing.He drives a powerful go-kart and is already beating children three times his age at the track where Formula One ace Lewis Hamilton cut his teeth.

Leonardo’s lap times in his 60cc model, which can do more than 50mph, are fast enough to qualify for competitive racing – although he will have to wait another four years before he is old enough to compete officially.

In the meantime, a consortium of sponsors has recognised his talent and backed him in a £15,000 three-year deal.Leonardo’s father, Jason, 34, who also races karts, said: ‘He lives and breathes motor racing. He was born to drive.

‘He’s even beginning to beat me now and I’ve been racing for 15 years. It’s a bit embarrassing.’
Leonardo Panayiotou

His mother, Dina, 33, added: ‘It is very scary watching the speeds he reaches but he’s so in control and the sport is well regulated, so I’ve overcome the fear.’

Leonardo, of Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, first demonstrated his talent at the age of three when his father put him in a 50cc cadet kart with its speed limited to 30mph. After clocking impressive lap times at the Rye House Kart Raceway in nearby Hoddesdon his father, an IT company director, bought him his current £2,400 Zip Bambino kart.

Leonardo now trains two or three days a week at the track for up to five hours a time. Mr Panayiotou, whose brother Chris races professionally in the Renault Clio Cup and whose other son, Antonio, three, has also started karting, insisted he was not pushing his son into the sport. ‘As long as he enjoys it, that’s all I care about,’ he said.

Leonardo himself showed a levelheadednesstypical of great racing drivers. ‘It’s not all about winning,’ he said. ‘I really enjoy just taking part. I love driving.’

Track manager Steve Cutting is astonished at Leonardo’s skill. ‘He is the most outstanding and talented driver I’ve seen for his age,’ he said. ‘He looks set to have an incredible career – and he already has a couple of years on Lewis’. Hamilton, 23, began racing gokarts aged six, and three years later told McLaren boss Ron Dennis that he would be Formula One champion. He is currently leading the drivers’ table by seven points.

Source: Dailymail.co.uk

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