Young racer takes his first win at Telford Hot Trax

Cast your minds back to the early days when you were first involved in off-road RC. Remember your excitement at finally getting a chance to drive an off-road buggy with your friends and family. Now hold that thought and read the following story that stands out as a real quality experience from the last few weeks of my travels around the off-road community.

Lewis Lydiard first picked up a transmitter about 4 months ago. At the tender age of 13 years old, and with the support of his father Dave, Lewis decided he wanted to try his hand at racing. The father and son duo visited the wonderfully welcoming off-road racing club Telford Hot Trax in an attempt to try out their new buggy. Lewis entered his first race meeting and since that point has raced every week with his father taking care of pit duties.
Lewis has developed his track skills so quickly that a recent Wednesday evening race meeting at Hot Trax saw him qualify 1st on the grid in the C final. Lewis went on to race a faultless final and win his first ever race with a truly awesome performance. His racing skills are so advanced for his age and level of experience that you can actually see him taking lines around the track that would put some older more experienced racers to shame.

The reason this story has had such a dramatic impact on my last few weeks is simple. None of us can deny that seeing such young and natural talent succeed reminds us why we love radio control racing. Seeing the excitement and joy of the younger generations will undoubtedly transport all of us back to our youth, whilst giving us a wonderful reminder that the culture that we spend so much time involved in is a beautiful platform for building confidence and teaching new skills. Sometimes these situations make me realise that I am potentially witnessing future super stars in the making. Lewis took his win whilst racing an XRay M18T Pro that has been modified by his father to run an extended chassis. I am really looking forward to watching Lewis develop his skills further over the coming months...watch out for the name Lewis Lydiard...you will be hearing it again!