COWDEN kart champion Joshua Nekrews is revving up for a shot at a motorsport career after burning rubber to become Scottish Junior Driver of the Year.

The 14-year-old, an S3 pupil at Beath High School, is ready to go full throttle and travel to England for fresh challenges after a successful year that also saw him win two club championships and the Gold Cup competition, consisting of two separate races at Grampian Kart Club and East of Scotland Kart Club in Crail.

Competing in the mini max classification Joshua, of Glenfield Road, won both club titles to continue an impressive run of success in the sport that began four years ago.

In that time he has won a clutch of trophies but, speaking to Times Sport, he admitted that he didn't expect to achieve as much as he has in a memorable 2016.

"It has been a success but I didn't expect to win as much," he said.

"I managed to a get a record 14 wins in a season, two club championships, was runner-up in the Scottish Championships and won the Gold Cup. I'd hoped to win a couple of races but at one point I was on a winning streak of seven-in-a-row. Last year was my first at Mini Max so this year was about getting more experience. I started in 2012 and wasn't sure what to do, but you get to know what to do on the track and when to make your move.

"I was inspired by Lewis Hamilton when I first started watching Formula One and I got into karting after that, really liked it and look at me now!

"This year I've achieved a win at every track in Scotland, which is good, but one of the races wasn't going too well early-mid season. I started last in the final but worked my through the field and, after 12 laps, won the race. After that I was determined to win even more and I knew I could."

Joshua continued: "Next year I am moving up to a different class and I don't expect to race much in Scotland. I hope to have a few races down south; they have more challenging circuits and some grids are 25-27 (drivers). I hope to get noticed by a few people and that can maybe help me with sponsorship because we do it all on our own.

"I hope to have a good career. I've won 65 trophies and I hope soon I'll hit 70, and then try to make it 100!"

Joshua's proud mum Denise added: "He's done really well and now won Junior Driver of the Year, which is voted for by all the clubs. He's got another two years in the juniors so we'll see what happens, but he'd like to race in England because there are some big and different tracks he wants to try, and bigger grids. We do it all ourselves so we'll do what we can afford, but we'd love to hear from anyone would be interested in sponsoring Joshua. Anything would help."