Talented young Kart racing driver, Joe Leek, 14, will this year have the support of Liberty Vehicle Technologies as he competes for top spot in the prestigious Dunkeswell MiniMax Championship.

Liberty, which is a leading supplier of braking and control solutions to Formula 1 and NASCAR teams, is sponsoring Joe in his bid for glory this year after he was named 2017 Best Novice of the Year by the Dunkeswell Kart Racing Club in Devon.

Joe, who took up the sport in 2015, will compete against 20 other youngsters this season on the Dunkeswell Kart Circuit, a track owned by former British Formula 1 World Champion Nigel Mansell. Additionally Joe will compete at the Clay Pigeon raceway which also hosts Super One, regarded as the F1 of Karting.

The MiniMax series is a popular choice for up and coming track stars with the potential to progress to top flight competition such as Formula 1, Formula E or IndyCar.

Divisional Managing Director of Liberty Vehicle Technologies, Anthony Blackwell, commented: “Supporting individuals with potential is important not only to the youngsters themselves but also to the racing community. It takes a lot of time and effort to nurture future champions but it’s very rewarding.

“Liberty has a programme – called Liberty Talent Pathway – for supporting young people into engineering careers and we very much hope to be able to offer life-changing opportunities to promising young drivers and engineers.

“As a business we aim to develop the technologies of tomorrow – both for racing and road vehicle applications, therefore it’s only natural that we wish to support the champions of the next generation.”

Speaking after the first race of the season at the weekend (25^th February) Joe said: “I am delighted to be supported this year by Liberty Vehicle Technologies. It gives me enormous pride to wear the Liberty race suit and I hope to be a serious contender come the end of the season.”

The race season at Dunkeswell Kart Racing Club runs from 24^th February to 11^th November.