Steve is crowned Prokart champion

IT may be a far cry from the glitz and glamour of F1, but Prokarting produced its own nerve-jangling climax recently when Tregony's Steve Grose was crowned champion.

Lewis Hamilton had the nation on the edge of their seats with his dramatic championship win in Brazil earlier this month.

At the Matchams Kart Circuit in Dorset Steve was creating his own little bit of personal history, when, at the age of 38, he raced to his first ever Prokart championship win.

It came at the eighth time of asking for the Cornishman, but as he explained, it proved to be a frenetic climax to the eight-round season, which began back in March.

Against 15 other competitors, from as far as Brighton, Steve pipped Mark Davies to the title by just four points.

"I don't want to have to go through a final race day like that again," he admitted.

"In the second heat I got knocked down from third to last in the first corner, only to recover to second overall by the end of the race after I resorted to taking my brain out!

"After that it was just a case of measuring myself against the competition for the rest of the day.

"However driving a race kart and doing maths aren't the easiest things to combine."

The win was made all the more poignant by the fact that Steve's great uncle George Morcombe claimed the championship at the St Day circuit during the 1960s.

With the St Day track no longer in existence, Steve, who races an Italian ex-works MBA chassis at speeds of up to 60mph, regularly practices at the St Eval Kart Circuit in Wadebridge.

He said: "What myself and other drivers would like is a permanent track in Cornwall to race on like the much-missed St Day track."

Steve has been involved in the racing industry since leaving Tretherras School in Newquay when he was 16.

After moving up to Leicester to serve an apprenticeship, Steve spent most of the 1980s working as touring car mechanic. He then moved into Formula 3 and 4, during which he spent time working for Porsche as a coordinator in four UK championships. His last position was in design, before moving into IT 10 years ago. His love for motor sports has never dwindled, however, and Steve was delighted with his recent success.

"When you're a kid you dream of winning these competitions," he said.

"I'm 38 now, but I was over the moon that I won the championship against some much younger and lighter drivers."

Steve was presented with the winning trophy from 'The Stig' of BBC TV's Top Gear fame.

And he said: "It was a great day and one I will remember for a long time."