FRESH from his first competitive win on an outdoor circuit, Barry's young karting star Joshua Slatter is now more determined than ever to race his way into the motorsport industry.

And there's no surprises as to who is the youngster's main source of inspiration.

"Definitely my favourite driver is Lewis Hamilton," said fourteen-year-old Joshua.

"But then, there are a lot of wannabe Lewis Hamilton's out there," he says.

After winning his first major event at Castle Combe's Karting Championship last month - the final race of his debut season - Joshua has initially set his sights on returning to the tournament for the Autumn series, due to start in August.

"I want to get more consistent, which is difficult in karting," said Joshua.

"Any race can completely change, based on events or the driving conditions. It really always depends as anything can happen.

"My main ambition is to just keep improving and see where that takes me," he said.

Joshua's ultimate goal is to become a Formula One driver like his hero, but he is well aware of the pitfalls and challenges such a career ambition could pose. In fact, he has already starting thinking of ways to stay involved in motorsports, if that weren't to materialise.

"I'd love to be a race engineer, as a backup plan of course," he said.

"I want to get my own kart so that I can start doing engineering work on that at home. But I also want to give myself the best chance to succeed by doing the right things in school.

"I've already started doing my GCSE in engineering and I'm working hard in the core subjects, like maths and science, to try and help me do that."

Joshua is currently a pupil at Stanwell School in Barry, but wants to continue his studies at Silverstone University Technical College in the future - somewhere he hopes to develop the necessary skills to forge a lasting career in motorsport.

And while Joshua is keeping his mind firmly on track, he'll certainly be hoping his racing career can be too.