Kent’s Luke Reade made his debut in the Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain last weekend at Rockingham.

The 19-year-old made the step-up from karting to take a seat in one of the Falcon Motorsport cars and he will also race in the final two rounds of the season.

Speaking about the opportunity came about, Luke said: “I came into contact with Nick from Falcon after finishing sixth in last year’s Henry Surtees event at Buckmore Park, and winning an exclusive test with Falcon at Silverstone.

“Falcon offered me a drive for 2013 but I couldn’t get budget together for a whole season. Nick got in contact with me after one of their drivers dropped out, and offered me a drive for the remaining three Formula Ford meetings.”

Making the step-up from karting to a single seater racing team is a new experience and one that Luke clearly enjoyed being part of.

He added: “The whole weekend was great, really enjoyed the experience. I was constantly working with the team to improve my driving and car set up.

“On a normal kart meeting you are out on track a lot over the course of a weekend. With the Formula Ford meetings we were on track twice a day, so there was a lot more waiting around.

“Before I had even arrived at Rockingham it was clear to me that without testing beforehand it would be almost impossible to get on the pace during the weekend. So the team and I treated every race as another test session.

“I was surprised how many improvements we made over every session. I can say turning up to a track I had never been to before and having to drive a car I haven’t really driven in all conditions was one of the hardest things I have experienced. But finishing the weekend only a couple of seconds off the ultimate pace was a great feeling.”

Luke will be back behind the wheel in two weeks as he looks to make improvements at Silverstone and showing his true talents.

He said: “I am really looking forward to getting back in the car and developing further. It’s a shame there’s not a chance for me to have a test before Silverstone, but I’m expecting a big jump up from where we were.”

The aim for Luke next season is to secure a permanent drive in Formula Ford and preferably with Falcon.

He added: “I would love to race for Falcon next season and in the formula ford championship. I hope a deal can be made.”

You can get involved with Luke and making his dream happen for next year with a number of sponsorship packages available. You can contact Alex Read on [email protected] or call him on 0870 224 0646 to discuss the packages available.