SCHOOLBOY karting starlet Louis Harvey has a new fan – James Bond stunt driver Mark Higgins.

Malmesbury 11-year-old Louis led the 2016 Honda Cadet Championship at the Rissington circuit in Gloucestershire, but has sacrificed the chance of winning the title by ‘swapping horses’ mid-season.

Louis has literally moved into the fast lane by stepping up to the much more powerful Junior TKM series, the class in which subsequent world F1 champions Jensen Button and Lewis Hamilton originally made their name in the 1990s.

To help finance the move, Louis had to sell on the kart that helped him win a roomful of trophies. However, the sadness was tempered when he learned that his machine was being bought by none other than Higgins.

Not only has Higgins won the British Rally Championship three times (1997, 2005, 2006) but he has worked as stunt driver on the last three Bond films, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall and Spectre.

In the latest Bond outing, it was Higgins who was driving the Aston Martin DB10 at 100mph around Vatican City and in the spectacular car chase along the banks of the River Tiber in Rome.

“Mark was amazing and spent time talking about Louis’ racing and his own rallying and stunt driving career,” said Louis’ dad Chris.

“He kindly wrote Louis a personal message and signed it for his motorsport collection as well as posing with Louis for a picture with his old kart.”

Higgins said: “It was great to meet Louis and see his passion for the sport with his dad, I will be following his progress and hope we can have similar results to Louis in the future.”

Harvey Jnr had originally intended to move up to Junior TKM racing in 2017.

The latest round of the Shenington kart championship saw him practising in both the Honda Cadet and Junior TKM classes thanks to assistance from Jade Karts with a TKM engine and chassis set-up.

Louis’ confidence grew through the day and a spur of the moment decision was taken to switch his Sunday race entry to the higher level races.

There is now no going back – he has forfeited all chance of winning the Cadet series at Rissington and of course he comes into the TKM tables with zero points.

Louis reasoned: “I will be spending the rest of 2016 improving my driving in a much faster and bigger kart to ensure I am in a competitive position for next year.”

Understandably, Harvey will take time to get to grips with the new machine. But in the third of three heats he finished a respectable fifth. That performance qualified him in ninth place on the grid against 20 more experienced drivers, and alongside one his oldest karting friends on the circuit Connor Kearney.

In the final Louis finished 11th to the delight of his parents Chris and Charlene.

“Watching your 11-year-old boy jump into a much more powerful and bigger kart and be on the pace was exciting,” said Chris.

“But these karts hit motorway speeds very quickly down the back straight and you can’t help being on edge as he disappears down into Wilkins corner flat out.”

The next step for the Harveys is to secure the funding necessary to mount a serious Junior TKM challenge next year.

Long-time backers Ideal Displays of Swindon are continuing to support Louis’ racing career, but a further £2000 in sponsorship from local companies is required to buy the latest spec TKM engine.

If a sponsor can be found quickly enough they can get their branding on the TKM kart, as well as Louis’ new race overalls and the race van.

Funding enquiries should be sent to sponsorship@louisharvey.com