YOUNG racer Elliot Pinson has proved that speed runs in the family by following in his brother’s footsteps and climbing onto the top step of the podium.

Twelve months ago Oscar Pinson, aged 10, won the FAB-Racing Junior Minimoto British Championship title and this year it has been 12-year-old Elliot’s turn to take the chequered flag as he has been crowned FAB-Racing MiniGP 70 British champion.

The family live in Lydiard Millicent and father Keith said: “This was Elliot’s first year riding a motorbike with gears after racing minimotos last year.

“He started the year just thinking this was a learning year, initially crashing a lot and finishing near the back, but as the season progressed he steadily improved.”

Elliot’s success was far from a formality and he had to overturn a 29-point deficit at the final round of the competition to be crowned champion and only headed to the event fourth in the standings.

However, the Royal Wootton Bassett Academy pupil turned on the style at south west Wales circuit Llandow and won each of the three races in his class to win the title by six points.

“When the MotoGP was held at Silverstone (in August), FAB-Racing held a special race at the Silverstone Stowe circuit over the same weekend and Elliot won two races in the MiniGP 70 class and came second in the other, getting first place overall,” added Keith.

“After that, Elliot started getting better results in the MiniGP 70 Championship and won all three races in the penultimate round at Rowrah to move up to fourth going into the final round at Llandow.

“At the final round Elliot won the first two races and going into the last race of the season he had closed the gap to just six points. He then held his nerve to win the final race and the championship as well.”

Oscar, who attends Lydiard Millicent Primary School, has continued to live life in the fast lane himself and moved up to the Minimoto AC50 Pro class this year following his 2014 title triumph.

He enjoyed a strong finish to his debut season in the category, securing trophies in each of the final four rounds of the year – including one victory – and finished the season fourth in the standings.