Hitting speeds of up to 65mph, Alex Lloyd isn’t your average seven-year-old boy.

Following in the footsteps of F1 superstar Lewis Hamilton (pictured below), Alex, from Greenhithe, is already wowing the crowds on the race track.

He has caught the eye of former Bolton Wanderers, Everton and England footballer Peter Reid, who has given him some financial support.

The Culverstone Green Primary School pupil spends weekends involved in the sport around the county and is already showing great promise.

His mother Rebecca, 33, of Stonely Crescent, said: “My husband Lee raced when he was younger and we put Alex in a go kart when he was three.

“We all hope our kids will be talented and he does seem to have a natural talent for it. He’s only seven now but he’s coming first in races against 12-year-olds.

“I get very nervous when he races but I always feel he will be OK – you could play football and break an arm or a leg.

“It can be a dangerous sport, one of his team-mates had to be taken to hospital, but he’s really on the ball and has fast reflexes.”

The mother-of-three has also seen her daughter Grace, six, get into the sport. Two-year-old brother Freddie will be trying out ‘bambino’ karting before the year is out.

She continued: “We’re practising every weekend; really it’s a lifestyle so we’ll go to a track on a Friday, he’ll practise on a Saturday and then race on the Sunday. It’s very competitive but the children all get on really well.

“We spend a lot of time and money on it because it’s not a cheap thing to do – we’re always looking for sponsors.

“We’ve been told that he’s already doing amazingly well, better even than when Lewis Hamilton was at his age.

“He started competing in the bambino class at Buckmore Park and Lydd Kart Circuit when he was four and was a regular front runner. He then progressed into the Honda clubman class when he turned seven, racing at Lydd.”

Alex finished second in the summer championship and won more heats than any other driver in the championship.

When he turns eight next month he will be competing in full Motor Sports Association races.