Go-kart driver Dan Tidwell has secured a seat in a 24-hour endurance race.

It’s a big achievement for the reigning F160 champion, who will be driving for Manchester-based MS Karts.

He went testing with them for the first time last week in preparation for the Teesside 24-hour race on August 7-8, which will be streamed live on YouTube.

“It’s the pinnacle of endurance racing in this country for go-karts, said Tidwell, 29, from Sittingbourne. “It’s good to be in a proper team and not just doing everything myself.

“The kart was awesome when I went testing. It felt totally different. Nothing beats the feeling of winning when I’m doing it all myself but it’s great to be driving for a team.

“It came out of the blue. The title win helped and then I had a couple of good results this year, so it’s a bit of everything.

“I won a heat in the wet by a fair gap and a friend of mine who I race with passed my name across and the team boss decided he wanted me to drive for him.”

Tidwell sits third in the F160 standings this season but, understandably, has one eye on Teesside.

He said: “It’s a Le Mans-style race where drivers run to the start. There’s four or five of us in the team and we’ll be doing one-and-a-quarter hour stints.

“It’s a totally different ball game to 10-lap races but I’ve done some endurance racing before and it seemed to suit me quite well.

“I’m still racing in the F160 but once I heard I’d got this drive, my attention shifted to that.

“Everything’s snowballed since winning that title.”

Read more: The latest sports news in Kent