Harvey Dent is putting his studies first despite a trophy-winning first full season in car racing.

The 17-year-old Chatham & Clarendon Grammar School pupil finished third in the 2022 National Junior Saloon Car Championship - picking up his trophy at a recent award ceremony.

But Dent, from Margate, is putting racing aspirations aside as he focuses on getting A-level grades which will enable him to study motorsport engineering at university.

It’s been a rapid transition for the teenager - who turns 18 next month. He’s gone from karting for pleasure at Bayford Meadows in Sittingbourne to tearing around some of the most prestigious tracks in the country.

Dent impressed quickly in the karts, starting out as a 12-year-old, but his size - he’s already 6ft 4in - meant he was disadvantaged and that helped make the decision to move into cars an easier one.

He said: “I was never ever skinny and that makes a difference in equal machinery, giving some a massive advantage, so we decided the most logical thing was either to go towards the karting with a ballast, or cars. We liked cars so went to cars.”

Dent took on a scholarship in the Junior Saloon Car Championship, with driving ability assessed, along with fitness and other skills. From a group of over 50, he finished in the top four.

“I wasn’t picked as the winner but knew we were close,” he said. “I enjoyed the atmosphere, everyone was really friendly and a few weeks later got an email asking if we could do testing and we took advantage of that.”

He managed to race for half of the season and again impressed, leading him to start on the grid for the 2022 championship.

Sponsorship enabled him to pay the big costs associated with racing, including from his main backer - brother Ryan Burley, who runs Pro Environmental with business partner Jack Welsh.

He had a positive start to the season at Silverstone and proved to be consistent, picking up a maiden win at Croft and took second places in all three races at Pembury - including one where he was initially awarded a win as the lead driver was hit with a time-penalty, only for the organisers to reverse the decision.

He got involved in a few skirmishes, too, - including a big one in his final race after a collision with his rival for third that took them both out.

Dent recalled: “We were pretty much equal on points and I was third, two corners in, and my rival locked up his breaks going into a hairpin, slammed into the back of me and spun me around. I got hit by every other car that came along!

“It was not a good way to end the season but he had to pull into the pits after breaking his steering column. Neither of us got points so it meant I still got third in the championship.”

It had been a rough way to end an exceptional first full season and Dent is certainly keep to get back behind the wheel - once the exams are out of the way.

“I feel I have unfinished business,” he said. “I know for a fact I made a lot of mistakes but I am glad I made those mistakes because in the future I will use those lessons I learnt in the junior stage and hopefully I won’t make them again.

“I am grateful to the sponsors because they got me to where I finished last year, in a national car racing series - something I didn’t think I would have done three years ago.”