Despite missing the first quarter of the season due to his late start he went on to take second place in the club’s 2005 Junior Rotax Championship.

Remarkably after only his third kart race it was suggested he was already showing such promise that he should test a single seater racing car and he was flown out to Valencia in Spain to test the Formula BMW race car. Whilst there he passed his ARDS test, earning himself a National B Race Licence only four weeks after his fifteenth birthday. Despite being up against some of the best young karters in the world, including National and International champions, Tom was short listed to return to Valencia later in 2005 to try out for a BMW Junior driver contract.

In 2006 Tom completed his Rookie year in the Formula BMW UK Championship. Not only was he clearly the least experienced driver on the grid, a fact compounded by the fact he was only able to complete one day of pre season testing compared to the 30 days plus of some of his better funded rivals, he was also by some margin the youngest. On April 9th 2006 when he lined up on the grid at Brands Hatch he was the only fifteen year old in the UK (and almost certainly much further a field) racing in a single seater category.

Despite this Tom exceeded all the expectations anyone had for his first year of racing. In fact he was the first choice for the senior drive with Team SWR Loctite for 2007, who were probably the most competitive team in 2006. Team Principal, Trevor Powell, described Tom as having moments of ‘utter brilliance’ in his first year and was also impressed by how well he performed in interviews and the way he behaves when out of the car. He is one of many people to express the opinion that Tom is ‘the complete package’.

Trevor confirmed his interest in Tom by inviting him to drive for Team SWR Loctite at the 2006 Formula BMW World Finals that took place in Valencia (where Tom was teamate to 2006 Mclaren Autosport Young Driver of the Year, Oliver Turvey), his performance there prompted Trevor to formally offer Tom the opportunity to take over Oliver’s role in the team in 2007, an offer that came with backing from Loctite and Henkel and was the only drive on the grid with corporate backing. Despite this, sufficient additional backing could not be secured and Tom was not able to take up this prestigious opportunity.

Having had to sit out the 2007 season, in 2008 Tom will compete in the exciting Ginetta G50 Cup, the new GT championship set up as a stepping stone to British and FIA GT racing and eventually Le Mans (though of course Tom does not rule out a return to single seaters budget allowing). Tom will drive for newly formed Team GCR which has been set up by his manager Robin Sherwood and ex works rally engineer and Seat championship organiser Mark Stokes.

Other people who believe Tom is a star of the future include Steve Phelps from Tom’s 2006 team Nexa Racing said “Tom is probably the most natural driver I have seen in my thirty years involvement in motorsport, a joy to watch driver and machine in perfect harmony and in touch with the circuit” he has also described Tom as having a driving style akin to a young Jackie Stewart. Bob Jiggins who engineered him in karts said, “It is not just his natural pace, his feedback at the end of a race is phenomenal” emphasising there is more to Tom than just speed. And Internationally renowned motorsport artist David Burke has become an early member of Tom’s Supporters Club “Tom seems to have the right head about him…to have that certain something, a level of maturity and professionalism you rarely see…and I want the job of painting the official tribute when he wins his first GP!”

When away from the circuit (and not messing about with cars) Tom enjoys spending time with his friends, riding his mountain bike and is also a keen canoeist. He his also determined to continue with his education, he is currently doing a course in motor vehicle engineering and hopes to secure a place to study motorsport design and engineering to degree level.