About Me

My name is Matthew and I am 11 years old. My hobby is following BriSCA Formula 1 Stock Car Racing with my Mum & Dad.

Date of Birth 22/12/96

Objective
I would like to be a Mr Starter when I am old enough but before then I would like to have a job at tracks to gain more experience?

I started going racing when I was 3 months old and got my first of flags when I was 3 years old. I am now 11 years old and still as keen. I can be seen practicing on my own custom made stand in the back garden when there is no racing to go to. I also like to practice doing some of the commentary.

Qualifications
I have been asked to carry out official duties at tracks in

England - Birmingham, Hednesford, Northampton, Wimbledon, Arena Essex, Mildenhall, Taunton, Ringwood, Barford, Kings Lynn, Coventry, Skegness, Belle Vue and Sheffield.

Scotland - Cowdenbeath.

Holland - St Maarten.

Belgium - Warneton

New Zealand - Rotorua, Christchurch and Cromwell.

These duties vary between helping the Starter set up their flags and lap boards, handing out trophies and joining the winner on the victory lap, and best of all doing the starting for a race or practice laps.

School Clubs / Volunteer Activity
My out of school activities include netball, table tennis and Spanish lessons. The Spanish may not help me become a better Starter but the sports activities keep me on my toes.

Other Experience
I went to more than 50 race meetings in 2007 - usually at a track where the Formula 1 Stock Cars were racing.

At Cowdenbeath I have waved the flags for full races and practice laps. I did a Formula 2 race and Saloon Stocks race on the wall. It was a great experience being so close to the action.

I have been invited on track many times at Incarace tracks in 2007 to present trophies and go round with the drivers on the victory laps.

St Maarten invited me on track to line up the cars as they came out to race, then I dropped the green flag to start the race. The Starter stands in the middle of the track there so I saw the race from a completely different angle there.

When I went to Warneton I was asked to join the Starter for a big banger race. It was great because I stayed on the stand with the Starter for the next 12 races, watching some races and doing the flags for others. I was then asked to present some trophies and go round on the victory laps.

The Starters in New Zealand do not do as much as we do in England, they drop the green flag, put a white flag out to tell drivers only one lap remaining (they do not use lap boards) and drop the chequered flag. All my practice in England paid off as I found I was quite good at reading a race and knowing who was where in a race. I was invited onto track at Rotorua to stand in front of the cars and do “Gentlemen Start Your Engines” - I thought that was really exciting.

I have been interviewed twice for television, they were only small slots in the programme but it was nice to be noticed. I can also be spotted waving my flags on quite a few DVD’s.

At school I am a Befriender which means, on occasions, I am called on to sort out conflict. This will sometimes come in handy as some people don’t always agree with the Steward so may need calming down or talking to.