Nathan Braithwaite is a young man in a hurry.

A pupil at Tiptree's Thurstable School, he is already making his mark on the moto-cross scene even though he is only 13.

So far he has won three club championships and has already started out on his quest for a fourth but has now progessed to a 100cc machine.

"Although it's a second-hand bike, it's still quick and competitive," said Nathan.

"My dad has had it to bits and reassembled it and at our last meeting at Mildenhall we had two seconds and a third."

Nathan is no newcomer to the sport: "I started when I was eight and I would like to get to the British Championships one day," he said.

He will need the right kind of backing to make it. He has been helped out by Sky Racing of Maldon for parts for his Honda CR100 motorbike but is looking for a sponsorship deal to help expenses.

"There's fuel, tyres, parts for the bike, new protective gear and that's before we get to the race, any sort of help would be great," he said.

If you can help Nathan phone 01621 819631.

Racing to the top - Nathan's aiming for the big time

Picture: ADRIAN RUSHTON

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.