Sittingbourne youngster Bentley Garrett showing his class in quad bikes

A nine-year-old boy from Sittingbourne is making his way in the world of quad bike racing.

Bentley Garrett, a pupil at Bobbing Village School, sat on a quad bike for the first time during the Covid pandemic three years ago.

He instantly took to it and what started out as a way of passing the time quickly turned into something much bigger.

The youngster joined two series, winning a 50cc British Championship in 2021, and finishing fourth last year after stepping up to race against children up to five years his senior.

He’s taking on the older kids again this year, lying third in the standings, with a few months of the season remaining, and with gold in his sights.

“We got him this quad bike, just to mess around on, and he absolutely loved it,” said mum Chelsie, speaking after a winning weekend for Garrett up in the Lake District.

“We asked our friends if there were any race clubs around - this was the end of 2020 - and thought we’d give it a couple of goes.

“He just fell in love with racing and ever since then he’s been very competitive. He wants to be a pro and make it his career.

“I always say to his dad, if Covid didn’t happen, it’s more than likely I’d have been at work, and so would his dad, and we probably wouldn’t have come across quad bikes.

“We always try and say Covid was rubbish but before that we struggled for family time, where we were working long hours all the time, and now we do this and have family weekends away together.

“We go all over the place. I think the only place we haven’t been is Scotland. I’ve never travelled so much.

“There aren’t any tracks nearby. Anywhere we go, the minimum drive is three hours, but it’s great.”