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St Ambrose College may be renowned for having produced a string of rugby players who have gone on to achieve fame and fortune in national and international competition, but the school’s latest sporting star in the making is aiming to tread an altogether different path.

Jay Goodwin is only 11-years-old, but he has already made very clear his intention of one day following in the wheeltracks of his hero Lewis Hamilton and going on to lift the ultimate trophy in worldwide motorsport, the Formula 1 Drivers’ World Championship crown.

As a front-runner in BRDC Stars of Tomorrow – the same series that first launched Hamilton on the fast track to the dizzy heights where he now finds himself – Jay is regularly mixing it with rivals who are not only up to five years older than him, but also infinitely more experienced.

Having only come off his ‘novice’ plates in mid-2007, the Ashton-upon-Mersey ace shifted his career up a gear by graduating from the entry cadet level to the more powerful, Hamilton-sponsored Mini Max class this year – the youngest driver ever to do so.

Despite being thrown in right at the deep end in the prestigious Wigan Gold Cup immediately following his 11th birthday, he went on to turn a number of heads on his debut. Have no doubt – Jay Goodwin is a young man in a very big hurry.

That fact has not been lost on his school, which has granted the Sale-based speed demon special dispensation to be absent on the Fridays of his race weekends so that he can pursue his ambition, on the proviso that he completes an out-of-school personal development plan, to ensure that he doesn’t lose ground in his education as he conversely gains ground out on the circuit.

“The deal is that if I work hard at school and my grades don’t fall I get Fridays off for my karting,” he explained, revealing that his fallback option is to become a lawyer. “It’s really important to me, because next year I’ve got Stars and Super 1, which are the main two championships in the country. I really want to do well in them, and to do that I need to be able to take part in Friday practice.

“All my friends at school are really supportive of my racing and ask me how I got on at weekends. There will be a lot of hard work ahead, but it has its rewards. This is so important to me, and I’m very grateful to the school for allowing me to have the time off so I can chase my dream.”

Admitting that he enjoys school, Jay added that his favourite subjects are games – no surprise there, given his outstanding sporting prowess – and English, thanks to his teacher Mr Hutchinson. What’s more, as a measure of his commitment to his racing, he goes regularly to the gym and even has his own personal trainer.

Boasting cabinets overflowing with trophies that attest to sporting brilliance and achievement, St Ambrose’s pedigree is notable, but henceforth the school’s success has been predominantly in the rugby and athletics arenas, with Luke Adamson (England academy, Salford City Reds), Mark Atkinson (Sale Sharks, Cheshire), Michael Worsley (London Irish, NEC Harlequins, England A prop) and Dylan O’Grady (Sale, Ireland international) all former pupils. Jay, clearly, is something rather different.

“In terms of rugby we’re one of the best schools in the country,” acknowledged headmaster Michael Thompson. “We have a great rugby tradition here and have been on several international tours. Some boys have just come back from a South American tour and we are now planning a New Zealand one too.

“More-or-less any sport our boys take to they tend to do exceptionally well in, and it seems Jay is carrying on that tradition. We’ve never had a star like this before, and let’s hope Jay will be our first F1 racing driver in a few years to come.

“At school we aim to develop every child, and whatever their particular skill is we hope to build on it. For some it’s rugby, for others it’s racing… If we had a racing track in the school we could introduce it as a new sport!

“Lots of people are interested in what Jay is doing, particularly first years’ – I don’t think the boys can quite believe we’ve got a champion in our midst. It’s made Jay quite a celebrity, but it’s not gone to his head at all. Once he is at school he’s just a normal schoolboy and gets his head down and gets on with it.

“That’s the nice thing about it – he may be a star at the weekend, but he works very hard during the week, which is just how it should be. He has a tremendous amount of potential and we’re really proud of him.”

“We’re over the moon the school is helping Jay with his development,” added the young star’s father Geoff, chairman of Altrincham FC. “For Super 1 and Stars we have to be there on the Friday, otherwise we just won’t be competitive. We’re hoping he can finish in the top five in both series, and then the following year we’re aiming to win.”

Photo: Chris Manison