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Barely weeks on from signing up to an apprenticeship scheme run by three-time World Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx, rising young Sale-based karting star Jay Goodwin has received another massive boost ahead of the start of his 2009 campaign, by tying up a significant sponsorship deal with major UK company Joe Bloggs Clothing, which has backed only one karter before in its 24-year history – Lewis Hamilton.

Competing for P1 Racing, Jay is one of the leading lights in the Mini Max class in Formula Kart Stars – formerly BRDC Stars of Tomorrow – a UK-wide series that has recently received the endorsement of no less a man than F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, and the same one that first set Hamilton himself on the fast track to future Formula 1 glory. And that is not all the Ashton-upon-Mersey ace now shares in common with motorsport’s newest and youngest-ever world champion.

Having sponsored a young Hamilton as well as such illustrious names from the worlds of sport and entertainment as Manchester United, boxers Amir Khan, Nigel Benn and Prince Naseem Hamed, cricketer Brian Lara, sprinter Darren Campbell, footballer Alan Shearer and music acts Take That and New Order, Joe Bloggs has now lent its backing to the north-west’s most promising young motor racing hot-shot.

“We are very proud of our sponsorship of Lewis Hamilton,” revealed the company’s PR and marketing director Bushra Ahmed, “because of what he has achieved and the fact that he has gone on to become world champion.

“We are always interested in getting involved with young hopefuls and champions of the future, whether it be in motor racing, football, boxing, tennis, music or whatever, and it’s always great to unearth new talents like that.

“We have sponsored some of the biggest names in sports and showbiz. We feel we have a great eye for talent – and for spotting it young. We’ve recently just launched our new teen Joe Bloggs website (www.joebloggsclothing.co.uk), and to promote both that and our clothes we are getting involved with teenagers.

“We got in touch with Jay’s father after we had a tip-off from a friend who thought he was perfect for us to get involved with. We will do as much as we can with him, with logos on his kart, helmet and suit, and whenever we have retail events hopefully we can invite Jay to come along with his kart and sign some autographs. I think that would be great.

“We are very excited about the sponsorship, as we feel we have another world champion on our hands. All that we really look for is potential. That’s what we saw in Jay, as well as his evident enthusiasm. We think he’s brilliant, and hopefully he can go a long way in the future. We’ve got very high hopes for him.”

Indeed, aside from making him the coolest kid in school with clothes from a brand that was once famous for marketing the world’s most expensive pair of jeans, Jay will be seeking to emulate Hamilton’s success in adding his name to the Formula Kart Stars championship trophy in 2009. On pre-season form and with his reputation and public recognition very much in the ascendancy, you would be hard-pressed to bet against him doing just that.

“This is probably the biggest sponsorship deal I’m going to get in karting,” he enthused of the accolade. “It’s really exciting, and I’ll get all my clothes from them too which is brilliant, because I love their clothes!

“They sponsored Lewis Hamilton and he ended up in F1, so maybe with their sponsorship help I can end up in F1 too! It makes me really proud to think that they would choose me after previously choosing someone as good as him. I think they like taking risks, but I’m determined to prove this isn’t a risk.”

Photo by Chris Walker