KARTING: LEAMINGTON racer Oliver Hodgson has been crowned World Champion at the IAME Karting World Finals in Le Mans.
Hodgson, who races in the X30 senior category, took first place in the Le Mans race after completing a series of national contests throughout 2017.
His impressive run of form earned him a qualifying spot amongst a range of international competitors.
Known for its competitive edge, the X30 category is the most hotly contested group in England with 144 drivers competing across four days of racing in France.
Thirty four finalists then participated in the final race, which Oliver qualified in pole position and finished the race in front by an impressive four seconds.
His world championship crowning is the result of years of hard work. Hodgson first started karting at the age of eight and entered his first national championships aged 12.
Hodgson has used his day job, where he works as an engineer at Tata Technologies, to boost his on track performance by developing new car models.
He said: “It has been amazing to win the World Championship and I look forward to continuing to compete in, and hopefully win, more in the future.
“I have had fantastic support from family, friends and colleagues who have been cheering me on along the way.”
Nick Sale, chief operating officer at Tata Technologies, said: “We are incredibly proud of Oliver on his great achievement and are delighted that we can say we have a World Champion in our ranks. We can see his passion for cars and engineering and we are glad to see it is bringing him success outside of work as well.”
