A brace of mature third place finishes has moved Luke into a quartet of drivers who could lift this year’s British Super 1 Championship trophy.

The penultimate round of the series had taken the UK’s premier karting series up to Larkhall in Lanarkshire, and in practice the Millennium Motorsport driver had been in sparkling form and was the fastest in each session.

However, an engine switch prior to timed qualifying saw his pace drop off and he was unable to match his earlier pace. Still, third overall was good enough to give him the inside line on the second row for the two heats.

With his engine lacking that vital extra tenth of a second, Luke was still quick and managed to take the runner-up spot in both races to earn P2 on the front row for the first final. Having bested him in qualifying and the heats, Luke found that he couldn’t keep four-time British Champion, Mark Litchfield, behind him. Litchfield wriggled through and managed to eke out a small gap over Luke, who chased him relentlessly for each of the 26 laps.

"Whilst I wouldn’t say the title race is wide open, it is certainly a lot closer than it was and I’m one of the four drivers who could win overall.”

At the start of the second final, it was Luke’s turn to surprise the professional driver as he slotted into second. Litchfield used all his experience to fight his way past and rather than risk a coming together, Luke sensibly opted for the last place on the podium and more valuable championship points.

“With [current championship leader] Ben Cooper not finishing the first final and not even making the start of the second, I’ve closed the gap to him and my other title rivals. Whilst I wouldn’t say the title race is wide open, it is certainly a lot closer than it was and I’m one of the four drivers who could win overall.”

The deciding race of the UK season will take place at Fulbeck on 17/18 October. Luke predicts that the addition of the Lincolnshire track to the calendar could make the finale even more open.

“Super 1 at this level hasn’t raced there for several years. This could well be an interesting factor, in that we’ll all have to learn the circuit quickly and that might throw up some surprises. Thankfully, I’m pretty good at going to a new track and getting to grips with it quickly. So, we’ll just have to see.”

“It’s important to have a good education behind you, rather than solely concentrate on racing. Although the subjects I’ve chosen are quite broad, they all have a bearing on racing. For example, If Ferrari ring, I’ll be able to chat to them quite happilIn the interim, Luke will swap learning racing lines for physics, economics, Italian and photography. He has just embarked on A level studies at d’Overbroeck’s College.

“It’s important to have a good education behind you, rather than solely concentrate on racing. Although the subjects I’ve chosen are quite broad, they all have a bearing on racing. For example, If Ferrari ring, I’ll be able to chat to them quite happily”, he jokes.