Stratford karter Lucas Blantford to feature in Amazon Prime docuseries Driven Dreams

TALENTED karter Lucas Blantford is one of a handful of young racing drivers who will feature in a new fly-on-the-wall docuseries which is due to be released on Amazon Prime at the end of this year.

Driven Dreams, produced by Manchester-based Street Stars UK, will be similar to Netflix’s hit Formula One series Drive To Survive, where it will follow each karter both on and off the track throughout the 2022 Junior Kart Championship.

Stratford School pupil Blantford is one of 16 lucky drivers to feature in the programme and the 12-year-old was up in Manchester last week to film his pre-championship introduction and take part in a photo shoot for the Driven Dreams website.

Blantford told the Herald: “When I found out I was one of 16 drivers out of 100 to feature in Driven Dreams, I was just amazed.

“Now that the first bit of filming and the media training has been done, it’s kind of sunk in now. This is a massive opportunity for me to show large amounts of people the talent I have and also expose myself to a larger audience. Hopefully that will bring some official partners/sponsors on board to help with my career path.”

The good news does not stop there, though, as Blantford has also secured a place on British Touring Car Championship stalwarts Team HARD’s academy.

Blantford is one of just 15 racers who have been selected for the programme – launched by Team HARD’s managing director Tony Gilham and led by academy manager Claire Murdoch – which is structured around the key elements of a successful driver, including skill, fitness, public relations and sponsorship acquisition.

“I have sat down with Claire and we have made plans for my racing path through to my 22nd birthday,” said Blantford. “The plans are big and bold, but I know I can achieve them and, hopefully, with the assistance of sponsors, I can get to where I want to be and turn my dream into a reality.”

Gilham said: “Lucas has been a real star since joining our academy at the beginning of this year and to be on the Driven Dreams programme is testament to that.

“Lucas is a real talent and one that we are proud to be working with. His journey in motorsport has only really just begun and we are looking forward to joining him on that journey for a very long time.”

Murdoch added: “Lucas has such a promising future in motorsport and we are extremely proud and excited for his future.”