Schoolboy motor racer Toby Earle will be looking to impress the stars of Formula One when he competes in a support race to the Indian Grand Prix in Delhi next weekend.

Fifteen-year-old Toby Earle from Addingham will be driving in two rounds of the JK Asia Racing Series for the Meritus GP team in the Formula BMW race.

And he is looking forward to rubbing shoulders with the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso in the paddock and hopes to perform well enough to be noticed by the most influential people in motor racing.

The former Addingham Primary School pupil is currently studying for his GCSEs at the Bromsgrove International School in Thailand where his family are currently based.

Toby, who had a distinguished karting career, is now establishing himself with the Meritus team which is based at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia.

Already in his rookie season in the JK Asia racing series he has raced at Sepang (Malaysia), Paul Ricard (France), Spa Francorchamps (Bel-gium), and Silverstone. Now he will be racing on October 27 and 28 in Delhi.

Toby will be hoping to add to the 15 championship points he has already won. His best finish was eighth in Sepang.

Due to the Formula One stars taking so much track time, Toby will be limited to a one hour practice session, and a 30 minute qualifying stint prior to the two scheduled races. In order to optimise the team’s performance in such limited time, Toby is spending a lot of time prior to arriving in India, in the gym, testing at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia and driving the Delhi circuit on the team’s simulator whilst studying for his GCSEs.

Toby is returning to Addingham after completing his exams to continue with his sixth form studies and to pursue his racing ambitions.in Europe.

Also in Delhi for the Indian Grand Prix will be Otley driving instructor Steve Stringwell who is one of the three race stewards.