He started his career at the tender age of nine. By ten, he was on the fringes of the top 20 young talents on the drag racing circuit.

Four years later, Frankie Fordham is looking back on his most stellar season to date with three podium finishes and a silver medal in the UK Championships to his name, not forgetting the experience of racing in front of 50,000 fans at the prestigious Hockenheim circuit.

Frankie was only aiming to qualify in the top five for one event...

Topping the table

Frankie’s season started back in April at the Santa Pod Raceway Festival of Power, qualifying 12th out of 27 competitors.

Yet his temperament and ability to go deep into competitions helped Frankie climb through the knockout stages, reaching the first of three finals in the Lucas Oil Products UK Championships, eventually finishing runner-up after his first weekend of action.

Two weeks later and Frankie made a flying start at the Springspeed Nationals, hitting the top of the qualification charts at one point during the competition.

Once again, he was able to progress all the way to the final and, despite finishing runner-up again, accrued enough points to top the UK Championships.

Dowdy fights back

The next few weeks proved tough but Frankie remained an impressive competitor. After struggling in qualification at the European Championships, the teenager fought his way to the quarter-finals.

Yet that was the competition that main title rival, Matthew Dowdy, found his form as the European Championships underpinned the first of three successive series victories for Dowdy.

As for Frankie, it was a tough end to the mid-season period with exit in round one of the eliminations at the Summer Nationals.

Hockenheim and the Euro Finals

The next few weeks of preparation were signposted towards the holy grail – Hockenheim - in front of over 50,000 drag racing fans.

Wet weather made an impact on the weekend but Frankie was still able to finish third in qualification despite only three runs.

Full of confidence, the Lincolnshire youngster came home to win the Junior Fun Day, progressing from last season where he reached the final stages.

Back in top form, the calendar ticked over to September and Frankie once again refused to be phased by a big crowd as another impressive qualification performance provided the foundations for a third runner-up finish of the season.

A season to remember

Frankie continued his remarkable season into the final weekend, qualifying third at the National Finals.

However, despite looking set to peak, the race meeting was cancelled on the final day due to bad weather.

Yet that anti-climax will not dampen the spirits of the Fordham camp who will look back on a phenomenal campaign with a quite incredible set of personal achievements.

Next year, UK Champion?