Sandro Ballesteros and ‘Team Racing with Autism’ speed to the podium

Photo: Team BRIT

Team BRIT: Sandro Ballesteros, front left, with Bobby Trundley, Jack Ferguson, Flashman Finneran

12-year-old Sandro Ballesteros from Rochdale has once again stunned on the race track as part of Team ‘Racing with Autism’ (RWA).

On Saturday 12 October, Sandro and the team came second in a six-hour endurance race, against 44 other teams, where he also set the second-fastest lap.

Sandro was diagnosed with autism when he was three and had his first experience in a kart aged five. He began racing in Daytona Bambinos, and won his first Bambino Championship in his second year of karting, aged seven. In his first year of junior championships he has managed fourth and fifth place, now lying in seventh as one of the youngest on the grid.

Earlier this year, Sandro was invited to join Team RWA by Team BRIT, an all-disabled racing team that supports drivers with a range of physical and psychological challenges to access motorsport.

One of Team BRIT’s drivers is 20-year-old Bobby Trundley who also lives with autism, and he joined Sandro, along with 15-year-old Jack Ferguson from Ipswich, and 20-year-old Flashman Finneran from Cambridge, to compete in the Daytona Autumn Endura 6-hour endurance race at Milton Keynes.

Forty-five teams took part in the race, with 25 SODI karts in their class and 20 in the DMAX class

Sandro was third out on the track for his one-hour stint where he set the second fastest SODI lap of the race. His team mate, Jack, set the fastest lap in the stint before him.

After the full six hours, Team BRIT’s Bobby Trundley brought the team home second in class and seventh overall. 

Sandro said: "I think the team learned a lot about strategy from our team captain Bobby. I was enjoying it so much that the race didn't even feel that long. It felt good to get on the podium at the end after all our hard work."