A KELTY karter aims to put his foot down and rule the globe when he competes in a prestigious world championship later this month.

Beath High School pupil Dean MacDonald (13), of Main Street, will travel to Valencia this weekend ahead of the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals that will see the world’s top up-and-coming track talent go head-to-head.

The invitation-only event is set to cap what has been a superb year for the rising motorsport star, who already boasts a British Minimax Karting Championship win and a third-place finish in the European Championships.

Dean, who is set to be one of the event’s youngest competitors, is set to race against more than 50 drivers in the Rotax 125 Junior Max class when the action gets underway next Saturday and dad Johnny told Times Sport that the youngster is confident of success.

He said, “He is far from nervous about it and is well up for getting out there. He’s really excited and is very confident that he will do well - we all just want to get out to Valencia now. I would say that it’s the biggest event that he’ll have taken part in because it’s a world championship and invitation only, but he has had a fantastic year. He’s the British champion, and is third in Europe so he won’t be fazed by it at all.

“I think there are only three from this country as only a certain amount are picked, so it is a big deal. There will be more than 50 entered in Dean’s class and he will probably be the youngest there as the rest will be around 15 or 16. They will be more experienced, maybe physically and mentally stronger and that makes it harder for him but he’ll be going against a lot of kids that he faced in the European Championships so he won’t be nervous about that. He’s been competing in a grid like this for a while now so he’s quite happy.” Dean began racing when he was eight but grew up around karts due to his dad owning a karting business.

Johnny continued, “He was playing on a kart from a very early age and has been racing nearly every weekend since he was eight. Beath High School have been great because some kids struggle to get time off for things like this but they’ve fully supported Dean.

“We can’t wait to get out to Valencia and although we expected him to do well in the British championship, his performance in the Euros was more than we expected. But he’s racing for a good team in Strawberry Racing and he can definitely go there and do well.”