There have been countless column inches, news items and discussion and debate on the effects that the pandemic has had on our youth, their education, their well-being, their health and their future prospects. One local child who shows no sign of stopping no matter how challenging the course is Jayden Sherwood.
The last time we spoke, Jayden was 8 years old and had recently returned from Spain after winning the BKC Winter Cup at Campillos near Malaga, and later that year he finished 4th in the BKC National Championship in his first full season of Honda Cadet racing against kids aged up to 13 years old.
2020 was a big step up in Jayden’s skills and race craft, as he competed in the Super One Championship, a championship previously won by the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and David Coulthard to name a few.
Another big pre-season announcement was that Jayden joined the Ambition Motorsport team, thanks to his long-term sponsors Hydratem8 and Harwood Building Control increasing their funding this season. With this support behind him, Jayden finished 3rd overall in this very competitive championship, taking 5 podiums and 3 pole positions.
After a hugely successful 2020, Jayden bounced into 2021 full of confidence for a second consecutive season competing with Ambition Motorsport in the Super One Honda class. It was going to be hard to improve on a strong 2020 result but Jayden dug deep to win Round 6 of the 2021 Super One Championship along with taking 4 podiums in Super One, 2 wins as a guest driver in the BKC championship, and a win as a guest driver in the UK IKR Championship. With this strong run of results Jayden secured the position of 2021 Super One Honda Vice Champion. This fantastic result couldn’t have been achieved without the strong backing of Jayden’s team and sponsors.
What’s next for Jayden?
“At just 11 years old, Jayden has put himself in a position where he has opened many doors for himself, including being awarded a sports scholarship at a top private school in Kent thanks to his karting success. Jayden’s aim is to move to car racing at 14 years old, but before that he has two exciting seasons of kart racing to come.
“He has set himself a goal within the next two seasons to qualify for the World Finals in Italy, and not only compete against the best drivers in the country, but the best in the world. This won’t be an easy task, and Jayden’s biggest challenge will be raising the funds needed to compete at this level of competition. Although he has amazing sponsors that have helped hugely to get Jayden to where he is today and we appreciate their help so much, to progress to Europe Jayden needs additional sponsors to join his journey of reaching the World Finals.”