EIGHT-YEAR-OLD karting hotshot Aston MacAndrew-Uren is set to make his season debut as he becomes the fourth generation karting competitor in his family.

The youngster, from Upper Heyford near Bicester, is following in the footsteps of his dad, grandad and great-grandad to take to the track for the Honda Cadet Series this weekend.

It will be the first season of racing for Aston as he looks to continue the family tradition and hopefully one day win titles just like great-grandfather Jeff Uren, who went on to win the British Touring Car Champion in 1959.

Dad Wayne MacAndrew, 36, said: "My grandfather was heavily involved in motorsport for many years, he was British Touring Car champion and each generation has taken up karting since."

He added: "A year ago Aston was just coming up to his 7th birthday so we bought him his first kart as a present, he's always been an individual kid rather than getting involved in team sports.

"He already does swimming and karate, so we thought we would just see how he would get on with karting and he loved it instantly."

Aston, a pupils at Dr Radcliffe's Church of England School in Steeple Aston, started the sport just one year ago at age seven and has since taken to the track like a fish to water, and even gained the backing of three sponsors: Everest windows, The Big Scaffolding Company and Brinkworth Landscaping and Gardening services.

This weekend he will race both Saturday and Sunday to compete for the fastest overall time at the Whilton Mill in Daventry.

His dad Mr MacAndrew-Uren said: "I remember taking him up to the airfield up the road for his first go in the kart, then we headed over to one of the local circuits.

"He got to a certain speed and thought he was really quick and so we put him in for a junior class and I think he was shocked at the five-year-olds that were overtaking him.

"But he was then poorly for a while with a really bad case of chicken pox, so as a bit of a way to cheer him up once he was better we got him a new kart.

"From then he just got faster and faster and started going every week with a real interest in motorsport."

The youngster was then backed by his sponsors who have ploughed money into giving him the a top range kart which he will be racing this weekend: a Synergy chassis with a rpm Honda engine.

Aston is now reaching speeds off up to 55 mph when racing.

Mr MacAndrew-Uren added: "We love it, as we have always been a motorsport family, my wife Sara is so supportive and both my boys Aston and his younger brother Emerson have an interest in it.

"It just means we get to go out as a family together and to have Aston and soon his brother become the fourth generation of drivers in the family is a real sentiment."