Aryton Senna, Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton; all of these drivers progressed to the top of their sport through a foundation in Karting. It is the basis of where a driver learns the skills that will hopefully one day lead them to the pinnacle of their sport, the Formula One World Championship.

There are many stepping stones on the way to the top and in 2009 Alpinestars backed driver Jack Harvey, will take the next step in his ascendancy towards the upper echelons of his profession. The fifteen year old driver from Lincolnshire, England, will join the highly experienced Fortec Motorsport team for the 2009 Formula BMW EuroSeries as he experiences his first taste of single seater racing.

The series has a fantastic reputation for producing future stars, with current Formula One drivers Nico Hulkenberg, Sebastien Vettel and Robert Kubica all progressing through the series. Jack will be hoping to emulate their achievements and follow in the footsteps of last year’s Euro Series champion Esteban Guiterrez.

Speaking recently the reigning Asia Pacific Karting champion described his own aims for his debut season: “I’m incredibly happy to have been chosen to join the Racing Steps Foundation driver programme,” said Jack. “I’m anxious to see how the year goes and to see what happens. But I’m going to try and maximize the opportunity that they have given me to compete at such a high level in my first season of car racing. I’m looking at 2009 as a learning year. My aim is to make an improvement every time I get into the car, whether it’s testing or over the race weekends. But, I still want to win races although I’m not going to expect to turn up each weekend and put it on pole. The rookie title is definitely a target for me, but I’d like to hope that I can be mixing it with the guys with more experience throughout the season, hopefully from the first round, but we’ll see.”

Jack now heads into what will be a vital year in his professional career, with a hectic testing schedule and school exams to focus on at home, this young driver will certainly have plenty to keep him busy throughout 2009.