Kieran Vernon has started the season as he means to go on.

The 18-year-old driver from West Chiltington notched a terrific victory in his first outing in senior cars in the Texaco Havoline Ginetta Championship series at Oulton Park.

Vernon had a great season last year in junior Ginetta as well as the leading karting series, Super One and TKM.

After winning the junior Ginetta winter series he was offered a drive in what is known as the G20 championship, which is seen as a breeding ground for top drivers of the future, and he did not disappoint on his debut in Cheshire.

After qualifying second from a full grid of 28 cars, Vernon got off to a great start as he overtook pole sitter Paul Marsh, whose challenge ended when he spun off. However, the Sussex racer slipped from first to third after hitting an oil slick left from the previous race that took him into the grass.

It did not deter him as he chased down seasoned G20 campaigners Paul Sheard and Gary Simms before eventually getting past them both with some brave overtaking moves to regain the lead with two laps to go and go on to gain a comfortable victory.

Dad Keith said: "Kieran drove extremely well and showed great determination.

"The owners of Ginetta were there which was good because it is all about impressing people.

"If Kieran does well this year he will almost certainly get a test and maybe a place in the Ginetta G50 next year, which could lead to competing at Le Mans.

"A lot of people are interested in the G20 series. Ginetta is seen as a training ground for future drivers. Henry Surtees, John's son, competed in it and Joshua Hill, Damon's son, is doing it this year.

"A lot of people watch this series and take notice, including Formula Three teams because teams are always looking for good drivers.

"It is a very good series to be in because it can lead to other things. If he doesn't do G50 next year he could do the Renault European series.

"He gets a lot of exposure doing this and the introductions are already coming along."

Vernon still has work to do to get the car set up as he would like, which made his victory all the more impressive, and he came unstuck in the second race at Oulton Park on Bank Holiday Monday.

His mechanic, Trevor Taylor, had been taken to hospital overnight and he was left without help to resolve a serious clutch problem. When he stalled on the grid as the lights went green he was left at the back of the field but he drove well to move up from 28th place to ninth, especially as he was sent into a spin when Scott Stringfellow, son of Peter, ran into the back of him.

Keith Vernon is keen to nurture his son's progress carefully. The pair are hungry to win the championship and dad has given Kieran some sound advice.

He said: "We are trying to win this championship, not win every race. Winning the championship is more important.

"If you try to win every race you can run into problems with other drivers. If you try to stay out of trouble and just get on the podium you can do better in the long run. It is a case of driving safely, rather than all or nothing."

Vernon, who is a student at Steyning Sixth Form College, is also one of four drivers nationally on the Government-funded Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence course.

The AASE was set up to equip athletics with the skills they need to compete on an international stage. It was essentially created with the 2012 London Olympics in mind but, as it is open to all sports, Vernon and three other highly-rated drivers have been enlisted.

The apprenticeships help athletes with such things as fitness regimes and training as well as teaching them about nutrition, psychology and how to progress in their sport.