Sam Bird first set foot in a go-kart at Daytona Sandown Park as a six year old boy.
He'd been telling his parents since he was two years old that he wanted to be a racing driver when he was older, and nagged them to take him racing every birthday until he was finally allowed to.
After his first laps around the track, the instructor half-jokingly told Sam's parents that he's a natural and that one day Williams would come looking for him.
Ten years later, Frank Williams did call Sam and invited him to test their Formula 1 car.
Sam recounts his journey from Daytona and beyond; winning in junior Championships, making lifelong friends who also race professionally, and the valuable skills he learned whilst karting.
Mentoring the next generation
Sam is Sandown Park's Celebrity Leaderboard DMAX lap record holder.
He knows our track like the back of his hand and has completed several thousands of laps over the years.
We wanted to put his skills to the test against somebody up-and-coming, so we invited double-SuperChamps winner Archie Bullard to race against Bird.
They were neck-and-neck throughout the race and afterwards, Sam took the time to offer Archie some race tutoring.
