MINIMOTO racer Bradley Perie has made the leap to big bike racing although he is just seven years old.

Bradley, a pupil at Heron Hill School Primary School in Kendal, has been racing his minimoto in Spain and having the time of his life, topping the lap charts and riding a class above the other youngsters.

It began to look as if would be hard to find any competition back in Britain.

Then he was approached by a member of Phoenix Racing, an organisation that takes youngsters through to the ranks of real bike racing via their own UK championship t "To start with we thought racing big bikes at seven years old was unthinkable," said his father Andre, "but after speaking to one of the organisers, Brad wanted to do this more than anything and we were told that if he could hold the bike up on the grid and ride safely he could take part despite his size and age"

Convinced, the family secured a Jawa GP50 capable of 80mph and took him to Shropshire for his first meeting.

"Our hearts in our mouths as he made his way to the back of a full grid, then the flag dropped and so did many other mouths as he battled through to claim fourth place.

"Seeing our seven-year-old racing past at 70-80 mph was heart stopping he is living his dream and says he is a real motorbike racer now."

The family says they have put everything into the venture and could do with some sponsorship no matter how small in return for names on the side of his bike, photos and race reports (contact 01539740050).

Last year Bradley became the youngest Minimoto racer to enter the British championship and GP championship where he finished in the top ten. He has been riding minimotos since he was just four years old.