A team of students from Caterham School have won the London and South East Regional Final of the coveted British Schools Karting Championship 2012. Ben Dillon, 18, Ivan May Jones, 15 and Alex Jobson, 17 fought off some tough competition to secure first place.

The team's excellent driving skills on the race track at Buckmore Park in Kent on Saturday 3rd March helped them to achieve three podium positions from their six races, including two wins. The racing was so close that the team actually tied on points with Felsted from Essex but the two wins settled the trophies in favour of Caterham School. They will now go on to compete against the best school and college karting teams from around the country in the final of the British Schools Karting Championship (BSKC) 2012 at Daytona Milton Keynes on 1st April.

Ben Dillon, from the winning team, said: "We had a really good day in what was a highly competitive regional final. Having been involved for the last few years, it is clear that the driving standards have risen each year. It was fantastic to win today and we are delighted to be able to present the trophy to our school."

Over 600 teams entered the championship this year, meaning more than 1850 students will cross the finish line at karting circuits around the country.

Mark Turner, Championship Manager at the BSKC said: "Caterham School put in a fabulous performance. The standards were very high on the day and so winning the London and South East Regional Final of the BSKC is an achievement that they can be proud of. They have more tough competition to come as they will be up against the best in British schools at the National Final, but if they use the skills they have displayed so far, they could do very well indeed.

"The BSKC is a simple route for talented students to take part in the exciting world of motorsports. Almost 7,000 young people have participated in the competition since it started and who knows, the next Lewis Hamilton may be among them!"

By winning the Regional Final, the Caterham team, have a chance to win the national winner's prize of a visit to the famous McLaren Technology Centre courtesy of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. Here they will see where the F1 cars raced by Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton are designed and manufactured. They will also receive one-to-one tuition in Arden International's state-of-the-art simulator.

The BSKC is an arrive and drive karting championship that aims to bring competitive, cost effective karting into UK schools. Since it began in 2006 with just 22 teams competing, the popularity of the championship has grown and this year, there are 617 teams competing to win the title of British School Karting Champions 2012.

For details of the karting finals or more information on the BSKC, visit www.bskc.co.uk. You can also follow them on Facebook and Twitter at @karting_bskc.