It is the passion that got him through gruelling months of chemotherapy – and the dream that he hopes to one day achieve.
For Jonathan Edwards, racing is not just a sport, it is a lifeline that helped him in his most difficult moments.
And the plucky north-east youngster has already overcome more than any of us could ever contemplate – a brain tumour.
The 10-year-old was diagnosed with the benign tumour three years ago, and has now finished treatment.
His mother Karen, 43, said she had no doubt that her son’s love of go-karting helped him through the whole experience. “He is keeping really well. The racing season starts for him in March so he is hoping he will get some practice in before that. He was able to race through the chemo, which was a great thing,” she said.
“He won the last race of the season last year and that gave him a tremendous boost. It has been such a good distraction for him, and also an incentive. If he had chemo during the week, and there was a race at the weekend, he would want to be able to take part.”
The Ordiquhill Primary pupil has set his sights on emulating his heroes Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button – and aims to race in Formula 1.
He competes regularly at the Grampian Kart Club near his home in Cornhill, Banffshire, and has already won a large assortment of trophies.
Jonathan received his treatment at the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital (RACH) – where he will continue to go for regular scans.
As previously reported in the Press and Journal, the family held a fundraising coffee morning in aid of the facility, raising £7,300 in the process.
Even more money has now poured in for The ARCHIE Foundation thanks to the tireless efforts of the Edwards, bringing their total to more than £12,200.
David Cunningham, chief executive of The ARCHIE Foundation, said: “This is a wonderful donation from Jonathan and his family and friends. It is a great example of a community working together to help the ARCHIE Foundation make a big difference for sick children in the north-east of Scotland. The whole ARCHIE team will be cheering for Jonathan and we hope he has a great racing season in 2014.”
Mrs Edwards said she never imagined so much would be raised, and initially set a target of £500.
“We had that as the aim, but I had hoped to raise around £1,000. It is tremendous how much has actually been raised, everyone has been so generous,” she said.
“Jonathan wanted his cart involved in the coffee morning in some way, so we had a competition where we put fuel in it and people had to guess how long it would run for. We wanted to give something back because the hospital has helped us so much.”