A teenager is urging others not to “shoe-horn” themselves into stereotypes as he becomes a Racing Pride ambassador.

Bradley Westgarth, who is gay, has become a Racing Pride driving ambassador, ahead of the Motorsport UK British Rallycross Championship 5 Nations which starts this April at Lydden Hill.

Westgarth, 19, explained: “Racing Pride started in 2019 and I’ve, obviously, been in contact with them previously. For this year, they contacted me and said ‘Would you like to be an ambassador?’.

“There’s not many of us (members of the LGBT community) in the first place, and there’s definitely not many in rallycross. As far as I know, I’m the only openly-gay rallycross competitor.

“Overall, the reception that I have got online has been fantastic.”

Westgarth was first inspired to get into rallycross when on holiday with his grandparents.

He revealed: “The whole thing started when I was about 14.

“I went on holiday to France with my grandparents and there was a go-kart track there - I had been doing quite a bit of go-karting here and there.

“We went there, and I just had this fixation that I wouldn’t leave until I beat the track record. I kept going back - it must have been five or six times - until I beat it, and I did beat it.

“Then my grandad chimed in with ‘You are pretty good at this, maybe we should go forward and get a car’. I’m pretty sure he has regretted that ever since!

“My dad’s friends had done a lot of rallycross before so we decided rallycross would be a good way to start.”

Westgarth works with his grandfather, David Westgarth, at Milldown Campers, where they build luxury camper vans.

The duo work at their site and only have a mechanic for support as they look to build their own rallycross supercar in time for the 5 Nations.

Westgarth admitted: “Because I don’t have the backing from a big team or anything, it, literally, is just me, my grandfather and the mechanic that works for us, building camper vans. That’s all we have.

“The amount of planning I have had to do, while my grandfather is running a business, is crazy.

"Obviously, we can’t have the mechanic the whole time because he wants to build camper vans and get his money in.

“So the amount of money that has gone into that is ridiculous. But I have managed to get enough sponsors to have a good go.

"The bodywork side of the car is done - but there’s no engine in it and no gearbox in it.

“The engine is not going to be back for another two weeks, the turbo is not going to be back for three weeks.

“Then it’s all got to go in, then the suspension has to be set up - all before April.”

Westgarth started off in the BTRDA Productions with a Peugeot 206 before importing a Mitsubishi Evo from Japan. He was crowned the BTRDA Productions 4x4 champion in 2020.

After a falling out with the BTRDA, he turned his attention to the 5 Nations and the Retro four-wheel drive class, finishing second last year.

But Westgarth, who believes he will be the youngest driver by some distance and has had his preparations disrupted by getting Covid, thinks this will be his biggest test yet.

He said: “I have been dreaming of this ever since I was about 14 and got a car and went into rallycross. I have always wanted that supercar. But I didn’t quite know the amount of work and effort that needed to go into it! I’ve done all my research.

“I’ve done the best I can and it looks like I should be there.”

Westgarth, who is from Canterbury but now lives in the Folkestone area, hopes his experiences as an openly-gay driver can help others.

“The one thing I do say to people is that, as soon as I accepted the fact I was gay, I shoe-horned myself into that gay stereotype,” said Westgarth, who came out when he was 15.

“That wasn’t me. The main message I have been saying is it doesn’t matter who you are - you do what you want.

“You don’t have to be a certain way because you are a certain person.”