10 years old, Diego LaRoque has earned fame for speeding who still does not have a driver’s license. The fifth-grader in Faith North Montessori School has made history after winning the international kart-racing competition of his age group.

Diego won the Micro Max division of the Rotax Max Challenge in Racing for the United States, Oct. 22 in Sarno, Italy.

Rotax MAX Challenge director, Andy Seesemann said that Diego was the second American who won the division in the 17 years history of the event. Now Diego is only  4 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 62 pounds. He started kart racing he was only 5. One of his family friend suggested that it would be safer for him to do go-kart than a dirt bike. His older sisters also tried kart racing.

At first he stepped into a go-kart at the Phoenix Glendale and from then he started loving it.

Diego told , “I just felt like this is where I belong. Like I don’t want to leave this kart, I just want to keep going around and around and around,”. He added that he has been asked many times by the coaches to slow down when he initially started, while most of the beginners are usully asked to speed up.

It has been five years he is racing racing. Diego won several races across the states, including Washington, Utah and Florida. He also won the competition in the Rotax Challenge of the Americas and in the Florida Winter Tour, which included drivers from Europe and South America.

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By Prakriti Neogi