Two promising speed demons are intent on proving that age really is just a number.

Kart drivers Ryan Lopes and Blake Horseman, both 15, are turning heads after making the move up to senior racing.

After experiencing wide open tracks in the junior classes, Lopes, in the Tag Senior and Stock Honda Shifter, and Horseman, in the Tag Senior, are adapting nicely to a grid packed with decades of driving experience at the new Rubis Southside Raceway.

“We’re doing pretty good so far,” Horseman said. “It’s a lot more fun than it was last year.

“There are a lot more karts and a lot more competition, and you’re overtaking more times than last year, so it’s helping both of us drivers out a lot, especially to be able to compete overseas a lot better.

“If we weren’t in a competitive class, we wouldn’t be experienced enough to race away.”

The two students are far from making up the numbers at St David’s, with the consistent Lopes second overall in the TAG Senior and Horseman fourth.

The youngsters are providing a challenge for veterans Jason North, Scott Barnes and David Barbosa, who are first, third and fifth respectively in the division.

Horseman boasts two wins in the class already this season, while Lopes is almost a permanent fixture on the podium. “I’m running really good,” Lopes said. “I hope it continues. There’s more drivers. You have to be smart with what you do on the track. It’s the same pace as last year, but you have to put down a fast lap to qualify.

“[I just need] more driving, more practice to keep up with them.”

Both racers emphasise that they are learning on the job now they have shed their junior status.

Horseman said: “It’s a new class to us, so we’re still learning a lot, like thinking how to overtake cleanly without taking out any other drivers. You don’t want a bad name for yourself!

“My goal is to finish in the top four or five for the season. I hope that happens. I’m racing against guys that have been racing for I don’t even know how many years — way more than me.

“Now I know I have the exact same engine and equipment, I’m pretty confident racing against them, but I still have a lot to learn.”

If either driver is not in the classroom, it’s a safe bet they will be down the track clocking up more laps. Both are determined to get faster and better, and while Horseman shows more enthusiasm for the mechanical side of the sport, Lopes’s commitment to the art of racing is all so obvious.

“On breaks when I don’t have school, I pretty much go down every day, sometimes Saturdays,” Lopes said.

“We started when we were 10, so five years ago we went from Stock Clone, then Modified, then Tag Junior and then Tag Senior and then, myself, Shifter.

“I try to make clean moves to get to the front and I just leave everything on the track.”

Horseman, who has raced overseas three times already, scaled down his football activities to practise more and it’s clear he wants to be in the sport for the long haul.

He said: “I hung up the boots to try to keep up with Ryan! I’m just focusing more on go-karts now. Before we would have football games on Saturday, so I’d miss out on practice and that’s what makes me better.

“I’m probably going to try to go to a couple of academies to see what I can do, but that’s a long way ahead of me.”

He added: “Karting’s fun — [the track] is somewhere that’s just really fun to go.”

The fifth race day of the season takes place on Sunday at the Rubis Southside Raceway.

• For more information, e-mail bermudakartingclub@yahoo.com or go to the club’s Facebook page