In a kart or a boat, David Selley jokes that his need for speed is a “bad addiction”.

However, that has not stopped him passing on the driving bug to budding kart driver Jorja Thomas.

The 10-year-old has been taken under the wing of Team Selley — also featuring David’s twin Mark — and she competes in the brothers’ old go-kart in the Junior Cadet class.

“She was racing in an outdated kart but now we have a new engine so we’re trying to get her up to speed this year,” David Selley said.

“It was our old kart we used to race in when we were nine or ten. We tried selling it back then and it never sold so we wanted to see if she liked it or not.

“We pulled the cobwebs off it and she seems to like it so we take her down the track. She’s in our camp and we’re all from the same neighbourhood.”

Thomas goes into Sunday’s second points race of the season at Southside after an encouraging performance in the opening meet two weeks ago.

From a crowded grid, she recorded two sixth-place finishes but admits she is still getting to grips with the extra power.

“It’s my second season,” she said. “Last season was good but everybody kept passing me!

“The new kart is fast and vibrates a lot. It’s kind of easier but harder when going down the straight because my hands keep slipping [off the wheel].”

A regular on the powerboat racing scene, David also competes in the Shifter 125 class and runs the Bermuda Karting Club’s junior programme. He is quick to offer his young protégè advice and encouragement.

“Jorja’s got a lot more power now,” he said. “She’s now able to run up front but she’s getting pushed around a little bit so she needs to stand her ground.

“[The last race day] she pulled over and let people pass her. We always tell her don’t damage the kart but there’s a line between not damaging the kart and standing your ground and being aggressive. It’s something to work on — she’s only going to get better.”

The Selleys are good friends with Thomas’s family in the Burnt House Hill area — and it’s clear her progress is equally, if not more, important than their own.

“I kept going over Mark and David’s house and saw boats and go-karts. My mom wouldn’t let me do boats — so I did go-karts. It’s been a good decision,” Thomas said.

David picks up the story: “She would sit on her dad’s lap and drive the car around the neighbourhood and then when she got in the go-kart we figured it would be a long way to go to Southside, so we gave her a couple of laps in the neighbourhood. She started getting faster and faster so we were like, ‘OK, we have to get her down to the track’.”

“It’s racing, so it is frustrating when you don’t do well, but when she’s smiling and her parents are happy it’s definitely all worth it,” he said.

David shares a Shifter kart with his brother but missed the first race day of the season as it overlapped with powerboat duties.

He admits the team have had some teething problems but are committed to upping their game on Sunday.

“This race day I’m actually going to be off the Island but Jorja will still be racing,” Selley said.

“It’s a team effort — my brother Mark, her dad, Jordan Fletcher — he basically does all our engine work, crew chief so to speak.

“The first points race kind of snuck up on us. We were still racing boats, so we just basically took the dust off the go-kart more or less to get Jorja up and running.

“We have had handling issues with the kart not hooking up how we want, which is frustrating. We need to get dialled in. It takes time.

“We have had a slow start but there are things to work on.”

Selley would like to thank sponsors Mailboxes Unlimited, Byland Construction, Selley’s Boat Trailer Service and Richard Davidge for their help in allowing his team to race both boats and karts throughout the year.

Rental go-karts, for children and adults, are available from 10am on Sunday at the Southside track for $50. Racing starts at 12pm in five separate classes — Shifter (modified), Shifter (stock), Senior TAG, Junior Cadet and Junior TAG. Admission is free, and there is a $5 charge for pit lane access