Teen prodigy

Franco Bourne, 16 years old, from County Durham. Experienced in going round in circles

» I got taken to a Bike Wise mini moto event organised by Durham Police when I was about seven years old, just riding mini motos round cones in a carpark. After that it was like, ‘when can we do that again?’ I started going every other Sunday.

My dad was into road bikes but we had no racing background in the family. I’ve mainly been able to do it with the support of my grandparents. We went through mini bikes and then Aprilia 125s and then Kawasaki 300s before we applied to do the British Talent Cup,

which was a supported ride. Even winning the championship we didn’t have options for 2021, everything was just too expensive, but going with Pete will be great. We know him and we trust him and there’s no pressure. I’m not looking for results straight away. I’ve not spent much time on a 600 so I just want to get comfy on the bike and get some results towards the end of the season. I just want to get riding again.