Motorsport: Podium positions for Matty Street in first race of year

Matty Street (right) with teammate Andy Tucker

Rochdale kart driver and entrepreneur, Matty Street secured two podium positions in his first motorsport races of the year on Sunday (2 August).

Racing with Team BRIT at Brands Hatch in Kent, Matty, who lives with autism, and his teammate Andy Tucker were awarded third place in their two races.

Team BRIT aims to be the first all-disabled team to race in Le Mans, France, and supports people with physical and psychological challenges in accessing motorsport through its racing academy. Matty previously raced with the team as part of its 2019 season.

Matty was one of the team’s four rookies racing in the Britcar Trophy Category in a BMW 116 last weekend. Experienced racers Bobby Trundley and Aaron Morgan raced in the team’s Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT4 in the Endurance Category.

24-year-old Matty said: “I had an amazing weekend at Brands Hatch with the team, with everyone putting in a great performance.

“For Bobby and Aaron to get P3 on Saturday, then for me and Andy to do the same on Sunday, not once but twice, is just amazing. 

“An amazing strategy call from the team allowed all three Team BRIT cars on Sunday’s second to be running P2, P3, P4 after the pit stops. It led to a really interesting final few laps. Great fun!”

Matty was diagnosed with dyslexia, dyspraxia and Asperger’s (a form of autism) when he was at school. He found school extremely difficult and was predicted poor grades. He struggled with socialising in his early teenage years and had very little self-belief.

At the age of 12 he discovered karting, which had a huge effect on him and helped him manage the challenges that Asperger’s can cause. He won a £30k scholarship to go racing at the age of 14 which opened doors to the expensive world of motorsport.

When he first took his GCSEs, just before he began his racing career, he failed them all. When he re-took the exams, he passed everything, as his teachers began to relate his work to motorsport which helped him understand and retain information. 

He studied motorsport engineering then went on to secure a degree. He worked at Rochdale TeamKarting circuit while studying and became executive manager at the age of 19. In July 2017 he raised enough investment to buy out the business and become CEO.

TeamKarting is now the UK’s highest rated karting track and has won an award for being Autism Friendly.