Chasing dreams can be challenging, but luckily young Dylan Smith is equipped to face it head-on with the advantage of speed.

At 10 years old, Smith is already making a name for himself as one of Jamaica’s top go-kart racers, as he is the reigning Micro Max champion and Abe Ziadie Memorial Karting champion. He already has his sights set on the pinnacle of global motorsports — Formula 1.

The son of champion drag racer Rory Smith, Dylan has racing in his blood, but has a passion for anything that will bring out the adrenaline junkie in him.

At only two years old he started snorkelling, jumping off boats, and riding jet skis. His parents realised they had a special talent on their hands after seeing him driving his toy trucks.

“We realised he had a knack for lining them up and he had a knack for speed,” his mother Deana-Lee said. “He also used to do tricks on his scooters. Anything with wheels, he would find himself there.

“Dylan was also very calculated. He was introduced to fear by me and his dad. We talked about risks and how we manage and handle risks. He took those instructions extremely well from a young age,” she continued.

From the toy trucks Dylan graduated to more advanced vehicles and found himself in his first go-kart at five years old.

“I’ve been racing now for around five years,” he said. “[My first time racing] it was fun and I just knew I’d be into it.”

On that day, Dylan had a slight mishap, receiving a burn on his arm from the engine. But apart from now knowing to always wear long-sleeved gear when getting into the car, he also realised this sport was his calling, as the burn resembled a go-kart.

“The first time I just wanted to drive and see what driving was about,” he said. “Although I got the burn, I realised how good I was and I just kept on going. I just kept on improving.”

Although racers his age normally start on smaller tracks to learn footwork, Smith started on the medium track.

While most drivers take weeks to master each track, Dylan only needed a day.

“The first day that I drove we had the small track, the medium, and the big track,” he said. “My coach at the time put me on the medium track, and I did it with ease. Then he put me on the big track. I wasn’t the best, but I managed and I still won my first race.”

Although he considers the Palisadoes GoKart Track in Kingston his home tarmac, Dylan has already competed overseas. He has also been to Homestead-Miami Speedway, Orlando Kart Center, and Piquet Race Park — all in Florida. He finished third at Homestead, his best overseas performance so far.

He said he spends much of his free time watching videos to prepare, as he describes these races as nerve-racking. These typically feature 20 races on the grid in the local races, but the nationals have grids consisting of up to 45. It is a common occurrence for an early crash in one of these races to retire half of the drivers.

“You never know what’s going to happen,” he said. “You might just flip, you might just get into a really bad crash. But you just have to push and never give up. There’s a driver I raced two years ago that was really dirty. I’m racing him again this year. I know a little of what to expect, but I don’t really know if he’s gotten any worse.”

Dylan hopes to venture farther north in the United States and also to Europe. This is in a bid to emulate his local race heroes Senna Summerbell and Tommi Gore, who now compete in European circuits, and also Formula 1’s Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, whom he says are his favourite drivers.

Dylan realises the goal of getting to Formula 1 will require even more training, but he has placed his trust in Coach Collin Daley.

“Right now, we’re guided by his coach,” Deana-Lee said. “The plan is to do some additional tracks in the US and hopefully get some podiums. Next year we’ll look at visiting some tracks in Europe. The FIA Karting Academy starts taking kids at 12.”

Dylan aims to follow in the path of his close friend and fellow go-karter Zander Williams, who is now a Junior, and also Alex Powell, another Jamaican driver, who at 17, has been a member of the Mercedes Junior Team since 2019 and now competes in F4 Middle East Championship for R-ace GP.