Tom Cave

As he returned home from the driving test, there were live TV news crews from Sky News, BBC News and ITV waiting for him. He also carried out live radio interviews with Radio 1,2,3,4 and 5 Live as he tore up his 'L’ plates. This meant that he would be the youngest-ever driver to compete in the UK round of the WRC.

This fact led to him being invited onto Channel Five’s motoring program, Fifth Gear. He was challenged to go head to head with presenter Vicki Butler-Henderson in a Subaru Impreza WRX around a Rallycross circuit to see who was faster. Tom beat the presenter, who also removed the car's rear bumper on camera.

Following further guidance and mentoring from Rowe, Tom and Gemma eventually won their class on the event, N3, by 15 minutes. In the run-up to the event, Tom was exposed to a flurry of media interest, as the event began just 18 days after his 17th birthday and he needed a full UK driving licence to compete.

He was then invited to take part in the Richard Burns Memorial Rally by Neil Cole, presenter of the WRC on digital TV channel Dave. The pair finished 14th overall and sixth in class, another outstanding result considering they faced kit cars and ex-works Vauxhall Astras in their Group N Fiesta.

Tom once again targeted the BRC in 2012, having decided to run his own Citroen DS3 R3 car. However, this was delivered too late for the first round the Sunseeker, so he used a rented Ford Fiesta R2 on that occasion.

He was on top or close to the top of the BRC points table all season and despite another win on the final round, the International Rally of Yorkshire, was not able to overhaul double-BRC winner, Keith Cronin. He became runner-up in 2012 but won the Citroen Racing Junior Cup.

Tom's 2010 season began with an outing on the infamous Rallye Monte Carlo, using the Ford Fiesta ST he had been driving in 2009. He eventually finished the event 27th overall and 8th in the IRC 2WD Cup, gaining his first international driver's championship point.

His program for 2009 was made up of selected events from the WRC, British Rally Championship and the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, since he was not able to contest a full championship in any, due to his age. As he was only 17, he was not permitted to drive legally in the majority of countries that formed the WRC and IRC.

At the beginning of 2007, he teamed-up with former WRC co-driver Gemma Price and the pair headed to Latvia, where drivers can compete in genuine rallies from the age of just 14 years.

He spent 2007 competing in the Latvian RallySprint Championship at the wheel of an MG ZR. In 2008, he stepped up to a Group N Ford Fiesta ST, the same specification as used in the various one-make series around the world, including as a support series for the WRC.

However, the most exciting news was when he secured the ex-Alister McRae Proton Satria Neo S2000 car for the season and would run as a semi-official car alongside the works team on selected events.

Thomas Cave (born 16 November 1991) is a British rally driver. He is the son of club rally driver Peter Cave and his ambition is to become the next British champion in the FIA World Rally Championship. He is the UK's first minor international rally driver and achieved his international rally licence, issued in Latvia, at the age of 16.