It’s been life in the fast lane for Ross Martin recently but in the twists, turns, birls and twirls of the fickle world of motorsport, the promising career of this turbo-charged teenager has hit the skids.

The 16-year-old from Jackie Stewart territory near Dumbarton has seen his rapid progress stalled by the financial collapse of a major sponsor just when he was making more moves up through the gears.

Martin underlined his considerable potential last season when he won the Formula Kart Stars series, a development circuit which spawned the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Paul di Resta.

His championship triumph in the cut-and-thrust of the karting scene was rewarded with a seat in a Formula Four car and a fully-funded year in the MSA Formula Championship with the renowned Fortec Motorsport team. Life was good but now it’s, well, the pits.

After just two race meetings, Martin was informed that the Kart Stars company that was paying for his season had gone bust. Martin, who is mentored by the triple Le Mans 24 Hour winner Allan McNish, immediately lost both his funding and his seat while countless other young hopefuls, who had forked out up to £20,000 to compete on the Kart Stars circuit, were left out of pocket.

“It’s been a nightmare,” said Martin. “The contract I won for the year was worth over £200,000. That kind of backing was huge for me but they simply couldn’t pay and the team I was with said ‘sorry, they’ve not paid so you’re not getting out in the car’. They were pretty blunt and it was all very hard to take. Motor racing can be a horrible sport for situations like this. Some of the people have lost a lot of money. Some put life savings in and paid two years upfront and it’s gone.”

A podium placing at Donington Park showed that Martin was getting to grips with the sizeable step up to Formula Four but in the blink of a flappy-paddle gear shift, he was shunted to the back of the grid.

“There are 10 rounds in a season, with three races per round,” he added. “I still had 24 races to go and really felt I could make progress. I was fighting for podiums in just my second meeting of the year and was the top rookie. Now I feel like I’ve been stabbed in the back. It’s a very ruthless business and Allan (McNish) said that these things happen in a career. He said I was unfortunate that it’s happened so early though. You’ve got thousands of drivers looking for similar deals. One person’s misfortune is another’s gain. The boy sitting in my seat now will just be thinking of driving the car, not what’s happened to me.

Martin has gone back to his roots of karting to keep his competitive instincts sharp and showcase his talents to potential backers. He launched his own internet fund-raiser to try to assemble a war chest from which he could buy another Formula Four seat in 2017 but, in this game, the money can go quicker than a racing slick. This promising and dedicated young man is desperately in need of a sponsor to help him fulfil his undoubted potential behind the wheel. “We are probably looking for £130,000 minimum to get started again,” he conceded. “We raised some but it ran out after two months. We have some money waiting here but not enough. We need a lump sum so I can put a big deposit down at the start of the new season, buy a seat and pay up each week. There was a team keen to offer me a Formula Four deal but they are still looking for maybe £6000 each week. I’ve enjoyed being back in the kart but it’s not where I thought I’d be a couple of months ago.”