17-year-old Tom Cannon from Newton-le-Willows, near St Helens in Merseyside was diagnosed with autism in 2023, after his parents sought help for the social challenges and heightened anxiety Tom was facing at school.
Now, Tom thinks autism helps him when it comes to driving as he focuses and practises to such extremes. Ahead of his first test with the team at Oulton Park last year, he’d already driven the track 100s of times on his sim rig and made countless notes about it. He explains, “It’s like doing exams at school. If you already know the questions that are coming up, you’re going to ace it.”
Tom discovered his passion for racing when he was just 8 years old, having visited Daytona Racing in Manchester to try out indoor karting. He’d been excelling at racing on his SIM and before long it was clear that he had as much skill on the real-world track as he did on the virtual.
He competed in the British Indoor Kart Championship and joined a sim racing club in Liverpool. He then took part in the Ginetta Juniors Scholarship programme, reaching the final after competing against 70 drivers. Realising he had clear potential, he took his advanced ARDS test to enable him to compete in senior races.
He signed for Team BRIT in 2026 and will compete in the Snetterton Saloons Series as part of a developmental rookie year. Tom will drive a BMW M240i and will team up with a more experienced driver who will help support and coach him in his inaugural year with the team.
Tom explains: “I found out about Team BRIT after seeing them on social media. I thought it was amazing what they were doing for disabled drivers and knew they had two drivers with autism who are doing really well
“I reached out and did a test day with them. It was so cool, I kind of ‘nerded out’ about all the intricacies of the car and the hand controls. The process they put in place in terms of coaching was really good. I felt like I developed and understood the car a lot over the couple of hours of running and it was a really fun day. Seeing Team BRIT on the front of my bonnet when I was hurtling around Oulton Park at 100 miles per hour – it was one of the coolest experiences of my life.
“I then had more test sessions and assessments and have been lucky enough to have a seat this year. My races will be held on the same weekends as my teammates racing in a GT3, so it will be incredible to see them competing at the level, where I hope I will be one day.
“I also hope that telling people about my experiences with autism and the opportunities I now have, will encourage others to try things out of their comfort zone and be confident in follow their dreams.”
