Rob Birch is, by his own admission, a bit of a petrolhead.

Anything with an engine, really, and if it goes fast so much the better!

So it’s no real surprise that his son Josh is into his motorsport as well.

And Josh is actually very good, so much so that he already has a British title on his CV even though he is still only 16.

Josh, who lives in Hucclecote with his parents, is a quad biker and he was crowned the best in Britain in the junior age group in 2012.

And while that is probably his standout achievement so far, there have been many, many other big-race successes over the past 10 years for the former Shurdington Primary and Chosen Hill School pupil.

“He’s been racing for 10 years but he’s been quad biking since he was three-and-a-half,” said his proud dad, who was into motorbikes back in the day.

“He inherited a quad bike from his sister Chloe who lost interest in it when she was five. It was a 50cc petrol engine Suzuki and I took him on the hill with it. Within a couple of days he was saying, ‘Can I go racing, Dad?’”

But young Josh had to show patience – plenty of it – because the rules say that you are not allowed to race until you are six.

It was worth the wait however because Josh was soon making an impression in grass track racing. “He generally enjoyed himself,” laughed his dad.

By the age of eight Josh, who these days works as a panel beater in the motor trade for a firm in Gloucester, was competing on a 100cc quad bike and had graduated from grass tracks to motocross.

“That’s off-road tracks with jumps, uphill and downhill,” said Rob.

And he was pretty good at it too.

He was runner-up in the race for the British title in 2011 before going one better a year later.

His first individual win came in 2011 at Wroxton, near Banbury.

“He’d spent the previous 18 months being a runner-up or just about getting on the podium,” said Birch senior. “But once he got his first trophy he never looked back, he was away after that.

“He’s won multiple club championships and accolades since then and was British runner-up in the 250cc class in 2017.”

His club is Nora-MX, which is based at Wokingham, and last year saw him take another step up when he competed in the adult class, riding a 450cc Yamaha.

The new season starts at the end of March and there is certainly no shortage of ambition in the Birch household.

“We’d like to be on the podium in the British clubman championship at the end of the season,” said Rob.

After that there is the rookies’ pro class to aim for before he can start targeting the elite pro class at the age of 21 or 22.

That is a while away yet, of course, and it’s an expensive business competing at the top level of a sport which doesn’t generate enough money to allow even the very top riders to go professional.

But the thrill of the competition is enough and, as Rob Birch says: “You’re riding for a title. It’s not professional, it’s all about enjoyment.”

And it’s some spectacle too.

“You’ve got 34 riders on the gate all going for that first corner,” Rob said. “They are off-road and going over bumps. The bikes are not geared for speed – the maximum they’ll go is about 40mph – but the riders go flat out for 20 minutes in a race.

“They’re hauling around 150kg of quad bike over bumps and jumps, they’re fitter than any footballer.”

There are three races at a meeting with a rider’s gate position decided by a qualifying round, just as in Formula 1.

It means that on a good day a rider can leave a meeting with a hat-trick of wins tucked in his back pocket and a maximum points haul in his quest to be the best of British in a championship that consists of nine rounds.

“The most important part is reliability,” said Rob. “If you have a DNF (did not finish) you miss out on an awful lot of points.”

Fortunately for Josh, Rob, who works as an auto electrician, is a very good maintenance man, looking after his three 450cc quad bikes.

And fortunately for both of them, Josh’s mum Karen is a big supporter of Josh’s quad bike racing as well.

“We go as a family,” said Rob. “We live in a seven-and-a-half ton motorhome. It’s got a garage at the back and all the quads go into the garage and we drive to meetings.”

And what about sister Chloe?

“She’s just moved out and is living with her boyfriend Jack Norris in Gloucester,” said Rob, “he’s a quad bike racer from Dorset.”