WITH every extra kilogram Chris Dent lifts, with every extra mile he runs, with every lap he drives, he gets closer to his dream of making a career out of racing cars.

But fitness, speed and skill behind the wheel are not enough if you are a young man with ambitions to be a professional driver.

Talent does not pay the £450 needed for a set of tyres, natural ability will not meet the cost of a day's testing.

What you need most in motorsport, and in many other high-cost sports, is the ability to raise money.

Chris needs to find £40,000 to race in the Winter Series, two weekends of racing and ten days of testing that will prepare him to compete in next year's Formula Renault UK championship.

For the competition that gave us the likes of Formula One star Kimi Rikknen, he needs a further £150,000.

Last month at Croft circuit, in North Yorkshire, Chris was able to take part in the practice session to get some crucial track-time under his belt. It cost his father £1,200.

That the 19-year-old from Durham has the ability is not in doubt - the top team in the competition, reigning champions and current series leader Fortec Motorsport, have offered him a drive for the preparation races in November.

But without sponsors to support him, Chris's career will be over before he has left the grid. His father, John, a consultant engineer, said: "We are an ordinary family and we have managed to fund Chris's career ourselves up to now.

"But he has reached the stage where he needs to move up to the next level and the amount he needs to do that is a lot higher.

"Chris is completely focused because it is the only thing he wants to do. We have been so encouraged by the way he enjoys racing and seems to have the ability. We know he gives it 100 per cent, so we're happy to help him try and do this."

For Chris and many young drivers, thoughts of making it big on the track, however, are overshadowed by looking for the next possible source of sponsorship.

Mark Godwin, race engineer at Fortec Motorsport, said: "At this level, drivers need to know how to find money. The reality is that often those who make it are the ones with wealthy families behind them."

Warren Hughes, the North-East's best-known professional racing driver, knows what it is like. He said: "It has always been incredibly difficult, but it is probably even harder now than when I started out 15 years ago."

Even Hughes, who has competed in the Le Mans 24-Hour and British Touring Car Championship, is chasing sponsorship - and in this region there is a finite amount of money to go round.

He said: "Unfortunately, there is no golden rule to finding sponsorship. If there was, everyone would do it."

All Chris, who has A-levels in physics, business studies and general studies, can do is to continue to get better on the track and build his profile to ensure he has plenty to offer potential sponsors.

He is constantly scouring the business Press to identify possible partners and has begun swapping his fireproof racesuit for a pinstripe suit to meet marketing managers and those in charge of company community funds.

He has a glossy colour brochure and is about to launch a website as he builds "Chris Dent: The Business" to appeal to potential investors.

His father said: "Chris is a healthy, good-looking, fit young man with talent working in the sexy world of motorsport. He has a lot to offer companies, whether they are involved in leisure, fashion, music, food and drink or technology, as someone to be associated with or to endorse their products.

"Formula One has shown that there are companies fighting to be linked with motorsport because it appeals to an affluent, young audience, especially men aged 20 to 40. It represents speed, cutting-edge technology and glamour, and companies want to be associated with that."

The Formula Renault championship is considered to be the prestige single-seater junior championship in the UK with the sophistication of the cars and the support it receives from one of the world's biggest motor manufacturers.

The series attracts two million viewers on terrestrial television and a further two million on Sky.

For Chris, the worst thing is going to a track and seeing people he knows he can beat when they are driving and he is not because they have the money.

He said: "The situation I am in now is more frustrating than anyone can understand. All I can do is concentrate on using this time, not wasting it, and getting as fit as I can for the winter series.

"I am really proud to be representing the North-East around the country and hope that someone is prepared to sponsor me so I can progress to the next stage in my career."