Graham Carroll in the bedroom he converted for sim racing. He quit the real thing because he lacked the cash to match his talent

When Graham Carroll climbed into his parents’ loft and sat down in front of a car racing computer game he could never have imagined that it would lead to a $1 million prize race in Las Vegas.

Now the former champion racing driver, who was forced to give up his dream of turning professional because of the sport’s sky-high costs, is in pole position to win the world’s biggest sim racing championship.

He won an unprecedented five British and Scottish national racing car championships in 2008 in an 18-year-old car.

He had the motorsport world at his feet, offers to drive in professional teams across Europe flooded in and the path to Formula One greatness lay before him if he could only achieve his potential.