A CAR enthusiast died after crashing into a tree while a friend outside filmed him on a mobile phone.

It is believed Dave Burns, 21, was travelling at up to 100mph in his Ford Focus RS when he veered off the A20 in Harrietsham on Sunday.

A friend, who was standing outside the Texaco garage on the A20, was filming on Mr Burns' phone.

Mr Burns' mother Helena Burns, with whom he lived in Rhodewood Close, Downswood, said her dreams had been shattered by his death.

The car fan, whose love for cars started when he began playing the videogame Gran Turismo with his brother Simon, 19, in 1998, bought the Focus RS 18 months ago.

Accepted

His younger brother described it as his 'dream car' and although Mrs Burns was not happy with it, she accepted his passion.

They said Mr Burns was a careful driver and they did not understand what had happened on Sunday.

Mrs Burns said: "He was a good son. He didn't drink, smoke or do drugs. He spent all his money on his car."

Simon Burns said he believed his brother crashed as soon as the filming stopped, as he began to slow down to round a corner.

He said: "He had a new mobile phone and he wanted to see and hear what the car sounded like on the outside."

His family recalled him spending hours washing and waxing his car.

Simon said: "His mates weren't allowed to smoke near it, they had to smoke across the yard."

When the brothers drove up to Stockton to collect his previous car, a FordRacing Puma, Mr Burns drove at 50mph the whole way back on the motorway to prevent flies getting squashed on the front.

Mrs Burns said that on a windy day her shirt blew against his car and he said: "Mum, you're scratching my car!"

Even the cat had to stay inside in case it got mud on the Focus.

His limited mileage policy, because high quality fuel for the car was so expensive, meant he drove the car rarely and his mother would drop him at work every day at Road Chef, at junction 8 services on the M20.

Mr Burns was a member of many car fan groups including the 160mph group on the social networking website Facebook - which says its members must have been in a vehicle travelling at more than 160mph.

Car rally

He had been a passenger in a car travelling at this speed on the German Autobahn during the Modball car rally.

The other main love in his life was music and he played guitar for a band called Venxia, playing gigs in Maidstone and Sittingbourne.

Mrs Burns is originally from Brazil. Dave's father, David, lives in the US and he has extended family in South America and Scotland.

Mrs Burns said: "He was quiet but very kind, he would help anyone.

"Everything was going well in his life, he had a new girlfriend and had lots of friends.

"We'll miss him so much."

Floral tributes have been stacked against the tree where he died this week, and members of the Ford RS Owners Club used their website to remember him.

One described Mr Burns as "a nice, down to earth sort of guy, who loved his cars".

Mr Burns was a former student at Cornwallis School, now the Cornwallis Academy, and went on to take a computing course at Christ Church University in Canterbury.

Sonette Schwarz, the head teacher at the Cornwallis Academy, said: "It's come as a great shock to the school. We remember David as a quiet, steady student who was an incredibly well liked young man. Our condolences go out to his family."