Taylor Takes Title Battle To The Wire

press release

After a disappointing performance in Timed Qualifying, Mackenzie Taylor knew that he’d need to produce something special if he was to maintain his hope of winning the Super 1 KF3 Championship.

In the dry, he had been some six tenths off the pace and found himself down in 28th place. His title-rival, Carl Stirling was all smiles however, after he had posted the second-fastest time – just one hundredth of a second off pole position. But then the rain came - increasingly making the circuit resemble the nearby canal. And Mackenzie is a master in the wet.

pic - Chris Walker/Kartpix

In the first final, he scythed his way through the traffic and chaos (as drivers slithered off the circuit or crashed into one another) to finish second behind Stirling - “The start was a bit crazy because there was less grip than many people thought and this caused havoc in the mid-pack”, he explained. “However, I jumped up to 8th (from 11th place on the grid) and had got up to 4th when the race was brought into a caution period and we all had to drive in single-file. I made sure that I kept my tyres and engine warm and at the re-start, and I carried my momentum through to quickly take 3rd, then 2nd position. Carl (Stirling) had a big gap and I worked as hard as I could to catch him.”

On the last lap, Mackenzie lunged from some 5 kart-lengths back and went for the lead. He and Stirling clashed, rubbing their kart’s sidepods but emerging safely from the corner, with the Millennium Motorsport driver holding the advantage to the flag, by less than half a second - “I was a little gutted not to have won, but it made me more determined for the second final.”

pic - Chris Walker/Kartpix

A dramatic start to the next race saw Mackenzie momentarily drop from 2nd on the grid to 3rd but - “On lap two, the driver in front left a gap and I let off the brakes and got through. Carl was away and I knew that I didn’t have much time to catch him”. Stirling ran wide at the appropriately named Christmas Corner, and gifted Mackenzie the opportunity he needed to nip past and assume the lead.

“I got my head down, put in some fast laps and this gave me the breathing space I needed. Three laps later, I looked over my shoulder and saw a big gap. From there I kept concentrating, kept focused and minimised my mistakes.” Mackenzie took the chequered flag nearly five seconds ahead of his pursuers, with Stirling in 4th place.

“In terms of the Championship, its close but I think I can still win it,” he said afterwards, holding both trophies. “Everything will have to be perfect at Shenington (the last round of the Championship, to be held at the fast Oxfordshire circuit on 4/5 October). I need to beat Carl but we’ve closed the gap and that makes it easier. It’ll be one hell of a race, that’s for sure. I’d like to thank my mechanic Neil (Doran), for his tremendous effort this weekend. He was as desperate to win as me. The rest of the team (Ricky Flynn Motorsport) has also worked very hard to help me achieve my success today.”

Before the British Championship’s finale, Mackenzie will go for glory at this weekend’s (5/7 September) European Championship, at Varennes in France - in July, Mackenzie qualified for the hugely prestigious event by finishing 3rd overall in the qualifying event, at Alcaniz in Spain.

Mackenzie has not raced at the circuit before, but has won in France before – in the International Winning Series Karting championship’s round at Angerville in April. His team boss, Ricky Flynn says; “For sure, we’re all looking forward to it. We’ll be on the back-foot at the start but we were like that at Angerville. Mackenzie’s got to learn the circuit very fast on Thursday (4 September) in time to get it right for Timed Qualifying on Friday (5 September). We’ll be in there battling and he certainly has the ability to win.”

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