Mackenzie's delight at Super win...

Mackenzie Taylor took a decisive victory at the opening round of the British Super 1 Championship at Three Sisters, near Wigan (12/13 April).

Coming just a week after his Winning Series Karting success at Angerville in France (5/6 April), the teenager has clearly marked himself as one of the favourites to take the Super 1 title.

In difficult conditions during Timed Qualifying, Taylor clocked the 7th fastest time - but admitted to making a costly error: “The guys who recorded quicker times were all slip-streaming one another, but I was out on my own and didn’t get a tow. At Wigan (which features a long main straight, where karts can reach 100mph) you can gain a tenth of a second by towing behind someone and I just didn’t give myself that opportunity - I was pushing my own air.”

Though his self criticism sounds a little harsh – especially when you consider that he was just a tenth of a second off pole position - it worked as a brilliant motivational tool for his performance in the heats.

The 100cc PR client survived a massive ‘moment’ to win the first race. “I was coming down the fast ‘Valley’ section and ran onto a damp section of the track. My kart suddenly snapped sideways and I was thinking ‘this is going to hurt,’ but I clipped a kerb and the kart flicked back the right way”.

Mackenzie won the second race and booked his place on the front row of the grid for the pre-final.

As the pack turned into the first corner he found himself unable to get onto the dry, racing-line and dropped to 12th - before getting his head down and working his way up to 3rd at the chequered flag. Finishing in this position benefited Mackenzie by putting him on the vital inside line for the first corner of the final.

Getting a fantastic start to tuck in behind pole-man Carl Stirling, Mackenzie slotted into second place. Seeing a chance, Mackenzie passed Stirling, who immediately had a stab back. Mackenzie led the pair onto the long main-straight with the young Ulsterman slipstreaming him and preparing to pass. However, the alert Taylor saw waved yellow flags (under which drivers are not allowed to overtake) and pointed first at them and then at Stirling. The Irish driver duly backed out of the move, handing the advantage back to Taylor who then firmly pressed it home as rain began to fall.

Demonstrating his superb kart control in the worsening conditions, Mackenzie quickly opened a gap of nearly five seconds. As his rivals slowed, he drove perfectly, corner after corner to cruise to a dominant win.

“I’m very pleased with the result” he said afterwards. “I would’ve been angry with myself if I hadn’t won. Once again, the team (Ricky Flynn Motorsport) did a perfect job and gave me the best equipment to go out and win with. That’s why I would’ve been angry if I hadn’t.”