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Sometimes the most minor of things can
make the major difference between winning and losing…..
That was something Ashford’s Mackenzie
Taylor learnt to his cost at the British Open
Championship race at the Three Sisters circuit near Wigan yesterday (30 March).
The event – more commonly known as the ‘O Plate’ – is
one of British karting’s most prestigious titles. And for most of the weekend
the 14-year old looked like he was going to be
returning home with the KF3 class title, after taking wins in both heats and
the pre-Final.
This left the 14-year old on pole position
for the Final, where he got the jump on his rivals and after leading into the
first corner he quickly established a comfortable lead. But then rain started
to fall.
Mackenzie takes up the story: “I was on slicks, but everything was going fine…
then as I came down the ‘Valley’ there was a back-marker who’d spun pulling out
right in front of me - I locked up my brakes I was working them so hard to
avoid smashing into him. He was all over the track, and that cost me vital
seconds getting round him … all of which gave the pack time to play catch me up.”
Despite being passed twice whilst trying
to avoid a smash, Mackenzie fought back and retook the lead – just moments before
a red flag stopped the race on safety grounds.
So why didn’t he win? “The officials decided to declare the race result from the beginning of
the lap, rather than the end of it. If they’d waited just 10 seconds, I’d now
be champion.”
But Mack is typically good-natured about
his bad luck – “These things happen. I
led every lap of every race before the Final. I did all anyone could ask of me,
but those last two laps put paid to my chances. Still, it’s all good practice
for the first round of the Super 1 Championship, back here in 2 weeks time (12/13
April).”
But before then, it’s back to Europe
for Mackenzie – with a score to settle.
Next weekend (5 /6 April) sees the 2nd
round of the WSK International Series at Angerville in France – Mackenzie
finished the 1st round at La Conca, Italy (16 March) in 19th
place when a rash move by Carlos Sainz Jnr (son of
two-time World Rally Champion Carlos Sainz), took him out of the point scoring
positions. ‘Super Mack’ says, with his cheeky grin “This is only the second round, so it’s all to play for – I just need to
make sure I keep out of the way of the muppets!!”
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