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RFM’s Mackenzie Taylor rebounded from his
disappointment at finishing 2nd in last week’s British Open
Championship, with a superb victory at the second round of the Winning Series
Karting Championship.
The win will taste all the sweeter for the KF3 star –
who celebrates his 15th birthday today - after last month’s opening round
of the WSK saw him finish down in 19th place, after a start-line
accident took him out of the points.
Arriving at Angerville, Mackenzie knew
that he needed a good result if he was going to stand a chance of fighting for
overall honours in the title chase.
Things started well when he recorded the 5th
fastest time in Qualifying – putting him on the front row of the grid for the
heats in his group. Mackenzie duly took a 4th, 2nd, 3rd
and another 2nd to put himself on P3 for the pre-Final.
After catching initial leader Nicolai
Moller Madsen, Mackenzie passed him for the lead and reeled out a string of
fast laps to take an untroubled win.
As the field rolled onto the track for the
Final, it started to drizzle, but this did little to affect the teenager’s
confidence. “I was on slicks but knew
that my set-up was perfect” he said.
At the lights Mackenzie got a good start,
although Moller Madsen momentarily headed him towards the first bend. Using the
inside line to his advantage, Mackenzie prevented the Danish driver from taking
the racing line and preserved his lead.
Mackenzie explains: “I’d got my tyres nicely warmed up during the rolling-up laps and this
gave me the advantage. I just managed to get my head down and pull away”.
With the field fighting each other for position behind him, Taylor was able to open up a gap. However,
once the race had settled into a rhythm, he found himself being tracked down by
Frenchman Brandon Maisano and Dutch driver Jorrit Pex. He said afterwards: “Every lap I looked for Neil (Doran, his
mechanic) who waved a finger in the air
to say ‘keep pushing.’ Seeing the
chequered flag came as amassive
relief, after all those laps at the front.”
Winning the race by nearly 5 seconds
sealed his dominance of the two Finals – and puts him right back in the hunt - after
first round winner Nyck De Vries and 3rd-placed driver, Michelle
Gatting, both failed to score points.
Mackenzie was keen to acknowledge the
people behind his success, saying: “It was Rick’s (Flynn, boss of Ricky
Flynn Motorsport) ability to set the kart up perfectly for the changing
conditions that made all the difference. In the wet and the dry, it was as if
it was on rails. His organisation and preparation is second-to-none. Neil also worked really hard all weekend and
I hope I’ve repaid him for his efforts (with this win). My thanks
also to Gordy (Gordon Finlayson) and Dougie (Meek) (of Gordon Finlayson Racing Engines) and Martin (Poole) and
Dan (Williams) at Pro Performance – they’ve made a massive
difference.”
With the British season starting next weekend,
Sunday’s victory must surely mark him as one of the favourites for overall honours
in the British Super 1 Championship, which kicks off at the fast Three Sisters
circuit, near Wigan next weekend (12/13 April 2008).
“The WSK is the toughest the competition is going to get. It’s effectively
the World Championship for Juniors and to win at this level in such a short
time (this is Mackenzie’s first full season of European
racing) bodes well for the rest of the
year. I wouldn’t say I’m over confident but yesterday was a big boost, so we’ll
see.”
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