Last year, William Taylforth was scrabbling around towards the wrong end of the top 20 on the national karting scene, visibly short on confidence and nervous in wheel-to-wheel combat – fast forward just a handful of months, and the young Lancastrian is now ably taking the fight to the very best in Britain.
Since joining front-running Comer Cadet outfit Fusion Motorsport last summer, William has underlined the mantra that the quickest way to progress is time in the seat, and a packed winter racing and testing schedule was crowned by victory – his first in the sport – at Rowrah in Cumbria just before the resumption of national hostilities. It was, he acknowledges, a real shot-in-the-arm.
“We’ve done a lot of testing, and Fusion have helped me a lot – I’ve improved so much since being with them,” reflected the Great Eccleston-based hotshot, admitting that his breakthrough Rowrah success had ‘felt great’ and that he ‘couldn’t believe it at first’ after snatching the lead into the very last corner following an intense three-way scrap for supremacy.
“My overall driving has really come on, and that shows in my racecraft. I’m very confident now, I know I’ve got the right team behind me and this is my last year in Cadets, so I’ve just got to go out there and try to win!”
Having taken a giant leap forward over the winter, William headed to the curtain-raising outing in the fiercely-contested national Super 1 Series at PF International in Lincolnshire ready to gauge himself against the very crème de la crème of British driving talent at Comer Cadet level.
“With my previous team I didn’t really go to PF very much, but now with Fusion I’ve really been able to pick up the track and pick up my pace there,” he revealed. “I’ve done a lot of club meetings there and have had some pretty good results, and I feel confident round PF now. It’s not an easy track to drive, but I enjoy the challenge of the hairpins and all the heavy braking.
“Last year was my rookie year in Super 1 and I didn’t really have a lot of confidence – I was a bit shy, to be honest, but I feel much stronger this year. The competition is certainly extremely tough – I’m going up against the best drivers in the country – but I can be up there with them.”
That much was proven in qualifying, as William lapped eighth-quickest in his group, a mere three tenths of a second shy of the benchmark in a tightly-packed, 33-strong field. His two heats subsequently yielded fifth and seventh places, energetically duelling it out and right in the mix on both occasions in battles that were frequently decided only at the finish line. The fastest lap of anybody in one of the encounters – substantially quicker than that of the race-winner – was another boost, and the Hodgson High School pupil began the first of the two all-important finals from P7.
“The start didn’t go well,” he recollected. “I was getting pushed from behind and had to go out wide which cost me a lot of places initially, but I managed to pull it back to sixth in the end. It’s always hard work fighting your way through the pack – especially up against so many good drivers – and you have to push even harder to try to catch up, but I enjoy that and I was very pleased to finish sixth.”
Justifiably so, but being on the unenviable outside line of the grid for the second final later in the day meant William was at an immediate disadvantage, and after getting hung out to dry somewhat around the opening corner, he again found himself with rather a lot of work to do.
“It took a little while for my tyres to come on properly and for the engine to get up to temperature, but when everything was right I was on it,” he explained. “I could definitely drive the kart to the best of my ability, and I was really willing myself on to catch the drivers ahead all the time; it was hard with some of them being in the tow and me being on my own, because those in the pack could just push each other down the straights – and with it being slightly windy, too, that made it even more difficult.
“Still, I fought my way back through, and when the two drivers directly in front of me got tangled up going through the last corner on the last lap, I got the run on both of them and was able to nick fifth right on the line. I never gave up – even when I was being squeezed onto the grass heading towards the chequered flag!”
That dogged persistence and impressive never-say-die determination paid off handsomely as William scythed his way back up the order, and for much of the race he was indeed the quickest driver on the track, as a second fastest lap of the weekend bore witness.
Despite crossing the line with two wheels off the circuit as a rival attempted to defend his position at all costs, the newly-turned teenager – celebrating his 13th birthday the very next day – grittily held his nerve and was classified fifth by a scant two hundredths of a second...the literal blink of an eye.
“When I look back at my rookie year in Super 1, I was struggling all the time – and now I’m right up at the front,” he mused in conclusion, proudly clutching the trophy that he had been awarded for his impressive performance. “It was definitely a good first weekend of 2011. I feel very confident now, and I’m chuffed to be sitting fourth in the national championship at the moment – it’s a good position from which to attack!”
