He has been Mr. Consistency over the opening half of 2011 in the fiercely-contested national Super 1 Series, has William Taylforth, and a brilliant double podium finish in the latest outing at Larkhall in Scotland has seen the highly-rated Lancastrian karting star storm his way to the top of the championship table.

Arriving at Larkhall – a circuit around which he has a strong record, having previously triumphed there in a club meeting and broken the lap record by two tenths of a second during testing – William had his tail up, sitting second in the Super 1 standings after only once finishing outside of the top ten in the six finals to-date this year.

“I’ve been to Larkhall quite a lot and I like it there,” he revealed. “It’s definitely an enjoyable track to drive. The first left-hander is quite demanding – there’s a sharp turn then another sharp turn over the kerbs – and the next double right-hander is pretty challenging, too, because midway through the corner it gets very bumpy.

“You get a little bit of a break down the back straight, followed by a flat-out corner if the conditions are good. You need to be careful you don’t run out wide there, and then comes the hairpin where you have to brake late – but not too late. It’s a real balancing-act – all around the lap.

“I was aiming to just keep pushing, score as many points as possible and try to get into the lead of the championship – I knew it wasn’t the championship leader’s strongest circuit, so it was a good opportunity to pounce.”

Lying 17 points adrift of the leader entering the meeting, William had a sizeable deficit to overcome and a tall order on his plate, but he was in confident spirits. In a busy qualifying session, third place amongst the 28-strong Comer Cadet class field – the very crème de la crème of young British driving talent at that level – was an excellent start, with the Great Eccleston-based hotshot confessing that ‘I was surprised to be that high up, actually, because I thought the traffic had spoiled it and that I would end up outside of the top ten’.

From there, the 13-year-old was right on the pace and firmly in the battle for glory in both of his heat races, leading for a large percentage of the way and winding up third and fifth, hindered in the second encounter by a late contretemps with Shanaka Clay for which William maturely held up his hand, simply misjudging his braking but vowing to ‘learn from that, put it behind me and go forwards’ in the two finals. In the first of them, he would immediately rise to second from third on the grid, before proceeding to doggedly track the leader throughout.

“The kart felt amazing all weekend,” he enthused. “I had a good battle with Jamie Caroline for the lead, but he was very aggressive in his defending so it would have been a risky move to attempt to get past and I just tried to force him into a mistake. I did try to go for the cutback on him on the last lap, but because we had been fighting, Shanaka had caught us and was able to just nip up my inside. I was a bit disappointed at losing second place, but third was still a good result and good points – and a better starting position for the next final, too.”

Indeed, the double left-hander at the beginning of the lap at Larkhall means those drivers on even-numbered grid slots on the outside line can find themselves hung out to dry when the lights go out as their rivals on the inside steal a crucial early march – and William made sure to take full advantage.

“I pushed Caroline again for a while, but then I fell behind my team-mates Ryan Anderton and Josh Smith,” recounted the Hodgson High School pupil. “I stuck to the back of them, and when Josh made a move for the lead, Jamie tried to hang on around the outside and went off onto the grass, which allowed Ryan and me to follow through as well. I passed Ryan and Josh to take the lead, but another one of my team-mates, Daniel Ticktum, had caught us by then, too, and he and I broke away slightly towards the end.

“It’s definitely more comfortable to be racing against your team-mates than a driver from another team, because you get to know what their driving styles are like and you know you can trust them not to do anything stupid. Dan just managed to sneak past me on the last lap, but I was still pretty happy to finish second – it was more good points towards the championship. Obviously it would have been nice to win, but there’s always next time...”

Victory would have been the cherry on the cake, granted, but William still left Scotland ensconced atop the title standings by five points. To put that into perspective and in evidence of his outstanding progression since last year, the Fusion Motorsport ace wound up 25th overall as a Super 1 rookie in 2010, with a best finish of just 18th place along the way. In fellow national championship Formula Kart Stars (FKS), he was 32nd and no higher than 19th in any of the 12 finals – on nine occasions, indeed, failing even to make it beyond the dreaded ‘B’ final.

Fast forward several months, and he is a regular podium contender in both – with his sights solidly set on securing the coveted #1 plate come season’s end.

“It’s a tough Comer Cadet class field in Super 1,” William concluded. “There are a lot of good drivers there, so to be at the top of the points table is just brilliant. After where I was at the end of last season, I would never have believed I’d be leading the championship now. I think I’ve improved massively; Fusion have helped me to develop in terms of making the most out of my driving skill and kart set-up, and on the mental and physical side, too. I’m definitely a much stronger driver than I was last year – so I’ve just got to try to stay on top!”