Youngster needs help to build on a promising start to his career in motorsport

Mackenzie Taylor hit the ground running on his debut in the Vertu Mini Challenge Trophy at Snetterton this month. The 16 year-old was able to join the grid for the season opener at Snetterton after securing a deal to join forces with EXCELR8 Motorsport, the most successful team in Mini Challenge history.

But the sudden withdrawal of his main sponsor could leave Taylor on the sidelines. Competing at elite level in motorsport is expensive.

A spokesman for the Taylor family said: “We have just unfortunately been informed that our main sponsor has to drastically scale back his sponsorship of Mackenzie due to problems with his business. Mackenzie needs partners to come forward to support and advertise their company on the high profile British Touring Car Championship weekends. Without this, he won't be able to complete the season, which would be such a shame considering the fantastic start he made in the Championship.”

With limited experience compared to his on-track rivals, Taylor went into the Snetterton weekend keen to learn as much as possible. He lined up 23rd on the grid for the opening 15-minute race and, after adopting a tactic of staying out of trouble, he gained six places during a race that had to be restarted after an early incident.

In the second race Taylor started on the ninth row of the grid and delivered a mature performance to finish 13th. Most impressively his fastest lap in the race was almost two seconds faster than he had managed in race one, and comfortably quicker than his best time in qualifying.

With his qualifying performance leaving him 22nd on the grid for race three, Taylor was also forced to contend with tricky weather conditions as rain started to fall, but had worked his way up into 18th spot before a red flag brought the race to an early end as drivers struggled with slick tyres on the wet circuit.

Taylor said: “I most definitely hit the ground running at the weekend with the pace I had, given I’d only been in the car twice prior to the race weekend. I am now eager to get back in the car to try and find them few tenths. We will be working very hard to make it to the next round at Brands Hatch to continue challenging for the Rookie Cup.”

Taylor is fifth in the Rookie Cup after one round and just outside the top 10. The Brands Hatch meeting takes place on May 10/11.

SPONSORSHIP DETAILS A range of sponsorship packages are available for those who would like to support Taylor to enable him to contest the remaining six meetings on the calendar, including trackside hospitality and the chance to get behind the scenes access that will put you in the heart of the action.

For further details and information please visit https://mactaylor.uk/ or email [email protected].