Stirling closes in on British KF3 title

Carl Stirling strengthened his Championship challenge with victory in last weekend’s (16/17 August) 7th round of the British Super 1 Championship, at Larkhall, Lanarkshire.

The 15-year old from Northern Ireland also took an important third place in the 8th round to further stretch his lead in the title race, and take the psychological upper hand over his rivals. He said, “Points wise, it was a very good weekend. I’ve been on the podium in my last four races now and just hope that I can maintain that level of consistency in the remaining rounds.”

With a 24 point lead, the Millennium Motorsport driver is beginning to think that the Super 1 title is a realistic possibility - “For sure, that’s my goal but the main thing is to concentrate on the next race and make sure that I win that. If I keep winning or taking podiums, then the title will sort itself out.”

The reigning O Plate holder had to overcome dramas in his two heats before putting his kart on P7 of the grid for the first of Sunday’s two finals. He describes how he won the first final, “I picked a driver off lap by lap until I caught the leader, Jake Dennis. I passed him and was able to open a gap of three kart-lengths which I held to the finish.”

Eager to improve his 4th place in the Championship table, Dennis proved to be a tough customer in the second final. “Jake won it with a cheeky move. There was a bit of contact which dropped me to 6th. But I clawed my way back up to 3rd and was relieved to see the two guys closest to me in the Championship standings – Mackenzie Taylor and Alexander Albon – were behind me and dropping points as a result.”

Whilst Carl was all smiles, his younger brother Adam - who also races in the KF3 class - wasn’t enjoying himself. After two crashes in the heats, Adam’s fortunes weren’t about to improve in the finals. “It was mayhem, so it was. There were lots of people crashing and bashing.”

Also racing at Larkhall was big brother Craig, and like Adam, he was having a torrid time. After his heats, the 16-year old found himself down in 25th place on the grid for the first final but a strong drive saw him take the chequered flag in 12th place.

In the second points-scoring final, he came through to finish in 7th place, scoring sufficient points to keep him in touch with the Championship leaders. “I’m happy enough,” he said afterwards. “Considering that I started the first final in 25th and ended up inside the top ten isn’t too bad. The Championship is really close now and I’m aiming for a top three position. I’d be over the moon if I could do that. I’ll keep banging on the door until I get a lucky break.”

His first opportunity – and also for his younger brothers – will be the penultimate round at Whilton Mill in Northamptonshire in two weeks’ time (30/31 August).

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