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Michael is looking forward to Cape Town Latest news page down and Michael is looking for new sponsors if anybody is intrested please contact him.
Links Piazza kartworld( Tony Kart SA) News 2010 Cape Town National It was raining again and Michael managed a 3rd in qualifying. In the first heat he had a good race to finish 3rd. He started 4th and some guys spun out infront of him he avoided them by going on the grass witch put him last he worked his way up till 10th and thats where he finished. In the last heat he had engine problems but still managed to finish 4th. He finished 4th overall, Moving him up into 8th in the championship standing a chance of going to the Rok World Finals in Italy. CIK-FIA U18 World Championship in Wakkersdorf, Germany It was a great experience for Michael competing in a World Championship for South Africa with 33 other drivers representing countries from all over the world. Michael was 4th quickest on Friday afternoon but on Saturday the rain came and Michael hasnt had much exprience in the rain. He could only manage 27th in qualifying. He started all the qualifying heats in 27. In the first qualifying heat he managed a 15th in the second heat he made his way up till 10 but then had his chain nocked off on a kerb putting out the race. In the last qualifying heat he made his way up till 14th when his back bumber came off forcing him into the pits. The final was here and Michael only had a little point putting him in 27th starting place in the first final there was a first corner pile up and Michael got through it and was into 14th when they red flaged the race. When they restarted the race Michael kart lost power and it took him 3laps to diagnoes problem and when he got back on the track they gave him the blue and red flag because the leaders where close to him. In the last race there was a first corner pile up witch michael was involved in but he regained his focuse and did a time point 2 of the leaders witha damaged kart. National number 2 IDUBE Michael was struggling with his engines and only could manage a 10th in qualifying. In the first race he got a great start but began to fall back and came 10th. In the second race he worked hes way up again and came 5th but his water pipe broke in the pits and drained all the water out leaving him 400 grams under weight. In the last race he had a hard battle to eventually come 7th. Round 3 Northern Regions Championship BAR Michael had an exellent quali doing only 3 laps and putting it on pole. In the first race he won by 10 seconds. In the second race it was close bt he only managed 3rd. In the last race it was tight but he only got a 2nd. Round 2 KZN Regional Championship - May 2010 The team went doen to Idube for the second round of the KZN Regional Championship in preparation for the National Championship next month. Michael had a good weekend, He won both the pre-final and final ahead of the local riders and did a lot of testing for the National. Zwartkops Regional Michael was strugling the whole Friday, But pulled it together on Saturday. In the 1st race it was a close race Michael ending up 2nd by 0.1 of a second. In the 2nd race had a bad start and ended up 3rd. In the last race had a consistent race ending up 2nd. 1st National of the year (Port Elizabeth) In practice Michael showed lots of pace setting the quickest times most of the practice sessions. Qualifying took place on Saturday morning, Michael put in a time 0.3 quicker than anybody else, so he decided to save the tyres and come in the pits. Meanwhile all of his competitors where doing lap after lap and with 5 minutes to go Kelvin Van der linde set a time 0.05 quicker than Michael’s time, putting him second on the grid. In the 1st heat Michael drove a mature race to finish 2nd. In the 2nd heat Michael was the only one not on new tyres so the rest of the field had a big advantage over him but he ended up 5th. In the 3rd heat there was a 1st corner incident and Michael was ambushed right to the center of it, he broke his steering column and was not able to finish the race. With points of the worst two heat being dropped this year, Michael is second in the Junior ROK SA National Championship.1st regional at Vereeniging The season got under way at Vereengiging with the 1st regional. In qualifying Michael was blisteringly fast on pole. In the 1st race he got ahead and just drove away from the rest of the pack, he won by 8 seconds. In the 2nd race he was in the lead again and was pulling away but then he had a brake failure. He pitted and fixed he problem and went back out. He did the quickest lap time by point 2 of a second. In the 3rd race he had to come from the back of the grid and at the start he was making good progress but then he hit a kerb and his chain came off, he got it back on but he was 3 laps behind, he pushed hard but could only manage to unlap himself once, but he again did the quickest lap time. Michael now lies 4th in the Northern Regions championship. 2009 Triangular series ends in Mozabique Michael was looking good for the title of the triangular series. He had come 1st Idube, 1st in Zwartkops and the final round was in Mozambique. In quilifing he desided to do only 3 laps to save the tyres and he did an exelent time all of his opponents did 12 laps and Michael quilified 2nd with his opponent only going point 1 of a second qicker than him. In the 1st race he had an awsome battle for the lead but finished 2nd. In the 2nd race he was only beat by point 9 of a second and came 2nd. In the 3rd race he came 1st by 1.1 seconds. In the 4th race he came 1st by 1.3 seconds. The overall results where tied but he won because he won the last race. He also won the triangular series. Italy Rok World Cup It was time again for the annual Rok World Cup in Italy Michael was selected to go after finishing 6th in the national Junior Rok class. He had to compete against 64 competitors from other cuntories. He was not that quick in practice but when it came to quilifying he only managed to quilify 20th in group D witch consisted of 30 competitors. In the first race he fought his was up to 10th position. In the 2nd race he fought he's way up to 8th position. In the 3rd race he raced his way up the grid to 8th position. Michael quilifyed for the Final in 15th position. In the Final Michael was fyling he came from 15th to 4th in 2 laps but on lap 3 a driver crash so there had to be a slow down laps, for 4 laps the couldnt pass or go fast and when they restarted Michael had a slow restart and was knocked down to 8th with 3 laps to go Michael prosperd on he passed 2 competitors and on the last lap was 6th 0.9 of a sec behind the leader. So all in all it was a very good weekend for Michael and his THE GRID racing TONYKART. SARMC Final Michaeal was having a great weekend he qualifide 5th. In the 1st race he had a tight battle for 4th but eventually lost out and came 5th. In the 2nd race he had tecnical problemes and finished 6th. In the 3rd race he had a very bad race he had got the engen tuning wrong and was falling back in the field quickly but he drove through the probleme and finished 9th. In the last race the leader broke away but michael was able to carch him he sat behind the leader for 3 laps and when he wanted to make his move he got passed by 2 other drivers so after 20 laps he finished 4th. And after the whole season he finished 3rd in the whole of South Africa in the Junior Max class. Michael selected to go to Italy! 7 September 2009 Good news! Michael has been selected to participate in the Rok World Cup in Lennato, Italy on 24-25 October. SARMC racing 23 August 2009 Michael has been competing in the KZN SARMC championship this year. He has won 5 out of 6 races which places him second in the coutnrywide championship (includes Cape Town and Gauteng. Watch out for the final SA championship round on 4 October! Last round of the national championship 9 August 2009 The qualifyer was close racing with Michael qualifying 6th with less than point 1 behind the leader. In race 1 the kart setupwas not right and came seventh. In the second race he had a good battle for second but got bumped out and rejoinged in 5th. He eventually finished 3rd. In the third race he was leading but got bumped down to 10th but worked his way back up to 6th. In Michael's rookie year he finished 6th in the National Championship. Zwartkops regional the second last one 19 July 2009 Michael qualified on pole by point two of a second. In the first heat he won the race by 6 seconds. In the second heat he won by 2 seconds and in the third heat he had an intense battle for the lead but eventually came second and now leads the Northen Regions Championship. 3rd round of the National Championship in Natal 4 July 2009 It was the third round of the Engen Super Karts National Championship in Natal. Michael qualified third which is his best qualifyer for the season, In the first race he had an excellent start going into first but as the race went on he fell back and ended up fourth. In the second race he had a great battle for 2nd but eventualy finished third. In the third race he was battling for 4th and was bumped out , he regained in 15th and made his way back to 11th. The Grid Racing takes on Soweto 29 June 2009 Last weekend The Grid Karting team took part in the historic first motor race to be held in Soweto. A 900 meter long track had been laid out in the parking lot of the impressive Maponya Mall. The 6 m wide circuit was lined with over 2 200 hay bales and provided some exciting racing with the street format claiming some victims with karters ploughing through the hay bales.Michael had an impressive showing with two thirds and a second place finish in the three heats and a third overall. With the National Championships taking place in KZN next weekend, the team was nervous to damage the chassis and engine. In the final qualifying Michael clipped a hay bale and bent the 50mm back axle. Some frenzied action in the pits saw a spare fitted in time for the start of the first heat. Two weekends ago the team raced at the Northern Regions Championship event at the Vereeniging circuit. A strong showing with a 4th, 3rd and 2nd saw Michael move up into second place in the Northern Regions Championship!. TWO LAP RECORDS IN SEVEN DAYS - A GREAT START TO THE SARMC CHAMPIONSHIP Young Michael Taylor and The Grid Kart Racing Team had a great start to their attempt at the 2009 SARMC Junior Max Championship over the last two weekends. The Team has chosen the KZN rounds of the SARMC to qualify for the National Grand Final later this year. At the first round held at the stunning Idube Raceway just outside Pietermartizburg on the weekend of 18/19 April, Michael made his intentions clear by running well within the existing lap record during Saturday’s practice sessions despite it being his first outing on the daunting circuit in the 125cc kart. Choosing to save his tyres for the long 20 lap final heat he allowed himself only 3 laps in qualifying to post a reasonable lap time. His effort was enough for a second place in the starting grid behind local star Matthew Swanepoel. Matthew competed in 2008 European Rotax Max Championship and has a wealth of experience competing at the Idube Circuit. Again choosing to save his tyres in the first heat, Michael shadowed Swanepoel the entire race learning what he could about the racelines on the Idube circuit. He finished a comfortable second in this heat. In the second heat Taylor decided it was time to see if he could lead from the front and passed Swanepoel mid-race. He won comfortably but still thought that there was more time to be found and adjusted the gearing ratios for the final heat. Taylor and Swanepoel traded places during the final heat whist opening a substantial lead over the rest of the pack. Disaster stuck with a few laps to go when Swanpoel suddenly slowed and pulled off the track with a ignition failure handing the race to The Grid Team. Not satisfied with a hollow victory, Taylor posted a time of 55.8 sec to set up a new lap record for the Junior Max Class. A great effort for the Centurion youngster in his first drive in the 125cc Rotax powered kart. With the Cape Town round of the Junior ROK National Championship round just two weeks away the The Grid team decided to use the club race meeting at the Zwartkops Kart Circuit for some additional practice. Zwartkops is one of Michael’s favourite tracks, and he was looking forward to a first outing there in the Junior Max Kart. Again saving his tyres by using only three laps to qualify, he posted the second fastest time behind another regular European Championship contender, Sebastian Mafuna. Michael scored three second places for the day, but more importantly set up another new lap record in the first heat with a time of 44.211 sec. TOUGH START TO THE JUNIOR ROK NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP Michael Taylor and The Grid Kart Racing Team had a difficult start to the 2009 Junior ROK National Championship last weekend at the Celso Scribante Circuit in Port Elizabeth. The Rookie team in this ultra tough class battled most of the Friday practice session to find the right setup. Drastic overnight changes to the kart saw Michael post the third fastest time in the Saturday morning warm-up session. More hastily made changes after the first session resulted in a costly error when the cooling system was not bled properly and the motor overheated in the second warm-up session. The top end of the motor was rebuilt for qualifying, but the damage was done and Michael suffered the rest of the day with a down on power motor. In Qualifying the first seventeen competitors were separated by less than one second!. Michael managed to qualify in nine position with a time of 48.730, 0.450 behind the polesitter. A first corner incident saw Taylor drop back to 16th position after a fellow competitor drove over the back of his The Grid Tonykart. A great drive saw him finish in 10th position after some brilliant passing manoeuvres. In heat 2 Taylor again finished in 10th position with the motor staring to lose more and more power as the laps wore on. In heat 3 Michael was lucky to make it back onto the track after a coming together with another competitor on lap 2 which relegated him to last place. Another determined drive saw him finish in 15th position. Michael later said : "It was a difficult weekend with the treacherous surface of the PE circuit making tyre conservation very difficult". The second round of the northern regions championship After battling to find the correct set-up, Michael only managed to qualify in 6th position but made an excellent come back and finished 2nd in the first heat, crossing the finish line next to the winner. In the second race he had an awesome race and lead from start to finish and taking his first regional championship heat win in the Junior ROK class. Michael started the third heat on pole and had a good start, he lead the first 3 laps but was passed by Adrian Wood coming into turn 1. Into turn 2 there was chaos when Mitchell Licen dived through to take 2nd place but then bogged down on the exit. Michael could not avoid the collision and ended up stranded on the trackside his chain bumped off. Michael managed to put his chain back on quickly and rejoined and was catching the leaders every lap. The first round of the northen regions championship Michael had a great qualifying in his first championship event in a 125cc kart when he qualified in 3rd position in his THE GRID sponsored Tonykart. He however battled in the 1st heat with the wrong sprocket choice but still finished 8th out of 16 competitors. In the second race he did superbly when it started raining half way through the race and all the competitors where on slick tyres. Most of the competitors struggled in the conditions, but Michael braved though it and worked his way up the field eventually finishing 2nd right behind the leader. In the 3rd race it was raining very hard, Michael took the lead and pulled away but spun out in the atrocious conditions and was in last place after having to drag his kart back onto the circuit. He fought back in the terrible conditions and ended up in 5th position. 2008 The South African Rotax Max Challenge In this event there were 4 races at Zwartkops Raceway. In the first heat, we saw Sheldon van der Linde pull away from Nathan Parkins and closely followed by Michael Taylor. In the 2nd heat Michael Taylor won closley followed by Sheldon van der Linde. Nathan Parkins got a penalty and finished in 5th. In the 3rd heat Michael was victorious again ahead of Sheldon and Nathan 3rd in th final heat. The scores were tied in the championship between Michael and Sheldon. On the last lap Michael went down the inside of Sheldon, Sheldon squeezed him onto the kerb resulting in Sheldon not finishing and Michael coming 2nd and getitng a penalty. But Michael Taylor still won the championship from Sheldon van der Linde and Nathan Parkins. Good points haul for NR championship in Vereeniging With his eye set firmly on the championship, Michael took no chances at the 2nd last round of the championship. Held in Vereeniging on 20 September, conditions again became difficult on raceday when the wind started to howl just as it did at the National. Another controversial pass under yellow by another competitor saw Michael having to settle for 2nd place in the first heat. With Parkins and Van Der Linde working well together and pushing each other away in the windy conditions, Michael had to fight off a good challenge from Shayur Harpal, but ended 3rd with a last lap challenge. A 2nd place finish in the final heat sees him taking a 20 points advantage into the final round. Mechanical failure at the last round of SA Champs After a great year mechanically, the bad luck stuck when it was least needed!. Realising he was on the back foot after the first heat where Michael finished 4th, a few adjustments saw him quickly take the lead in heat two and set up the fastest laptime in the process. Just then disaster stuck when the motor just died, Michael tried all he could, but could not just the kart started again. Strange enough the kart started as soon as it was back in the team pit. The damage must obviously have been done as in the 3rd heat he just did not have the power to keep up with the front two. a 3rd place to finish off the season in third overall in the championship.Taylor unlucky in Natal At the KZN round of the National Michael qualified 4th. In the first race he worked his way to the front and was still leading on the last lap when he had a coming together with arch rival Morgan McColl leaving Michael in seventh place with less than a lap to go. A bit of amazing driving saw him cross the line in second place just behind the leader. Taylor was later credited with the win after first place man Parkins was penalised five places for dangerous driving. In the second heat he started 7th and again quickly got to the front. Unfortunately it was more of the same when he got muscled off with two corners to go. He was lucky to salvage a 7th place finish. Starting 7th in the third heat he lead for most of the race and was unfortunate to get tangled with the pack on the last lap and only managed a 5th place finish. Michael now leads the SA Championship by 4 points after drops and can’t wait for the final round at Vereeniging on 28 -29 August 2008.
Royal flush for Rigidek Nothern Regions Championship - 31 May 2008 Michael was quickest on Saturday morning and in qualifying. In the first race he ran away with it. In the second race Michael played it clever and passed for the lead on the last lap and won. In the last race Michael sat in second place until the last corner and made his move. he won all three races, was on pole and got the fastest lap of the day. His team mate Ricky Hill did the same in Junior Max. Taylor is victorious in PE Round 2 : South African National Championship 3 May 2008. In practice I was half a second quicker than anybody else. In qualifying i got pole position. In the first race I had a comfortable lead for the first half of the race but the chasing pack then caught and passed me (under the yellow flag). On the second last lap there was a big bunch up and another karter slid into me and as a result I finished 4th. In the second race i pulled away and lead from start to finish.In the third heat i did exactly the same and won overall and i now lead the SA championship. The first and most important National of the year Round 1 : South African 2008 National Championship . Michael had a bad qualifying and started 8th, In the first race he had a wonderful start and came out the corner 1st. There was a three way battle for the lead and on the last lap michael was third and tuned the kart too rich so when he wanted to pass on the last lap he didnt have the speed so he came third. In the second race michael started third and on the first lap when he was third the kart in front of him stalled the and the front three got away, michael finished fifth and got the second quickest lap. in the third race he started second and in the race there was a five man race to the finish. Michael was the last of the five on the last lap and on the second last corner michael made an awesome move he finished third in the race and third overall. The first regional of the year Northern Regions Championship - Vereeniging 27 February 2008 Michael was magnificent at the first regional at Vereeniging. He was quickest on Friday and on Saturday morning he was 2nd quickest. In qualifying he missed pole by less than a 100 of a second. In the first race Michael struggled and came 2nd. In the second race Michael came 2nd again but got the quickest lap. In the third heat it rained and Michael knew he had to move. He lead until the second last lap when he made a mistake and went wide . He lost the lead and came second, but taking first overall for the day. Michael enjoyed the start of the season leading the regional championship at this stage. updated 5:54 28/02/08Club Day at Vereeniging Michael just had his first race of the season. It was a club race at Vereeniging. Although Michael is not contesting the club championship this year, it was a practice run for the Regional in two weeks time. There was no practice on Friday. In qualifying he put it on pole. In the first race Michael was on a warm up lap and his kart just cut out. He couldent get it started for the whole race. Then in the second race he started last and finished less than point one of a second behind the leader. In the third race he lead the whole race and on the second last lap he got passed by the second placed man. On the last lap Michael waited for him to make a mistake and he did so on the third last corner. Michael went alongside him into the second last corner and passed him cleanly. Michael got the win! updated 7:06 10/02/08 News Michael's looking forward to the year ahead being his last year in GP juiniors. He had a great end to 2007, finishing 2nd at Zwartkops National behind current champ Chad McGiver. He also won the last round of the Regional Championship to secure overall 4th place in the Northen Regions Championship. He has been preparing himself mentaly and phisically for the season that kicks off in February......... and Michael just cant wait!. updated 8:54 14/01/08 |
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