IT has proven to be a challenging year in a number of ways for stock car racer Kyle Taylor but his aim is to finish the campaign on a high.

The 33-year-old, who hails from Northwich but has lived in Middlewich for the past six years, lost his job recently and crashed out of the British Championships in May, suffering concussion and considerable vehicle damage in the process.

But successive wins in his new ‘second-hand car’ on his return to shale-surface action raise hopes that he can give two prestigious events a crack later in the year.

However, for one of them he needs an additional vehicle that he and his father Dave are currently preparing for tarmac racing.

“The top 56 in world qualifying points are seeded into a world semi-final,” said Kyle, who heads to Mildenhall Stadium near Bury Saint Edmunds in Suffolk for the latest round in BriSCA F2.

“I am currently 34th in world qualifying points with only one round left to go, so I am pretty much guaranteed a semi-final place “I didn't realise I was that high up as I've only competed in two of the 14 available rounds due to losing my job this year through redundancy and the concussion I suffered which took me a few weeks to recover from.

“There are two types of racing within BriSCA F2 - tarmac and shale tracks - and a driver will need two cars to compete on both surfaces.

“Many drivers with limited finances and help such as myself choose to focus on one.

“I am a regular on shale and have tried to master that discipline over the last 17 years that I have raced, so I am widely recognised as a shale specialist.

“I have done a very limited number of tarmac races in the past, mostly in borrowed or hired cars but I do have my own tarmac car which I haven't raced yet.

“I feel I've never been able to get the most out of unfamiliar cars when I do borrow them for championships that are held on tarmac that I qualify for, but both the world semi finals and world final this year are being staged on tarmac tracks.

“The odds are of course still greatly stacked against me qualifying for the world final but just getting on the grid for a semi final is an achievement.

“I have competed in three world semi finals in my career and qualified for the world final on two of those occasions, but on both occasions failed to finish in the world final, the first being at Cowdenbeath in Scotland due to a major first corner incident which took out a lot of competitors and the second being at Mildenhall where I might have finished in the top 10 but I was forced to retire due to an overheating engine.

“The world semi finals are being staged at Aldershot and the world final itself at Taunton, neither tracks I have raced at before so if I would rely on a chaotic semi final to allow me to qualify, then finishing the world final race in the top 10 would be my realistic target.

“The world final is undisputedly the most coveted prize in BriSCA F2, however there is also a secondary championship for shale specialists such as myself, called the World of Shale Championship.

“Qualification for this is very similar to the World Championship, where points are accumulated throughout the season.

“I am currently 13th overall in the points in this championship and have finished in the top five on more than one occasion previously, so this is actually at the top of my priority list as a much more realistic and viable option for me to win a major championship one day.

“The World of Shale Championship final is being held at King’s Lynn on October 19. I have finished fouth in this race at King’s Lynn in the past so I will be looking to crack the top three this year if possible.”

> READ: Kyle Taylor returns to the track with back-to-back wins

Kyle has always been around stock cars, due to his dad who raced BriSCA F1 between 1972 and 1987.

When Mark retired due to being unable to financially support the racing any longer he became a regular spectator and his son was introduced to the sport soon after he was born.

“Going racing every weekend all my childhood, I knew that with my first pay check when I turned 16 and started working I would buy my first stock car,” said Taylor.

“BriSCA F2 are much more affordable at entry level than BriSCA F1, so that's exactly what I did at the cost of £1100 ready to race, some basic old tools and a borrowed trailer.”

Kyle spoke fondly of his father’s own racing career.

“My dad was always a budget racer but he got up to 'red' grade at the height of his career and he qualified for one world final in 1983 where he finished 10th which was his biggest achievement.

“He won 11 races during his 15-year career. He shared costs by sharing a car with his brother Colin Taylor.”

Kyle added: “My biggest achievements so far are winning the Internations Cup race at Mildenhall in 2023 and finishing third in the World of Shale points standings in 2022.

“I finished fifth in the WoS final race that year which was held at Bradford, while my highest position in a World of Shale final came at King’s Lynn in 2021 where I finished fourth.”

Thankfully in a costly sport, Kyle’s car came through the recent racing virtually unscathed - which is very rare!

“We probably spend minimum one hour in the garage for every one minute on track,” said Kyle.

“It is definitely a way of life for us. My dad is 71 and retired now and works on the cars most days even when I'm not able to.”