Teenage star Ben Taylor aiming to end racing season on high

The 14-year-old has been making his debut in the British Junior Supersport class this year with RaceCraft Rider Development Junior Team, run by Charlie Hall.

And despite finishing near the back of the grid, the Kidderminster teenager has been consistently breaking his own lap records despite having made the huge step up from the Thundersport GB class into the BSB paddock at such a young age.

Taylor, who was only 13 when the season started, has also returned to Thundersport action on occasion, to gain more track time, as well as the N G Road Racing series, both of which are raced on circuits also used in the BSB.

His hard work has been paying off too as Taylor has continued to take on board advice throughout the campaign, with one eye already on the 2020-21 season.

Taylor returned from Oulton Park, in the British Junior Supersport class, full of confidence after progressively finishing in a better position after each of his three races in what was a hectic weekend for the rising stars of the BSB paddock.

I had a good weekend at Oulton Park," said Taylor, who will be back in BSB action at Donington Park, from October 4-6. "Practice was wet but I still felt good.

"I went out for qualifying and it got red flagged and was off the pace a bit.

"Charlie spoke to me and gave me some tips and I went out and knocked three seconds off my lap time.

"I knew I could’ve gone quicker but didn’t have the confidence in the front.

"After qualifying we took the bike to K-tech and they made some changes to the suspension."

Following a poor start off the line, Taylor managed to pull a back a few places but it ended up being a lonely race for the Wyre Forest teenager, who eventually brought his bike home in 33rd place.

Changes made to the forks, however, had made his bike work better and he ended up in a friendly battle with his team-mate, Alessandro Valente, until he hit a false neutral and lost two positions.

"There were two laps left and I still had a bit of a gap to make up but on the last lap I caught back up and passed my team-mate," said Taylor.

"However, I just missed out on passing the next riders, finishing behind him by 0.089 seconds, but still posted my fastest lap of the weekend, crossing the line in 34th.

"I didn’t get the best of starts in race three but stuck with the riders in front and had a good battle. I got away in the last few laps and put in a good time, finishing in 28th."

Taylor was also in action during the N G Road Racing series at Castle Combe, in the Formula 400 class.

After qualifying 31st, he missed the opening race after not hearing the starter's call but got slotted into the Mini Twins race instead, to ensure he enjoyed a decent amount of track time, and after making his way through the pack finished 10th in class.

Having missed the opening Formula 400 race, he started race two 38th on the grid but rose to 25th by the finish line.

Starting 25th for the final race of the weekend, Taylor enjoyed another good battle and finished in 14th.

"Overall, it was a good weekend considering I was on scrub tyres from the previous round at Thruxton," he said. "I'm feeling good going into the next BSB round at Donington Park.

"I'd like to thank my sponsors Bike-N-Sport Personal Training, SBXtreme, Motul, Austin Racing, Geartech Midlands Ltd, MSS Performance Ltd, Kawasaki Team Green, Racecraft Rider Development, DRC Race Leathers, R&G, Illusion Race Paint, CRC Fairings, K-Tech Suspension, HEL Performance, Lightech Racing and #drcarmy."