Moto3 finale – Taz Taylor signing off for the season with a win!

Taz Taylor’s Moto3 finale concluded – well done Taz!

It seems a Moto3 millenium ago that Taz set his wheels down for the first race of the season. This first win set him up for his first place Championship standing. Which he fought for and successfully defended until he finished second last weekend. A place secured for this race so the ride wasn’t affecting his overall standing.

Beginning the season with a podium position, Taz saw off the season in the Moto3 finale with the same feat. Although on another set of wheels. Bike problems slowed Taz and his performance down over the latter end of the Moto3 Season. So Taz changed it up. He rode a RS Racing 125 2 stroke Honda. The bike, courtesy of the team’s boss Ryan Saxelby, came out of retirement for the races. Still bursting with winner’s luck. The bike carried Kyle Ryde and James Lodge as winners in 2011 and 2010 respectively.

The 125 bikes don’t quite match the Moto3 strength, yet Taz, as ever, was fierce. He was in it to fight to forget that and win anyway. On his first ever bike ride Taz practiced Friday morning. This was before gaining a second place start from qualifying.

Sitting in second place for the green light of race one, Taz pulled the throttle. Yet he couldn’t get going fast enough. He sped away and slipped down to eighth. A sign of things to come? It wasn’t looking promising. Yet Taz raced on, pacing the other riders so much that in timings he was 2 seconds ahead. Until lap five, when in places he reached first! This then commenced the recurring battle of Taylor vs. Deroue. A battle they were both winning at separate points. Finishing the final drag, shoulder to shoulder, no one could call it. And the commentator only just did when Taz secured a 0.002 second win!

The second race set off with a similar start to the first. Taz began in second place on the track and dropped back to sixth by the end of lap one. This was the final race of the Brand’s Hatch weekend. The Moto3 finale – everyone was hitting the ride hard. So the fight was a bigger one than race one, with a faster pace, and more to ride for. Taz kept going and built up his pace. Lap eight saw him in sight of the frontrunners – Deroue and Rendell – yet still from behind. He worked to close the time gap from 2.4 seconds to 0.6. Then came the final lap, where Rendell came out of the race and crashed out. Taz placed in at second! What a winning Moto3 finale weekend for our local champ.

How was Taz feeling by the end of the Moto3 finale?

His first comments came for the bike, “It was a real honour to be able to ride the 125 this weekend for Ryan; I know how much he loved the two strokes and how good the bike was when Kyle and Jonathan rode it. I knew I couldn’t drop to third in the Championship and I couldn’t win it and wanted to try something different and always wanted to have a go a Ryan’s 125.”

He seemed really pleased with the first race of the final, “I think I’ve had the most fun riding this weekend and the first race with Scott was just mega, we were both fighting so hard for the win and despite my horrendous start I wanted to give it my all. I put everything I had into that last lap and we were touching as we came out of the last turn and I just kept it pinned! I can’t believe I took the win by 0.002, that’s crazy.” Well done Taz!

Then came his gratitude and thanks for the support in this race, and throughout the season ” I just want to thank Ryan and the team for this opportunity this weekend to ride the 125 and it’s been a pleasure and a great experience. I would also like to thank all my personal sponsors this season, without them this wouldn’t have been possible. The year has been fantastic and really enjoyable, I was gutted not to win the Championship but we’ve had some unreal races all season.” With a special mention to his old man, “Thank you also to my Dad for working all hours so I could race this season, he’s been unreal!”

With special thanks for help in writing these posts…

As sponsors of Taz Taylor we’ve followed his journey for many years now. We’re so proud of how far he’s come, and the effort he forever brings. Though we wouldn’t be able to create these updates if it weren’t for Carly Rathmell. Thank you for your detailed round-ups and sharing Taz’s Tales Carly!

Johnny Wills is the creative craft behind the photos that animate these posts – thank you Johnny!

Congratulations Taz!

We’d also like to congratulate Taz and say a big well done for all of his hard work this season! Please check back here or on Taz’s site for an update on where he’ll be next season.