Calgary brothers ripping up the karting circuit in Italy

A few years back, Brian Taylor and his wife Tana wanted to experience something new, so they packed their bags and moved from Calgary to Malta.

It was in Malta that that their sons discovered a karting track, and the sport quickly became their passion.

Nicolas Taylor has since been offered a contract to be an official factory driver for GP Racing based in Italy, one of the oldest kart manufacturing companies in the world.

It meant Nicolas would have to travel from Malta to Italy to race, but the family decided it was worth it. 

Nicolas, now 17, says if you want to race karts, Italy is the place to be.

"Karting is like stepping stones to Formula 1 in Italy.

"If you're racing in Italy, you know you probably have the best chance of making a professional career."

INSTANT SUCCESS

The decision to sign Nicolas paid off immediately.

In his first race, the teen finished in second place.

A couple of weeks back, he rose to the top.  

Nicolas had a pair of wins at the WSK world class series in Cremona, Italy. 

He says he's surprised at how much success he's had so far.

"I'm racing against guys who have been here their whole lives, and some of them are in their 20s and 30s," he said.

"Me still being 17 years old and only been in racing for two years, I got my first victory, two victories actually, so it's a pretty big deal and it's pretty surprising, honestly."

YOUNGER BROTHER ALSO TEARING IT UP

Nicolas isn't the only Taylor who has been ripping it up on the kart circuit in Italy.

His younger brother, 14-year-old Zachary Taylor, signed on with GP Racing last year.

Zachary also hit the podium recently.

"Two weeks ago, at the IAME series at the Italy event, I finished P-5 in one of the higher-class categories, and I got pole position in qualifying in the other category," Zachary said.

"I finished P-3 so my first national podium in Italy, which was really good."

LOOKING UP TO BIG BROTHER

Zachary and Nicolas race six months of the year in Italy, which means their parents have to take turns getting them to the races.

Zachary says he's glad to have his older brother there with him.

"Seeing as he's getting some success recently, it's good to have him around and have him in the tent with us, because I can get some tips from him to really up my game."

F1 FUTURE?

Nicolas and Zachary both love kart racing, but aren't too sure about trying to get to F1 racing.

For now, Nicolas likes the seat he has.

"At the moment, I'm more than happy to stay in karting because I'm just starting to get some good success, so I want to see how far I can push this at the karting level."

Zachary agrees, saying he really likes karting.

"I just want to stay in it to see where I can go with it."

"Like Nick said, he's starting to have success and he wants to see where he can go with, it and I'm kind of the same.

"I'm starting to have some success, and I want to continue doing this for a few more years to see where I can go."