The 15-year old had gone into the final round leading the points table, but expected to be hard pressed by his season long rival Mackenzie Taylor.

Carl got things underway with a solid third fastest lap in timed qualifying, whilst Taylor found himself down in 28th place after rain fell during his session.

“This relaxed me more, knowing that he would not be breathing down my neck in the heats,” said Carl.

Starting from pole position in his first race, Carl opted for ‘safety-first’ and took third place. However, a technical infringement saw the initial winner, Ashley Sutton demoted to fourth - moving Carl into second place.

In the following race, Carl brought his kart home in third place, knowing that it would secure him a good position on the grid for the first of the day’s two points scoring finals.

“I started from third place on the grid and in the first corner, moved into second place. I sat behind (the leader) Patryk Szczerbinski for another lap, and then passed him on the start/finish line. From there, I drove as hard as I could, but with five laps to go had to defend from Patryk and Ashley (Sutton). I held them to the flag and was delighted to win. It was a major confidence booster and actually secured the Championship for me – although I wasn’t sure that I’d done it at this point.”

With Taylor in fifth, Carl had indeed put the Championship beyond his rival’s reach - but the Banbridge Academy student was keen to end his final race of the 2008 season on a high.

“I was leading the second final, but made a mistake on the fourth lap, allowing Sutton and Szczerbinski through. On the same lap, at the hairpin at the top of the circuit I was hit from behind and my engine cut out. This caused a pile-up behind me, but I was able to re-start my engine and continue in fourth place. I re-took third and I was able to hold off Sam Snell to the flag”.

With Taylor watching from the sidelines after being caught up in the earlier collision, Carl now knew he’d wrapped up the Championship and was obviously delighted.

“I went into the last corner smiling so hard it hurt my face! All the hard work every single person in the team (Millennium Motorsport) has put into me this year, paid off. I’m over the moon. I’d also like to thank my mum and dad, who have supported me all year and deserved as much as I have. And my two brothers, Adam and Craig.”

The British Super 1 series is one of British motorsport’s longest-running series and has in the past seen F1 stars past and present become champions. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), Jenson Button (Honda) David Coulthard (Red Bull) and Alan McNish (formerly at Toyota) are all drivers who forged their reputations in karting.

Carl - who adds the Super 1 to the British Open title he won earlier in the year - says “I think this (victory) lays down a marker that I didn’t have at the beginning of the year. When I won the Open title, people were asking ‘Who’s Carl Stirling?’ – now they know.