Matthew Mason could arguably claim to be BRDC Stars of Tomorrow’s most improved driver of 2007, and made such an impression towards the end of the campaign he has now set his sights firmly on the 2008 crown.

The Nottinghamshire ace belied his lack of karting experience – 2007 marked only his second full year of competition and first on the national stage – by going from strength-to-strength as the season progressed, but he admitted the early rounds had been a bit of an eye-opener.

“Last year we were just doing club meetings at PF International and Wombwell, my two local circuits,” he told Crash.net. “I raced Mini Max in 2006 and Junior Max was quite a change, especially in terms of power and it affects the way you handle the kart as well. You need to brake earlier going into the corners in Junior Max.

“Stars was a real learning curve for us – the competition is a lot greater out there and I just wanted to get some experience so I can be properly competitive next year.”

A late entry to the championship, Matthew missed the opening meeting at Kimbolton and also the Welsh visit to Llandow in July, and as if that alone were not enough the other points-scoring rounds – at Larkhall, Genk and Wigan – were all at circuits that were new to him. It was, he acknowledged, never going to be anything less than an uphill struggle, but being with a team in Xtreme Racing, he underlined, was a massive help.

“There’s a real environment within the team,” he stated, “and you’ve got people you can talk to inside the same awning. Given it was only my second full year in karting, I hadn’t been to a lot of the tracks before so some of the other Xtreme drivers were giving me tips.

“Over the course of the year my racecraft and driving have improved all-round, and I now know how to give better feedback to the team, how to be more confident when it comes to overtaking manoeuvres and how to time the starts exactly right by getting up onto the bumper of the kart ahead coming up to the line.”

There has been a lot to take in, but a measure of Matthew’s skill and determination to improve was witnessed in the final round at Three Sisters when he stormed to a rostrum finish in soaking wet conditions – a 16-place improvement on the first final of his Stars’ career at Larkhall back in June.

“Larkhall was a shocking round,” he admits. “I had never been there before and in all three heats we started mid-pack and just went backwards because I was getting beaten up on the track. It really demonstrated to me just how aggressive it is out there in Stars.

“I was bullied about a bit because I hadn’t earned the other drivers’ respect. When I first went out there nobody really knew who I was, and I had to really fight for my own name. By the last round I think I had shown people they should respect me a little bit more.

“Genk was where the improvement really kicked in. The circuit is very demanding, and with it being so hot too I was sweating a lot. Also, with only having one set of tyres to last both days they went off very quickly, which had a big impact on the way the kart handled. I really got to grips with the circuit though and enjoyed the weekend. It’s a great track with great facilities.

“Most people had only been there once before, so us not having the experience of the track wasn’t so much of a disadvantage and we managed to get on quite well. Although we were black-flagged in the first final – which was probably the lowest point of the season for me – in the second one we came from 18th up to ninth.

“Getting a podium at Wigan felt great. I had an awful start which put me back four places to ninth, but from there I was just overtaking pretty much every lap. I was a bit disappointed afterwards because we were catching the leaders by quite a bit when the red flags came out. I think if the race hadn’t finished early I would have been fighting for the win; we were really up there.”

Indeed he was, and it echoed a similarly impressive performance from the blue riband Kartmasters event at PF a fortnight earlier, only this one had ultimately ended in even greater frustration.

“The wet weather is my strongest point,” Matthew stressed. “I’ve done a fair amount of wet weather testing at PF so I’m pretty used to those conditions. Kartmasters was very competitive and there’s a lot of pressure put on you there, but it’s my home circuit so I expected to do quite well.

“Unfortunately my back bumper snapped off in the first heat, but I finished both my other two heats inside the top ten. That left me fourth on the ‘B’ final grid on a drying track. In the damp conditions on slick tyres it was really tricky, but I got a good start to get into second place by the first corner and I just stuck with that.

“The pre-final was really good – coming all the way from 24th up to seventh was awesome, just amazing. I hadn’t expected to do that and really enjoyed it. After that the grand final was such a disappointment. I was all prepared for it and hoping to be on the podium, then I just got fired off in the first corner, straight over the top of another kart and onto the grass…”

It was, as he says, a crushing disappointment, but reflecting on his season as a whole Matthew has few complaints. After finishing 19th in a field of 32 drivers despite only participating in five of the eight points-scoring Stars rounds, the 15-year-old has just one objective for 2008 – victory.

“I think it’s gone well,” he said. “Like I said, the whole year was a learning curve and I’m really glad I did it. I learned a lot about how the championship is run and how competitive it can be out there, so I know what to expect if I come back again next year.”

Beyond that Matthew foresees a move up into Formula Renault, following two highly promising tests in a Formula Renault 1600cc machine for 2006 Belgian series title-winners Team Astromega at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium and Croix-en-Ternois in France towards the end of last year. Though he was too young to compete at the time, he has nevertheless received invaluable advice from Stars old boy and Formula Renault champion Craig Dolby, someone he describes as ‘a real superstar’.

“Craig is a really good friend of mine and an excellent driver coach,” Matthew enthused. “He has taught me from when I was a novice and has helped me to improve my driving a lot, and he still comes along to watch the odd meeting now.

“Sam Boyle, the Team Astromega boss, said he would like me to drive next year, but he knows we are on a very tight budget. He’s very keen, but I really want to prove myself in karting first to make a name for myself and get some sponsors behind me to help take me further.

“In my racing career I have one goal and that’s to get to Formula 1. It’s what I want to do and I’m determined to achieve that.”