Niall Macfarlane Mackenzie (born 19 July 1961) is a Scottish former professional motorcycle road racer.

Career

Niall Mackenzie and Eddie Lawson 1989 Donington Park

Mackenzie, who hails from Fankerton, near Denny, Stirlingshire; won the

British Superbike Championship The British Superbike Championship (BSB), currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Bennetts British Superbike Championship, is the leading road racing superbike championship in the United Kingdom, and was once widely acknowledged as the p ...

three times from 1996 to 1998 with the

Rob McElnea Rob McElnea (born 12 December 1959) is a British former professional motorcycle road racer. At the peak of his career he raced six seasons in the MotoGP, then named 500cc Grand Prix Championship. He also competed for five years in the World Su ...

-run

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

team, and the British 250cc and 350cc titles twice earlier in his career. He had a long career in the

Grand Prix motorcycle racing Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start ...

circuit, debuting in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

in the 250cc class. He moved up to the 500cc class in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

on a

Suzuki is a Japan, Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Minami-ku, Hamamatsu, Japan. Suzuki manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, All-terrain vehicle, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard motor, outboard marine engines, wheelchairs ...

before spells on

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

and

motorcycles. He was 4th in the championship in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, and finished in the top 10 in the championship on five other occasions. His final racing season was the 2000 British Superbike series, although he did a farewell one-off at

Knockhill Knockhill Racing Circuit is a motor racing circuit in Fife, Scotland. It opened in September 1974 and is Scotland's national motorsport centre. The circuit is located in the countryside about north of Dunfermline. It is the only FIA approved ...

in 2001 and stood in for the injured Yukio Kagayama at Donington Park in 2003.

Post-racing career

Mackenzie co-owns Mackenzie Hodgson Insurance, works in motorcycling media and instructs on track days around the UK and Europe.

Personal life

Mackenzie has two sons; Tarran, who competes in the British Superbike Championship, and

Taylor Taylor, Taylors or Taylor's may refer to: People * Taylor (surname) **List of people with surname Taylor * Taylor (given name), including Tayla and Taylah * Taylor sept, a branch of Scottish clan Cameron * Justice Taylor (disambiguation) Plac ...

, who competed in Superstock 1000 before his retirement from competition after the 2021 season. Taylor won the British Superstock 1000cc Championship in 2016. Tarran won the British Supersport Championship in 2016 and the British Superbike Championship in 2021.

Grand Prix career statistics

Points system from 1969 to 1987: Points system from 1988 to 1991: Points system in 1992: Points system from 1993 onwards: (

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

Niall-Mackenzie.com
– Official site
Video interview with Niall Mackenzie, Donington Park, 2005
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mackenzie, Niall 1961 births Living people British motorcycle racers Scottish motorcycle racers 500cc World Championship riders 250cc World Championship riders British Superbike Championship riders Superbike World Championship riders