After a fru💟strating rookie MCE British Superbike championship campaign in 2015 and his racing future on the brink, Taylor Mackenzie turned his hand to the Pirelli National Superstock 10♛00 championship and clinched an emotional title with Buildbase BMW.

Mackenzie ♔sticks with Hawk Racing for 2017 ahead of his return to BSB with the new-look Bennetts Suzuki squad and world title-win♉ning team-mate Sylvain Guintoli.

In an honest and eye-opening interview, Mackenzie tells us wh𝔉🃏at it's like to have a famous racing father, having a brother for a best friend and how racing in 2015 almost pushed him away from the sport for good.

ltxcn.top:
I'm guessing y✃our traᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚining routine has picked up a bit recently?

Taylor Mackenzie:
Actu🃏ally my brother and I have always taken our training seriously and we've always looked after ourselves. Since last year we've had a personal trainer and I train at a Gym near Loughborough University with him pretty m🤪uch every day.

Before work♔ing with him we had to do bits and pieces ourselves whereas no🌠w it's at a different level. I'd say it's a lot more intense and structured this year.

ltxcn.top:
Is there a feeling that this year may be a turning point in your ca🃏reer?

Taylor Mackenzie:
Oh definitely.

Last year was a massive year for me because I told myself before the year started that it was make or break for me and if it didn't happen then I would just finish racing. I didn't want to be there to make up the numbers and needed to have some prospect of winning. I really gave it eve✱rything I had and ended up winning the championship.

I like to think that I showed what 🌳I was capable of last♏ year and this year is more about cementing that and proving that it wasn't a one off. I want to show that I'm a top-level rider.

ltxcn.top:
I think the thing I noticed about⛎ your riding this year was a very aggressive style.

Taylor Mackenzie:
From the outside I've heard a few people say that but it's never been 📖something I've based myself around.

I'm actually quite a placid person off the bike, I don't like arguments or conflict or anything, but maybe I get a bit of red mist when the viso൲r comes down.

ltxcn.top:
As Josh Brookes said, you're not out 💛there to make friends, right?

Taylor Mackenzie:
When I was younger I loved racing partly because of the number of friends I had around the race track and there was a lot more of that aspect to it then. I don't know whether I was a little na?ve because at the end of the day it's a job for all of us and we're actualཧly after each other's.

From the friends point of view, it's greatဣ for me because I've got Tarran with me and he's both my brother and my best friend. We both know that we've got each other's🃏 backs.

Outside of that I think it's hard to get along with other riders sincerely because when it comes down to it you'd do the same to them as they'd do to you, it's all about winning. If that means you can't be best fr𝓡iends with everyone then so be it. I know that at the end of the race I can always ꦜgo back to my family and they'll look after me no matter what.

Also no🃏w I've got a great team behind me which gives me a proper base to work from.

ltxcn.top:
To w💧hat degree is your father involved in your career?

Taylor Mackenzie:
When I was younger he'd be there every race giving me pointers because there was a lot more he could teach me then because I was so green to the sport. As I've g🐽ot older though I've started making more of my own decisions and he has stepped back a bit.

I think the three racing Mackenzies and my mum are quite unique and lucky in th🍸at we all get on all of the time, we hardly ever fall out. I've been racing since 2007 and I've only had one major disagreement with my dad and all that while traveling the world together and doing everything else. It's a really great relationship.

This year for example he always went out to spot for me and my brother and usually tries to do every corner. I think that this year with 🎉the Superbike though he's going to be a lot more involved than last year be⛎cause there's a lot more to the bike.

Als﷽o we're going to be developing🐠 a new bike so his experience will be needed there.

ltxcn.top:
Are there any disadvantages to having such a well🏅-known father?

Taylor Mackenzie:
People always used to think it was easy for me when I first started because my father would give me everything but it really wasn't like that. It ꦅactually seemed to work in the opposite way because everyone used to th𓆉ink 'Oh yeah, it's young Mackenzie, he'll be alright, he doesn't need anything'.

I've had to fight as hard as anyone else to find and keep sponsors though. Also I've had some pretty tough years in racing and my dad certainly hasn't ridden the bike for me, there's only so much he can do. The performance on track can only come from m♚e.

His influence is not only that he's a good racer but also tha🤪t he's a good parent in general. It's not so much him being a Niall Mackenzie it's more🥀 that he's part of a really supportive family.

ltxcn.top:
So where did the impulse to race come from?

Taylor Mackenzie:
Well I was in the paddock from three months old but I didn't r🐻eally have the desire to race bikes until I was 14.

When I was at school there wasn't anyone riding bikes and the cool thing to do was to play football and all the other school sports and I was🐈 just a jack-of-all-trades doing those.

My father never pushed u💎s into racing but there were always bikes around at home and we kind of absorbed all the knowledge you needed to race by osmosis so when we did come around to doing it the knowledge was all there.

You've got to race from an early age and that background of raci🐎ng knowledge helped me to get started early mentally. I think dad just kind of provided that background without realising it.

So at 14 I had a minimoto that I'd ride in the back garden and just couldn't get my knee down and was determined to do it so we went to a go cart track just so that I could scrape my knee. It was at that knee down session that I kind of got hooked. We always say that we would have saved an awful lot 🐲of money and stress if we hadn't gone to that sessioඣn. Now I wouldn't change it for the world.

ltxcn.top:
ꦛHave 🍌you been able to make any kind of living at it?

Taylor Mackenzie:
Racing h🎃asꦫ changed so much in the last 20 years because when my dad was racing there was a lot of tobacco money in the sport and there was so much less financial stress involved. It used to be much better funded.

Now we're just about breaking e🍨ven as a family and I've had some incredible sponsors over the years that have looked after me through thick and thin. Captain cover and RST leathers have been there from the start of my career but Chandler at MPS Aviation is my biggest sponsor for the last few year𒁃s and has looked after me no matter what. Recently I've also been lucky enough to find some sponsorship from ePayMe and they've been great too. Without them I simply wouldn't be here.

I've also done plenty of other jobs in between for example designing leathers for RST for a year but one of my main sources of income is doing track﷽ days. I work at the Ron Haslam school and also with James Whitham. Apart from that it's a case of always being on the lookout for spo꧟nsors.

I've be꧙come a bit of a wheeler dealer because I'm always on the lookout for ways to keep me racing ౠa bike. The dream is to race bikes for the rest of my life and I really need to make that happen.

In our fﷺamily it's a bit obsessive and there isn't a day goes by where we're not discussing bikes, whether it's about riding them , buying them, training for them or tinkering with them. It's my mum I feel sorry for because I imagine she thought that when dad finished racing she could forget about bikes and maybe take a holiday but it hasn't worked out that way - she's still stuck at Knockhill in the rain!

ltxcn.top:
I've noticed you racing as number 11 and 77

Taylor Mackenzie:
I actually race as 77 but when🐭ever I get to BSB I find tℱhat James Ellison's nicked my number.

So I raced as 11 last time in BSB but that didn't work out so well so I'll be racing as number 6 next time because my dad raced with that number in GP's. I don't really want to race as anything other than 77 but you're kind of pushed into it because the old fart's sticking with it . So I'll do everything I can to beat him this year so I can have it off him next year but he doesn't know that yet!

ltxcn.top:
So you were going to give up?

Taylor Mackenzie:
We got to the middle of 2015 and it was a never-ending cycle of bad results and things going wrong. I've always put my absolute heart and soul into what I do because it's all we do in my family so♓ I took that quite hard.

At the time my brother was doing well and you can't help comparing yourself. I've alwa🐎ys though I could ride a bike alright and couldn't understand why it was going so well for him and so badly for me. The flip side of course was the feeling that if he could do it then I could as well but the contrast just got too great.

There came a point after I'd been set on fire at Snetterton that I started to wonder why I was doing it, why I was putting myself through so much heartache. I wasn't taking any money out of it and if I put the amount of heart and𝔉 soul that I was putting into racing into another job I'd certainly be getting something.

It got to Knockhill and I'd had further problems there so we sat down in the caravan together and I was in floods of tears. At that♌ stage dad just asked me if I wanted to stop because he couldn't stand seeing me like that. I remember the moment though because my brain just wouldn't let me say 'yes'.

It was horrible for my family seeing me like that but I couldn't say no so I did what I could for the rest of the season. It🌱 was all about not giving up. At the end of the year my best result was 16th and that put my back up against the wall.

ltxcn.top:
But at the time you♌ were ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚracing in superbikes weren't you?

Taylor Mackenzie:
Yes that yearꦐ I'd been unable to get a good ride in Supersport, so I thought I'd give it a go in Superbikes, you get more track time, you learn more and at the time WD40 didn📖't have a rider so it came together like that. In January I literally didn't have a ride so I was grateful to them for helping me out but it didn't work out between the two of us.

That year kind of crushed a lot of confidence out of me and I became a bit paranoid about things going wrong. Then I got to Cadwell Park and got appendicitis on the Thursday and had to come back two weeks later being unable to tense my stomach muscles f𝔉or the next race.

At the end of that year me and dad ♑sat down and decided th♛at the best thing to do would be to try and get a stock 1000 bike for the next season where the playing field is really level and if that didn't work out I'd go and do something else.

Hudson Kennaugh lent me his 1000 to do a track day and the bike felt really comfortable and I felt I could compete on it. It was a kind of secret test before the last round. So wꦡe decided to try it.

We also got into contact with Steve and Stuart Hicken at Buildbase BMW because they're kind of a local team to me and I🐻 think they were receptive because I came from close by. I soon noticed that they go racing for the exact same reasons 🌠that I do, they just love riding bikes, there's no rubbish. We got on straight away.

ltxcn.top:
On paper maybe the Kawasaki wou🍒ld have been an eas𝓰ier bike to make competitive?

Taylor Mackenzie:
As far as I can see all the stock bikes n🙈owadays have 200bhp and good electronics so it's mainly th⛎e people around you that make the difference.

People have the habit of following the herd so if someone's winning on a bike then everyo🉐ne moves to that bike but I think with the right people you can be competitive on any of the bikes.

ltxcn.top:
... and 🐲now you've got the Suzuki BSB ride in the same team as Sylvain Guintoli.

Taylor Mackenzie:
Yes, that's a continuation of the same team in that I'm sti🥃ll effectively 🌱racing for Hawk Racing.

Steven and Stuart came to me andܫ said they'd managed to strike a deal with Suzuki. It was quite secret at this point but when we went through the bike on paper it seemed unbelievable.

⛄For me to get a factory backed superbike alongside Sylvain Guintol🥂i was like a dream come true and was such a turnaround after the hard year I'd had two years before.

ltxcn.top:
But you'd already staꦗrted the turnaround with your championship winning year.

Taylor Mackenzie:
Yeah definitely, it was like night and day.

Going to BSB with this bike will be so different to last time. Last time I was hoping to score points but this year the attitude isn't to make up the numbers, it's to get res♉u♛lts.

I'm so grateful to the team because they've given me these two opportunities when there were so many other riders banging on the door. It was the confidence from that winning year that allowed me t𒀰o go forward with this.

From the outside it looks like there 🐻are maybe 25 other superbike riders who are capable of winning races and it must have been a tough choice for them but I'm now confident I can🌠 get this done and the team are too.

ltxcn.top:
There was certainly a lot of confide🐽nce about how you raced last season♋.

Taylor Mackenzie:
ꦑHonestly I feel like I've always kind of raced like that but iꦰt just wasn't shown on TV.

I came into the ꦓseason telling myself I'd win it, it was do or die and when it came to the end I almost felt as if that's how it was alw𝓰ays going to be. At the beginning the team were talking about top five maybe but in myself I was going for wins. After Silverstone the confidence was so high and we were on the money every race. It's amazing how much of bike racing's emotional.

ltxcn.top:
Have you tried the new Suzuki yet?

Taylor Mackenzie:
🐻I've had a quick ride on the road bike and it was great. I was the first one to ride it in the UK so it was a big thing.

The nice thing is that it felt exactly l𒀰ike a GSXR but better൩. It's great that it keeps that GSXR feel.

The stock bike has also got all the electronics you need like launc𓄧h control and auto blip and Richard Cooper's going to have a great year on it in Superstock trim as well.

I think we'll get to ride the superbike some time at the end of February or in March when we go to Spain for the proper testing. Stuart Hicken, the guy who owns the team, also has shares in Mallory Park so that means we ca♏n also do some testing there.

ltxcn.top:
Is there any official Suzuki involvement?

Taylor Mackenzie:
Yeah absolutely we're the official team. We've got a direct link to Japan and we've got Yoshimura on board as well who'll be supply some parts. It's a big thi♑🔜ng for the team.

ltxcn.top:
...and the team?

Taylor Mackenzie:
I'll have Steve Hicken as my crew chief like I did last year and the exact same equipment as Sylvain. It's good for me because even though we're changing bikes everything else will be the same and in a way we're just 💝changing colours.

Sylvain's the perfect crew mate because he's got massive experience on a wide variety of bikes and he's only there 💃to win the championship so I can watch and learn. Don't get me wrong, I'🍌d love to beat him and he'd be a great scalp for me but I'm there to learn as much as I can.

I like the team though they're local and it feels like dads and lads racing. In a proper BSB set up you can feel a bit left out and alone but there you're very much involved and part of everything, for exa🃏mple this year I'm getting involved with the bike and truck design. We're pretty ꧟much on the phone to each every day and they're only about 10 minutes away.

ltxcn.top:
So maybe the way you see your career has ♒changed over the winter?

Taylor Mackenzie:
Honestly at 📖the moment it's all eyes on BSB, I'm looking to be BSB champion and that's all we're thinking about.

I mean racing's difficult because you never know where you're going to be from one year to the next so it's best to give you immediate goals♏ your full attention.

🗹But in general I suppose that looking forward World Superbikes is my route𓃲, I love watching Chaz Davies and Johnny Rea race and when we see what they're doing it seems like the life I want to lead.

ltxcn.top:
Y𝓰ou sou✃nd pretty English, are you English or Scottish?

Taylor Mackenzie:
Oh definitely Scottish.

The problem wa꧒s that I lived in Stirling, Scotland until I was 7 years old and at that stage your accent is still developing and when we moved down to the Midlands after dad finished racing I picked up the Midlands accent quite quickly.

I do love a Scottish accent but at least speaking as I do everyone can understand me and I don't need a trans🌊lator, but the Saltire would look great behind me on the podium at Knockhill.

ltxcn.top:
Thankyou gu m?r Taylor,Thank you very much, Taylor.

Taylor Mackenzie:
Chan eil trioblaidean, 'd?anamh fiughair ri an seusan!No problem, looking forward to the season!