Niall Mackenzie started racing at Knockhill on the 350cc Yamaha he used to drive to work in 1981 and within 6 short years was a fully fledged works rider with Honda riding their Vee 4 500cc two stroke.
He really came to the fore when he was invited to take part in the Yamaha Pro Am Championship and had Barry Sheene commentating on ITV World of Sport often speechless with his antics on the track.
With the equally matched machines highlighting his natural ability he was quickly snapped up to ride for Bolton Firm Armstrong who designed and built their own 250cc and 350cc in line twins. Niall promptly rewarded them with a sequence of British Championship titles in 83, 84, 85 and 86. He also competed in some 250cc Grand Prix before gaining three 500cc rides with Suzuki at the end of 1986.
During his career he rode for Yamaha as well as Suzuki where he finished 4th in the 1990 500cc World Championship and two seasons with Honda. Mackenzie was often the top British rider against the likes of world champions Wayne Rainey, Kevin Schwantz, Eddy Lawson and Wayne Gardner.
He was a naturally gifted rider and after his grand prix career ended he won the British Superbike Championship three years running from 1996 to 1998 for the Cadbury's Boost Yamaha team and retired after the 2000 season.
It was perhaps his races with fellow Scot Steve Hislop in the 98 season that captured the imagination with many tough no compromise races between the two Scots featuring on the BBC coverage.
In 2001 Mackenzie made one final appearance at Knockhill before finally retiring. His sons Tarran and Taylor have taken up where Niall left off with both now competing with some success in British Championships.
Memory added on May 25, 2012
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