Mackenzie credits good 'mutual respect' in BSB for 'amazing racing'

Ahead of his 2022 title defence, Tarran Mackenzie has spoken exclusively to Crash.net about the importance of mutual respect among riders. 

Mackenzie took his first British Superbike title after a faultless showdown run which saw him claim five wins from nine races, the same number of victories he managed in the previous seven events - 21 races.

Mackenzie’s championship win also saw him overturn a sizable gap to team-mate Jason O’Halloran, who was the heavy pre-showdown favourite after taking more than double the amount of wins Mackenzie managed during the first eight rounds - Mackenzie missed round six due to injury it must be said. 

And although racing between the two McAMS Yamaha riders was fierce, so much so that it resulted in contact for the second consecutive year at Silverstone, Mackenzie believes there was and remains a lot of mutual respect between the two, something he believes is key to the ‘amazing racing’ we see in BSB. 

When speaking to Crash.net, Mackenzie said: "Yeah I think it’s important! You’ve seen rivalries in the past, especially in MotoGP where they don’t get on and I think everyone sitting at home knows they don’t get on. 

"Me and Jason have had a couple of coming togethers the last two years but we’ve always had a mutual respect and good sportsmanship between us. 

"Especially for me and Jason being teammates and being employed to do the same thing which is to win a championship, it’s hard to be friends. 

"But we’ve spent a bit of time in the off-season at Yamaha do’s, and we went to Italy together. Christian [Iddon] and Tommy [Bridewell] I’ve known for a long time but it’s hard to have a bit of a friendship with them - they’re a little bit older than me, but we’ve always got on well off track.

"I think BSB kind of attracts that. It’s amazing racing, it’s so competitive, but off the track we can shake hands and have a laugh about it really."