Niall Mackenzie shares incredible story behind making it to MotoGP for £14,000

£14,000 might sound like a lot, and in everyday life, it is a huge sum of money. But to go racing at the highest level, riders often need much more to make a successful career of it, but not Niall Mackenzie. 

That figure is in the ballpark of what it took the former Grand Prix racer to make his debut in the world championship in the 1980s. As was the case for many racers starting out in his era, Mackenzie began by buying his own motorcycle, while also covering the costs of his entry fees, fuel and any crash damage. What made all of this even more incredible, is that Mackenzie was only earning £90 a week as a construction worker. 

Mackenzie’s first bike, a Yamaha RD350LC, allowed him to compete in a new Scottish-based production series in 1982. But despite making the leap into racing at 19 years of age (1981), even Mackenzie admits that he did not see it as a future career.

Speaking to his son, Taylor, as part of a short documentary on YouTube, Mackenzie said: 

“The first season, I guess, I didn’t feel like I was going to make a career in racing. I was just enjoying the thrill, enjoying riding the bikes, enjoying finding some new race tracks. But, I was also winning, and each time I won, I wanted to win a bit more. 

“I watched other races that were going on in the UK and there were some riders at my level who were actually progressing up to national level. Some even progressed to better careers. So, I had seen that these guys that started club racing made their for whatever reason, whether it was lucky breaks, or big sponsors, or being talent spotted. That gave me a bit of inspiration in my second year.”

This is when Mackenzie then revealed that between buying his Yamaha for £1,086, and going racing for around £70-£100 per event, he was spending roughly his yearly wage to fund his own career. However, Mackenzie would make a profit thanks to prize money being handed out at many of the races he competed at and won. In his first season, Mackenzie spent around £2,000, which then rose to around £4,000 as Mackenzie bought his own van for transportation, while also continuing to fund his own race entries and fuel, much of which was done by the prize money Mackenzie would win. 

Mackenzie’s first break came when he was picked to compete in the Yamaha Pro-Am series, which was a one-make class that was free for up-and-coming riders.

By year three, Mackenzie was still in a position where he needed to fund his own racing, admitting he, his mother, and a sponsor all chipped in roughly £2,000 each. This amounted to going racing for £6,000. 

The need for such funding was soon over, though, as Mackenzie was signed by the Armstrong factory race team in 1983. Come 1984, Mackenzie was given his Grand Prix debut with the team, before becoming a full-time rider in the 1985 250cc class. 

This shows just how much racing has changed since the 1980s, as many current racers at the highest level do not fund their own racing. Contracts from teams are much higher than before, although the costs to go racing in the first place are also much steeper than in the 1980s.

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