Reigning British Superbike Champion Tarran Mackenzie will make his debut in the second round of the FIM Superbike World Championship at TT Circuit Assen between 22-24 April.

Mackenzie, who stormed to emphatic success with the Yamaha R1 in the 2021 Bennetts British Superbike Championship with ten victories and 19 podium finishes, will race a World Superbike specification R1 for his McAMS Yamaha team as they make an appearance on the world stage.

While the 26-year-old will have to quickly familiarise himself with the World Superbike specification engine and Magneti Marelli electronics, the chassis of his BSB R1 is almost identical to that of the official World Superbike teams and both he and McAMS Yamaha have experience of racing at Assen in the British Championship. In fact, one of Mackenzie’s first British Superbike podium finishes came at the venue back in his rookie campaign in 2018.

The wildcard will be the first venture onto the world stage for McAMS Yamaha in its present iteration, but the team behind the successful BSB outfit, Raceways Motorcycles, made several wildcard appearances in the World Supersport championship in the 2000/2010s.

Tarran Mackenzie 

“I am very excited to make my debut in the WorldSBK championship at Assen and it will be quite special to do it with my McAMS Yamaha team as I’ve been with them for the last five years and together we have come a long way. Obviously there is a lot for me to learn with the engine and electronics, but I know the chassis well as my BSB bike is very similar. Assen is a circuit I love riding, the first time I rode a superbike there in 2018 I finished on the podium. The level in World Championship is really high and I’m looking forward to getting out on track and giving it our all. I have to say a huge thanks to Steve and the McAMS Yamaha team, as well as Andrea and everyone at Yamaha Racing for making this possible.”

Andrea Dosoli

Yamaha Motor Eurooe, Road Racing Manager
“We are looking forward to supporting Tarran and the McAMS Yamaha Team as they make their WorldSBK debut with a wildcard appearance in Assen, after what was an incredibly successful 2021 season for them in the British Superbike Championship. We have enjoyed a long and fruitful working relationship with the McAMS team and their two riders, with a real two-way collaboration bringing benefits for all. We are delighted to see Tarran and McAMS step up onto the world stage in Assen, as this fits perfectly with Yamaha’s racing philosophy of offering opportunities to the best riders and teams worldwide.”

Steve Rodgers

Team Principal
“We are looking forward to taking the McAMS Yamaha team to the world stage in our first Superbike wildcard appearance at Assen later this month. Raceways have supported Tarran since his very early days of racing and we’ve seen him rise through the ranks, to the point where he won us the British Superbike Championship in 2021. His dream is to continue his progression, so we are delighted to be able to give him the opportunity to make his World Superbike debut.

“Our bikes are already very close to world championship specification. The engine and electronics will be very different and the whole team will have to work hard to get used to those in a short space of time, but we have some very talented people on board including people who have recently worked in World Superbikes. There is no pressure or expectation from our side, we’ll just go and see what we can do!”