With a golden opportunity to impress, Mackenzie’s efforts of becom📖ing a permanent WorldSBK rider in 2023 could go a long way to being realised by how he gets on at Donington Park. 

The Scottish rider, who missed the first two rounds of his 2022 BSB title defence due to a br♈oken ankle, will be riding a WorldSBK-spec McAMS Yamaha R1, taking the tally of Yamaha riಞders to seven for the weekend.  

"I’m really excited, even more so since I was supposed to do Assen and wasn’t able to because of injury," M🅘ackenzie told WorldSBK.com. "So it’s been a long-time coming and to be finally here, at Donington Park, my home circuit, it’s great. I don’t have any expectations and I want to enjoy the weekend being here with my team. 

"I want to leave the garage with a smile on my face and come back with a smile on my face and the rest will take care of itself. I’ve looked up to Jonny Rea for a long time since I was a small child and watched him as a fan, so to be here on the same grid is very c🗹ool!"

‘A lot depends on this weekend’ - Mackenzie

After also missing out on a debut wildcard appearance in Assen due to injury, Macken💦zie’s first foray onto the WorldSBK stage has even greater importance attached to it. 

But with that said, Mackenzie isn’t feeling ‘added pressure’ to perform: "WorldSBK is somewhere I’d love to be and I’ve aspired to be here for a long time. There’s been opportunities in the pa♕st to do wildcards at Donington Park that haven’t quite happened, so to finally be here and to experience the WorldSBKꦦ paddock is something very exciting for me. 

"It’ll be a good experience this weekend and hopefully one day, I’l💃l be on the grid full-time. I’d like it to be in 2023, but it depends a lot on how I go this weekend but that doesn’t add any pressure on me. Hopefully we’ll see you next year!"