British Superbike Champion Tarran Mackenzie has had a rollercoaster offseason after clinching the BSB crown at the end of 2021.
The McAMS Yamaha rider was widely tipped to be heading to the WorldSBK stage for 2022 but instead the 26-year-old found himself remaining with the team that took him to the top and set to defend his national title.
Heading to Spain for some winter sun and training camp action with his Moto3 team manager brother Taylor in late January, Mackenzie ended up in hospital with a dislocated shoulder and requiring surgery to pin his right tibia.
“I had really good intentions for the start of the year,” Mackenzie said. “I set off for Spain with Taylor and had a full five-week training plan with him and a few others for the time we were there, but I managed 1.5 days of it!
“This is bike racing at the end of the day; you get the highs and you get the lows. I’ve come off one of the biggest highs of my career, winning the British Championship and I felt so good coming into the year, so I can’t lie it was frustrating to have a silly little crash at Cartagena and I’m paying the price for that.
“It’s not an ideal way to start the season,” he continued. “I should still be out there now coming to the end of five weeks of solid training, but instead I’m coming to the end of my first five weeks of rehabilitation! There’s never an ideal time to have an injury, but as far as timing goes, that is something that has been on our side with this situation in the sense I’ve got plenty of time to be fit before the season starts.
“When I’ve been injured before it’s been during the season and I’m rushing to get fit, riding with broken bones etc., so to have almost nine weeks between getting injured and when I’m
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