Fifth place in Round 2 of the 125 World Championship has given the young British rider plenty of encouragement in his debut season.

Taylor Mackenzie took an impressive fifth place in the wet conditions at Jerez, as he scored his first World Championship points in only the second round of his debut 125 campaign.

The Phonica Racing rider started from 16th on the grid and maintained a level head in tough conditions, dealing perfectly with the wet to claim an impressive top-five result.


“In England you have at least one wet session each racing weekend! So you get used to it,” said the 18 year-old. “It is probably the only advantage if you are a British rider.”

Mackenzie continued: “It was a long, difficult race and maintaining concentration was tricky. The conditions changed every minute and one lap could be completely different compared to the lap before. We had to pay attention – the endurance of the tyres was at risk on the dry.”

“I also had to compete most of the GP alone – I was able to keep on the pace of the riders in front of me, but not to catch them up. Thanks to everybody, we can build on this result and get stronger and stronger.”

Team Owner Fiorenzo Caponera was also delighted with the result, and commented: “We are extremely proud of Taylor. He is so young but at the same time already has an excellent ability to judge the race and in taking decisions.”