Bryan MacKenzie has announced that he is to retire from racing at the end of the season.
Speaking exclusively to TMX this week, the Apico Husqvarna MX2 pilot said he will step back from professional racing so that he can focus on being a dad and running his Duns motocross track.
“I don’t know if this will come as a surprise or not,” he said to TMX. “Perhaps it will because I’m riding so strongly in the championship this season.”
When asked if he found it difficult to make the call to end his racing days he said: “Believe me it’s been a tough decision, especially as this year has been going so awesome.”
Out of the 24 motos he’s raced over two championships in 2016 he has landed on the box in three-quarters of them. “To think about stopping when I’m still competitive…when I say it out loud, it’s stupid!” the 31-year-old Scot told TMX.
“But what you don’t see is what it takes – and has taken – to get to this point in my career,” he added.
Bry Mac – as many of us know him as – started racing when he was six and made his debut in the adult British championship as a 16-year-old. He’s had 15 years in top-flight British motocross and won one overall – at Desertmartin in 2013 – and taken a number of moto wins.
In 2009 he was a fill-in rider for his cousin Billy MacKenzie for CAS Honda, taking a top-10 race finish in Sweden.
MacKenzie has been nothing short of sensational this season and still has a mathematical chance of taking the MX2 title at the final round on September 18 at the hard-pack Foxhill circuit. But despite that form he’s come to a point in his career where it’s not all about results. “The travel alone each weekend takes its toll on you,” he said. And then there is pre-season, which Bry Mac takes “very seriously” – another punishing winter of training has lost its appeal.
You can catch more of MacKenzie’s excellent interview in this week’s TMX, where he talks about the main motivator behind his tough decision to call it a day.
You’ll still be able to catch up with Bryan in Dirt Bike Rider magazine over the coming months and everyone at DBR wishes Irn Bry all the best in his future endeavours.
