SECONDS OUT – ROUND 2

Mackenzie and O’Halloran fought tooth and nail for the BSB crown last year. Now they get to do it all over again…

Last year’s title fight was one of the most exciting in BSB history. Twentyfive years after Cadbury’s Boost Yamaha teammates Niall Mackenzie and James Whitham went head-to-head, Tarran Mackenzie and Jason O’Halloran proceeded to do the exact same.

With 21 victories and 41 podiums between the pair, they could not be separated, both in the standings and, at times, on the circuit. O’Halloran dominated the first half, Mackenzie the second.

There were great times and incredibly tense times for the McAMS Yamaha team, but ultimately it was Mackenzie who was crowned champion, a quarter of a century after dad Niall won his first title. And now they get to do it all over again!

WSB calling

There was no room in competitive, front-running WSB teams for Mackenzie, so he stays put to defend his crown with the number one plate. That doesn’t mean that his world championship dreams are over. Mackenzie will make three WSB wildcards on a factoryspec R1 at Assen, Donington and another European destination which is still to be confirmed.

Mackenzie needs to start the season in the same way that he ended 2021. Contract negotiations tend to start in and around MayJune, so he must ensure that all eyes are on him.

If he does that, he’ll be hard to ignore because he went to another level in 2021. There was a sense of inevitability in each race that no matter how far down the order he was, Mackenzie would find his way to the front. You may as well have played the Jaws theme music as he took eight wins from the final 15 races.

Mackenzie did everything needed to take that next step. He vastly improved his Friday practice sessions and qualifying, giving him less work to do in the races, plus he became more consistent, taking more podiums and wins than ever before.

Two-time champion?

Make no mistake, Mackenzie isn’t putting BSB to one side in favour of his wildcards. “I’m not just coming back for the sake of it and doing these wildcards, I’m coming to back to prove why I was champion last year,” he told MCN. “Nothing is guaranteed, and I’ve got to perform in BSB, it’s not like I can just take a year off and just try and do well in these wildcards. It’s about the overall package.”

O’Halloran enters the year with more determination than ever after being on the losing side of the Showdown. Before the Showdown format cut his lead to 30 points, O’Halloran held a 106-point lead at the top. Two crashes later at Oulton and his advantage was gone. His title dream ruined. If not for the Showdown, he would have been champion by 36 points.

Unfinished business

The defeat was hard to take, with the Aussie admitting during the off-season that it was one of the most difficult things he’d ever had to deal with, relying on the support from friends and family to

help him process it and move on.

“It’s fuel in my fire now, and it’s my motivation,” O’Halloran said. “I’ve flipped the switch. It’s more of a positive now than a negative because every time I open my phone and see last year’s result, I go ‘right, I’m having that!’

“If anybody thought I was up for it last year, imagine how I’m going to be this year. There’s no pressure on me now, I’ve proven that I’m a winner. I had the most successful season last year other than the trophy at the end of it, so I know what I’m capable of.”

The men to beat

The prospect of seeing O’Halloran and Mackenzie go at it again is an exciting one, at least for fans and media, maybe not to so much for the McAMS Yamaha garage.

Teammates fighting is never ideal, but it’s something you have to accept when you sign two topclass, race-winning riders.

The already proven R1 package has taken another step, with the team working on a mix of updates both from 2021 and 2022. O’Halloran has changed his approach to ensure he has multiple plans of action throughout the year, should something go wrong – something he didn’t have during the tough Showdown races.

For Mackenzie, it’s about getting fit again. A training accident in Spain led to a damaged shoulder and fractured right ankle, whilst a huge crash at the Silverstone Test led to a left ankle fracture and surgery. He’ll be hoping for a swift recovery. Still, Yamaha are the ones to beat in 2022.