Italian version here.
He was British Superstock 1000 Champion in 2016, 125cc World Championship rider in 2011, British Superbike rider in some seasons and MLav Racing Team Manager in Moto3 World Championship in 2022 and 2023. Now, among other things, he is a YouTuber with almost 50,000 subscribers, a content creator, a social media manager and also the assistant of his brother Tarran, who is currently racing in Superbike World Championship with Petronas MIE Honda Racing Team.
This is Taylor Mackenzie, and Palmen in Motorradsport was glad to interview him and talk about his current and past experiences in motorcycle racing.
Taylor, after working as a team manager in the Moto3 World Championship, what are you doing exactly in 2024?
This year I’m helping my brother Tarran in the World Superbike Championship, I’m his assistant for the season. I also run Petronas MIE Honda Racing social media accounts for them and then I do some YouTube and television work in between.
Besides your job in WorldSBK, your YouTube channel is also well known, even a bit in Italy. Could you share how it started and whether you expected such good success?
I started during the lockdown in 2020 and no, honestly I didn’t expect it to grow the way it did. Since I was a kid I’ve always made videos, so I just enjoyed making videos and decided to start something. Moreover, when I broke my leg in that period I didn’t want to tell the team about it, so it was a way I could hide my broken leg because I’d just sit at a table, no one could see my leg and I just interviewed riders. No one could do anything anyway at that point in the year, everyone was at home, so I just started interviewing riders and it went from there.
Interviewing riders and also you made some other type of videos and you also shared also about your experience as a team manager in MLav Racing Team in Moto3 World Championship. What can you say about that experience?
It was a cool, amazing experience to travel around the world, to learn how to manage a team. Managing people was something I’d never done before, so I really enjoyed that and it was also very interesting being on the other side of the fence in a race team, because I’m so used to being a motorcycle racer but I’d never actually seen how that side of a team works. I learned a lot in those two years, made some great memories, some great friends and met some amazing people, so yeah…it was really good.
Can you also share a bit about why you decided to stop this job?
I left my job at MLav Racing because the MotoGP calendar is amazing, but with so many races I didn’t have time to dedicate to my YouTube channel and my other activities. Then Tarran offered me a job as his assistant for this year and I just decided to do that, because I now have more time at home and can spend it with my family and friends. In any case, when I stopped racing I never wanted to be a team manager, that was never my goal or target, but still it was a fun thing to do and a good experience anyway.
What did you want to do after stopping your racing career in 2021?
I had no idea, I just knew I needed to stop and I thought I’d figure it out once I finished my career as a rider. I was just very lucky that the management job in MLav Racing appeared and then at that point I realised I could work within teams and help teams in that respect and now, helping Taz, I do a lot of video analysis for him and things like that at the side of the track as well as helping him with all his gear. Moreover, as I said before, I also help the team with their social media.
Going back to your path as a YouTuber, or as a content creator in general, have you set any specific goal that you want to achieve?
It’s always hard with YouTube, because you set one goal and then you keep moving the goalposts. When it started, all I wanted was 1000 subscribers, then I did that so I wanted 10,000, then I got 10,000 and I wanted 25,000, then I wanted 50,000…I’m currently at 45,000 subscribers, so 50,000 is the next target, but I know once I’ve achieved that I’ll want to get to 100,000 subscribers, so it just never ends. I’ve learnt that rather than chasing more subscribers and more views, I just try to enjoy the process and just enjoy making videos, because there’ll always be someone with more views and more videos. Me, I just enjoy making the content and hopefully people enjoy watching it.
Do you have any advice for people who would like to follow the same path as you and reach the same numbers as you or, for example, Luca Salvadori?
The main thing with YouTube is that you have to enjoy making videos, because if you don’t enjoy making them it will never work. A lot of people think that you can just start a YouTube channel and make a lot of money straight away, but it doesn’t work like that at all. I still make no money out of my channel, but I just enjoy making videos so it’s a long process. It’s taken me three or four years to get to the point where my videos can do the great numbers I reach now. Actually, my biggest video has done 400,000 views and it’s taken me four years to get to that point. Some people have overnight success and can be quite lucky and find something that works straight away, but for most people it’s a long process of learning what works and what doesn’t work. It’s about trying to make a video that was better than your last one, and then after 3 or 4 years you’ll be doing okay.
Would you like to be a team manager again in the future?
I would never say never, but I think I enjoy more managing the media side, finding sponsorship and looking after people within the team, rather than the actual management side. I enjoyed doing it for two years, but I don’t think that’s really what I set my heart on so I just want to focus more on the things I enjoy, which is mainly based around videos. Even this year, I’ve learnt how to analyse video footage of Tarran and other riders and it’s been quite interesting learning how to do that. I’ll be more focused on that area in the future.
In conclusion, let’s go back a little bit to your career as a rider. Is there any special moment you love to remember, also a moment you would instead just remove from your mind?
The worst experience was actually when I broke my leg in my back garden. It still hurts today, so if I could remove that it would be great. Other than that, racing is up and down, you have good times and bad times, but the bad times make you a stronger person. Although there’s a lot of moments I would rather have not experienced in my racing career, I would not be the person I am today without those. It’s true that I was unlucky at points, but I was also lucky and I am happy with how it went.
Also happy with the season you had in 125cc World Championship in 2011?
That was an amazing experience, also because again I did one of my favourite things throughout my motorbike career both on and off the track: travelling the world, meeting new people and seeing new places. I really enjoyed 2011. I was lucky enough in my second race to finish 5th (in Jerez, ed), so I have that on my CV and no one can ever take that away from me. It’s a cool thing to have achieved in my career and I raced against some amazing guys that year. In a nutshell, it was a fantastic experience.
Palmen in Motorradsport is thankful to Taylor Mackenzie for his availability and kindness and wishes him all the best for his life on and off the track.