Racers from north of the Border played a major role in the early years of the championship, having been among the top doers in the various British national championships and cups which preceded the new, structured BSB series 30 years ago.
But who are the best Scots to have raced in BSB? Based on results over the years here’s the 10 (in some kind of chronological order) we think have been the most significant Scottish BSB racers of the last three decades.
Niall Mackenzie
Winner of the first BSB race and winner of the first three BSB championships, Niall Mac was a major coup for the fledgling BSB series in 1996.
Undoubtedly the UK’s top rider in 500cc Grands Prix in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, the Stirling rider made the move to Rob McElnea’s Cadbury’s Boost-sponsored Yamaha team and was the benchmark rider for three seasons.
His reputation helped build massive credibility for the series and his impressive performances in world superbike wildcard appearances confirmed the domestic series was right on world pace too.
He lost his crown in 1999, when Yamaha switched from the trusty YZF750 to the underdeveloped YZF-R7 and had a final season on a Ducati in 2000 – although he made a farewell appearance on a Suzuki at Knockhill the following year.
Steve Hislop
Second to Niall in that first race and his bitter rival in those early years, Hizzy is arguably one of the most naturally talented riders of all time.
Having built a reputation at the Isle of Man TT (where he won 11 times) and endurance racing, where he was a world champion in the early ‘90s. The rider from Hawick won the 1995 Supercup (the predecessor to BSB) which meant he wore the champion’s number one plate in BSB’s debut season.
Alas his Red Bull-backed Kawasaki team was one of many squads which hit financial troubles during the season and although he podiumed several times he didn’t win a race as he finished fifth overall in his ‘defence’.
He would be back on a top bike in 1998, as team-mate to Mackenzie on the Boost Yamaha. In a bitter rivalry, Hizzy pushed his team-mate all the way until late season injuries denied us of what could have been an epic showdown.
Steve’s reputation for being inconsistent and sometimes difficult to work with often saw him miss out on top rides, and he regularly split with teams mid-season. But on form he was a sight to behold, and he found his match in 2001 when he linked up with young team owner Paul Bird, who had bought Neil Hodgson’s 2000 title winning Ducatis.
They were on course for the title until, in true Hizzy fashion, he broke his leg while holding a 25-point championship lead with two rounds to go. They made amends the following year, as Hislop won eight races to finally take the title. It was a spectacular year, although it didn’t stop him being fired by Birdy at the end of the campaign.
His final season was typical Hizzy, parting ways with Virgin Yamaha mid-season. It would be his last BSB team, as he tragically died when the helicopter he was piloting crashed in the Borders on July 30. He was 41 years old.
Ian Simpson
Completing that first BSB podium was Ian Simpson on a Duckhams-sponsored Ducati.
The ‘Dalbeattie Destroyer’ was another prodigious TT competitor and, on the short circuits, he had won the 1994 Supercup on a fast but ill-handling Norton rotary. Despite a strong start to the 1996 BSB campaign (he lay second after two rounds) the Ducati proved unreliable and Simmo was injury prone.
His sole win in BSB came at Cadwell Park in 1997, after he stepped in to ride a Red Bull Ducati which became available following another Hislop sacking.
His career highlight came in 1998 when he won both the Formula One and Senior TTs. Sadly he missed the 1999 season after badly smashing his legs, and a second comeback was short lived with another double leg break in 2001. It was a sad end to the career of a racer who on his day was one of the very best.
Jim Moodie
Jim Moodie wasn’t given the nickname ‘Mad Dog’ ironically. The Dumfries-born Glaswegian may have been fast and analytical on a bike, but he was double hard too.
Known as a TT specialist, he first won on the island on 1993. He was part of the same Duckhams Ducati team as his mate Simpson for the first BSB season in 1996, taking a bunch of fourth places in the opening races before his bike went the same way as his team-mate’s. He split with the team after round six at Knockhill (while lying fifth in the standings) to help develop a GSX-R750 for the new Crescent Suzuki team.
He would bag plenty of top six finishes on the Suzuki in 1997, but amazingly Mad Dog Moodie never stood on a BSB podium. He did win eight TTs and three British championships, including the 2000 British Supersport Championship when he famously split from Honda to go ride a Yamaha for the V&M team, but who knows what he could have achieved in BSB given the right tackle.
Iain MacPherson
McFearless, as he was obviously nicknamed, had a strong reputation in Supersport 600 racing before being picked up by Kawasaki UK’s BSB team for the 1997 campaign.
The Helensburgh born racer stuck around for two seasons on in the team run by legendary team manager Colin Wright, finishing sixth overall in his debut season and posting a win at Mallory Park. He scored more podiums in ’98, but Kawasaki drafted him over to lead their challenge in the new-for-1999 Supersport World Championship (WSS) and he didn’t let them down. He will forever be in the record books as the first ever winner of a WSS race (South Africa 1999) and he won twice more to finish runner-up in the championship that year.
John Crawford
Although never a BSB race winner, John Crawford was the man to beat in British Supersport prior to moving up to the big class. He won the 1998 and 1999 titles and was rewarded with a seat on the factory backed Crescent Suzuki alongside Chris Walker for BSB 2000.
He picked up a host of top six finishes in that super competitive 2000 season, and he was retained as the team’s sole rider when Walker moved to 500cc Grand Prix the following year.
It was a tough campaign, as the 750cc fours struggled against the 1000cc Ducatis, but he would stand on the third step of the box in each of the first three races. Two more seasons, firstly on a new generation GSX-R1000 and then on a Ducati in 2003, brought his four-year BSB tenure to a close.
Stuart Easton
It was a case of what might have been for Stuart Easton, who burst onto the scene in 2001 riding a 250cc Honda for Paul Bird Motorsport, where he shared a garage with fellow Hawick star Steve Hislop.
He won the 2002 British supersport title onboard a PBM Ducati 749. His small stature and neat riding style made him a perfect companion for the middleweight bikes and, after some more time in world and domestic supersport racing where he held his own against future superstars like Leon Camier, Cal Crutchlow and Tom Sykes, he moved full-time to BSB in 2008.
It was a tough time to be in the championship, with a field packed with talent, but ‘Rat Boy’ finished third overall, with two wins and numerous podiums, in 2009. A third win came the following year, but his career was halted by some big injuries at the 2011 North West 200.
He would return and won the British supersport title again in 2013, although he never fulfilled his true potential on the big bikes. He moved back to the big bikes and back to PBM, riding a Kawasaki to seventh in 2014 before winning a fourth and final BSB race for them the following year.
Danny Buchan
The 2010s were a bit of a fallow time for Scottish BSB riders, but Knockhill fans at least had an adopted son to cheer on in the form of Danny Buchan.
He might speak like he’s from the cast of The Only Way is Essex, but the name (and the red hair) give away his Scottish heritage.
The big man may technically have been English, but if it was international football he’d have been eligible for selection by the Scots. With family local to Knockhill, it was the track where always shone. He took half of his six BSB wins there (the rest coming at Cadwell Park) as well as numerous podiums. For the purposes of this feature, we’re claiming him as a Scot!
Tarran Mackenzie
If the name seems familiar that’s because ‘Taz’ is the youngest son of Niall Mackenzie, the first ever BSB champion.
He was a multiple British champion in the lower classes, winning the Superstock 600 and Supersport categories before really coming of age in BSB. Older brother Taylor had proved himself a top rider too, winning the National Superstock 1000 championship and having spells in BSB, but it was Tarran who would follow in his father’s footsteps and become BSB champion.
He joined the McAMS Yamaha team in 2018, coming off the back of a Moto2 world championship campaign, and he would grow year-by-year.
After getting podiums towards the end of his first season, he would take his first victory in the opening round of 2019 at Silverstone, in a meeting remembered for a controversial collision with team-mate Jason O’Halloran. The pair had a feisty relationship in three years of sharing a garage, but it was Taz who finally gave the team its first title.
O’Halloran may have started the season like a champion elect, but BSB’s showdown system meant it was he who finished strongest would come out on top. Mackenzie won five of the nine title-deciding races while his Australian team-mate could only muster a handful of seconds and thirds.
Hopes of retaining the title were extinguished due to injury. Tarran has raced in World Superbikes since 2023 but, with a title and 16 race wins, Mackenzie junior is Scotland’s third most successful BSB racer of all time. Who knows if we’ll see him back one day – he’s still only 30!
Rory Skinner
With 2025 runners John McPhee and Lewis Rollo dropping out, Scotland’s sole representative in the 2026 British Superbike Championship is 24-year-old Rory Skinner from Perth.
A former Superteen, Supersport and British Talent Cup champion, with a season of Moto2 behind him, the Knockhill lap record holder is a real specialist at his home circuit. His two BSB wins have both come at the undulating Fife circuit where he spent many weekends as a child, but with podium finishes at circuits as diverse as Donington Park, Oulton Park, Cadwell Park, Silverstone and Assen, he’s shown he’s no one-trick pony.
Skinner is one of only seven Scots to have won a BSB race. Highly rated and with many years ahead of him, it’s hard to imagine he won’t add to that tally in the career that lies ahead.
Photos: Impact Image
