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If you saw Mackenzie Ancien around her hometown of Portland, Oregon, you might think she was the average 15-year-old. She plays soccer with SC Portland, likes zebras and is a Spongebob addict.

No wonder her friends have a hard time believing that on the weekends, Mackenzie pilots a Yamaha YZF-R6 around local road courses, racing in OMRRA. “A lot of them don’t believe me at first. I have to really convince them, then they wind up asking random questions about motorcycles. They’re amazed because I’m short and small and petite, and they don’t believe I can hold up a big bike,” Mackenzie says. However, she notes that some people have the opposite reaction to her racing, saying, “Some people think it’s easy and that the bike does all the work!”

Mackenzie’s dad has joked that the doubters are welcome to come find out just how much work roadracing really is. After racing 250s last season, Mackenzie is still getting used to the bulk of the R6. “It’s been different because the bike is 200 pounds heavier,” she says. “It’s hard because I’m only five-foot-one and I’m not muscular enough! I’m getting the hang of the bike now.”

Moving up to the 600 class marked another step in Mackenzie’s evolution as a roadracer. Her dad taught her to ride when she was four, sending her out on a PW50. At eight, Mackenzie started making the transition to roadracing by doing some supermoto. An NSR50 followed, and she eventually graduated to racing 150s at Portland International Raceway. Those gave way to 250s, and now Mackenzie is on the 600.

After winning championships on the NSR50 and on her KLX110, Mackenzie came into the 250 classes ready for more. She won two 250 championships last season. Winning, Mackenzie says, isn’t always easy, but that just makes it more memorable. She recalls, “I had a race with this guy and we duked it out the entire race. I won by like 0.1 of a second. It was by a tire. It was a really fun race. We were passing each other every lap.”

Now that she’s on the R6, Mackenzie hopes to travel to more tracks to gain experience. She already rode a track day at Laguna Seca. Eventually, Mackenzie says, “I’m hoping in a couple of years to go to AMA or AFM. My goal is to get to AMA.”

Galfer USA looks forward to being there as Mackenzie’s racing career continues to evolve.

Read more about: Mackenzie Ancien • Rider Profiles