Although he was ranked below fellow German drivers Karl Angerer and Thomas Florschütz, he dominated the difficult track in Whistler in a surprise victory in the two-man bobsled with his brakeman Andreas Bredau in his World Cup debut.

At the following World Cup stop in Calgary, he celebrated his maiden victory in the four-man race with his pushers Makarow, Bredau and Poser.

On 20 February 2011 he won silver in two-man at the World Championships Königssee, finishing 0.18 seconds behind Alexsandr Zubkov from Russia.

In March 2014 Machata received a 5,000 Euro fine and a one-year ban from the Bob- und Schlittenverband für Deutschland (BSD) after lending a set of bobsled runners to Russian bobsledder Alexander Zubkov in exchange for a fee.

[2] The following month he was announced as the head coach of the Chinese bobsleigh team, following the awarding of the 2022 Winter Olympics to Beijing.