A sunny weekend saw team Petronas MIE Racing Honda team member, Tarran Mackenzie back aboard his bike, this week in Tissot Aragon as he continues the Superbike World Championship.
Free Practice 1 started the day and Tarran saw top speeds of 313kmph and track averages of 162kmp. Even with this, Tarran put in a lap time of 1’52.307, three seconds behind the fastest time. This was a great result considering an electronics issue caused Tarran to be involved in a crash. He walked away unscathed and committed to the next practice with opportunity to improve.
The second Free Practice saw an increase of 4kmph in the fastest speed for Tarran and remained in a very consistent 21st fastest lap through practice.
Ready for race 1, Tarran rode through the dry track with dedication, pushing himself hard to compete with the race leaders. Although he managed to successfully battle and pass other riders came away with an 18th position finish.
The next 18 laps of race 2 saw Tarran’s resilience and commitment to the sport, securing 18th place finish overall to the weekend.
This is what Tarran had to say: “A solid 18th place in the final race isn’t too impressive but this time at least managed to battle with a few riders and did some passing in the process.
“The truth is my bike isn’t in the same league as the opposition at the moment, but the good news is Honda have made big progress with their factory bikes as recent results have shown. I’m praying something better will come my way soon. I now have a free weekend to regroup then it’ll be full Taz attack mode for Estoril in Portugal.”
As Tarran says, his next race is in Portugal, and we will be looking forward to seeing him ride again soon.
Best of luck from everyone at Lexelle, Tarran.