After another positive round on his new bike at MotorLand Aragón, Tarran was back again, this time for the penultimate round of the World Superbike championship, taking place at Circuito Estoril, Portugal. Located west of Portugal's capital, Lisbon, Tarran has some good memories from last season, achieving a 4th, 11th and an 8th placed finish.
Tarran got his round underway on Friday morning, completing 12 laps in the first free practice session. He managed to post a best time of 1:37.941, and despite it placing him 20th, he was just over a second slower than the eventual session leader.
With temperatures rising to 40°C trackside, the second free practice session got underway. Tarran completed 19 laps in the session, posting a best time of 1:37.078, placing him in 15th position, remaining a second away from the leader.
An early start on Saturday for Tarran as the third and final practice session got underway at Estoril. With a busy day of racing ahead, Tarran only completed 9 laps, but once again improved his lap time and got closer to the leader. Tarran posted a time of 1:36.361, placing him in 16th and now ready for qualifying.
After only a short break, Tarran was in position, ready to attack the qualifying session and attack he did. Despite a slight crash on lap 2, Tarran managed to post his best time so far with a 1:35.846 and had his best finish coming in 14th.
Ready for the first race of the weekend, Tarran started in 14th with confidence of adding more points to his championship total. He made a fast start off the line, getting into 11th going into turn 1, but exiting the turn, a 5-man pile-up caused a biker to crash into Tarran, dealing significant damage to his right arm and hand despite keeping himself upright. This crash meant the race was red-flagged and a complete restart based on the original grid positions. After the restart, Tarran had a solid race despite the injury, crossing the line in 14th and adding 2 more points to his standings.
The final race of the weekend got underway on Sunday as Tarran looked to solidify a top 20 place in the championship while also trying to make a last-gasp push up the standings. Tarran was having a solid race right up until lap 16, where he crashed on turn 1. Despite trying to battle through, he lost some feeling in his left side and was forced to retire from the race.
This is what Tarran had to say on his weekend and looking towards the final round:
"What could have been. With everyone's times super close in qualifying, I was happy with 14th on the grid for race one in Estoril. A good start saw me into turn one in 11th place, but then Van der Mark's bike appeared from nowhere, sending me off the track. My right arm and hand took most of the impact, so I was in trouble from then on. After the restart, I eventually finished 14th and then crashed out of Sunday's second race after losing some feeling in my left arm.
I've already started intense physio to get fully fit for Jerez next weekend – a circuit I love and know will suit my MGM Bonovo Ducati. It's also the last round of the season, so it'll be full on as always to end 2025 with strong results".
As Tarran said, the final round of the season takes place next week at the Circuito de Jerez, where he hopes to be fully fit and firing, ready for one last push on what has been a tough season.