Tarran was back out on the track for the first time since the opening round in Australia, this time at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal, taking part in a valuable two-day test ready for the upcoming round next week.
Tarran was keen to make most of his time out on the track ahead of round 2 of the World SBK, but weather halted proceedings on Friday morning with little to no track time. As the skies cleared going into the afternoon, Tarran managed to get out on the bike and complete 44 laps of the track working hard to sort the issues out he was running into in Australia. Tarran managed a best lap of 1:43.080 placing him 19th in the field but just over 2 seconds slower than the eventual leader.
With bad weather forecasted on Saturday afternoon, Tarran and his fellow riders were out on the track early to get the last bit of good weather and valuable track time. Tarran managed 30 laps and a best time 1:42.623 just edging his time yesterday and placing 21st.
With round 2 of the World SBK taking place at the same track next week, Tarran and his PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team were happy with the progress and the preparation they’ve made even with the weather interruptions.
This is what Tarran had to say on his weekend:
“Despite another two days of inconsistent weather I left Portugal upbeat and with good direction for round two at Portimão.
The biggest improvement was finally getting comfortable on the bike and without constantly feeling close to crashing. The 2025 bike is essentially new to me, so my crew have been everywhere with chassis, suspension and engine settings to find the best solution. These things take time so losing time with bad weather has been frustrating.
There’s still plenty of potential for more improvement but I’m genuinely enjoying riding now and smiling in the process”.
We’ll next see Tarran in the second round of the World SBK next week on the 28th-30th March back in Portugal hoping to build on the testing done and add points to the standings.