WorldSBK Practice

Tarran Mackenzie and Adam Norrodin hard at work at Donington Park

WorldSBK free practice at Donington Park sees local rider Tarran Mackenzie place nineteenth – just half a second from the top ten – and Adam Norrodin twenty-third, with both keen to do more on Saturday in preparation for the weekend’s races.

The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team and riders Tarran Mackenzie and Adam Norrodin are at the Donington Park circuit in the UK for round six of the 2024 Superbike World Championship.

First up was FP1, which saw the SBK field head out on a track that was still slightly damp in parts after light rain earlier in the day. Mackenzie made a determined start at his home track, one that he knows particularly well. Making a series of modifications to his CBR1000RR-R, the British rider ultimately set a fastest time of 1’28.615, with which he placed twenty-first. With limited experience of the tricky Donington circuit, Norrodin also made setup changes with his technicians throughout this opening phase, putting in a time of 1’30.623 to position twenty-third at the session’s end.

Free practice 2 also ran in dry conditions mid-afternoon. It was another intense session for the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda riders, during which both were able to lower their FP1 times, with Tarran putting in a 1’27.353 in the final stages and Adam closing with a 1’29.694. With these results, local hero Mackenzie rounded out Friday in nineteenth position in the combined standings, only half a second from the top ten, followed by Norrodin, twenty-third.

Tarran Mackenzie: “Although I have a lot of experience here with different bikes, this is my first time here with a Honda Superbike. My initial feeling was quite good, although we had a small issue in FP1 that we had to work out. Then FP2 went really well; I actually set my quickest ever time around this track, so that was good. Times are really tight too, so just half a second quicker and I’d have been ninth, which is very positive. I’m a little frustrated as I feel I can do more, but we’ll keep working and I feel generally quite confident. Tomorrow we’ll try to string together more laps to have a better understanding of our pace, but the tyre doesn’t drop too much here, so it should be OK. It’s nice that I know this track so well and have some useful Superbike references too. I feel we’re ready and the feeling I’ve had today is pretty much the best I’ve had to date riding-wise.”

Adam Norrodin: “Not an easy day to be honest, as this is my first time here with a Superbike – I think I’m the only rider who’s not ridden the Superbike here before actually. We did improve from FP1 to FP2 but of course everyone else did too. We have closed the gap slightly to the front and have found something that works quite well this afternoon, so need to continue in this direction tomorrow. The feeling on the bike is a bit better but we still have work to do to be ready for the races. I just need more laps basically.”

Superbike Race One

An unfortunate WorldSBK Race 1 for the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team at Donington Park

The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team was back on track at Donington today for day two of the fifth Superbike World Championship round but it was not to be for local rider Mackenzie, who crashed in the early stages of Race 1, while team-mate Norrodin finished twentieth.

The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda riders Tarran Mackenzie and Adam Norrodin started the day with the third and final free practice, using the time to make some last setup refinements ahead of Superpole. In dry conditions, Brit Mackenzie matched his best FP2 reference, Malaysian rider Norrodin was able to take off another half second with respect to his fastest time on Friday.

The Superpole qualifying session played out in dry conditions in the late morning. After making a brief first exit, Tarran came in to change his tyre. Unfortunately, his second outing didn’t go to plan in that a doubt as to the tyre pressure saw him pit mid-exit, which inevitably caused him to lose precious time. Unable to improve on his earlier lap time, the British rider qualified with a time of 1’26.815 with which he placed twenty-second. Team-mate Adam was able to further improve on his best practice times, a best of 1’28.488 translating to a spot alongside Tarran on the eighth row of the Race 1 grid.

The weekend’s first 23-lap Superbike race got underway at 2pm, with Mackenzie getting away quick from the eighth row. Unfortunately, it was not his day, with Tarran almost immediately suffering a highside through turn seven, which ruled him out of the race. Doctors at the circuit medical centre declared him unfit to continue with the weekend, a real blow for the British rider at his home round.

Team-mate Norrodin lay twenty-second through the initial stages of Race 1 but was unable to match the pace of his closest rivals. Up to twentieth by the mid-race point, the Malaysian could do no more but gritted his teeth to hold that position all the way to the line.

Adam Norrodin: “It was a very tough race, to be honest. At the start, Tarran crashed in front of me, and I touched his bike, running onto the grass as a result. The guys immediately ahead were battling it out so I was initially able to catch them, but then they began pulling away out of the turns, while I felt I didn’t have enough acceleration. So my pace was 1’30, which is not enough of course, but I was trying everything I could to make it work but there was little I could do. We need to analyse the data carefully to see what we can do to improve tomorrow.”

Tarran Mackenzie: “Not the way I wanted it to go at my home round of course. I just got caught up in the pack at the start of the race and highsided. I hit my head and the doctors have said I can’t ride tomorrow. So I’m really disappointed to miss out on all three of the weekend’s races but hopefully I can soon be back on the bike.”

Superbike Superpole and Race Two

A challenging Donington Park superbike round concludes for PETERONAS MIE Racing Honda Team

The fifth Superbike World Championship round has concluded today at Donington Park, with Norrodin placing twenty-first in the Superpole race and suffering a crash in Race 2; Mackenzie was sadly deemed unfit to race following a crash on Saturday.

Unfortunately, Tarran Mackenzie suffered a violent highside in the opening stages of Saturday’s Race 1 and was deemed unfit to compete in today’s race, a real pity for the 28-year old at his home round. This meant that Adam Norrodin was the sole PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda representative in the day’s Superpole race and final Superbike race.

After a brief early morning warm-up, the WorldSBK field headed out on the grid for the Superpole race. From row eight, Norrodin run a fairly solitary race to cross the line twenty-first. Adam was back out in the early afternoon for the second and final 23-lap Superbike race, which ran according to schedule at 2pm. It was another dry race, but unfortunately Norrodin could not enjoy it for long, caught up in a crash on lap three and unable to return to the track. The Malaysian was taken to the medical centre and was diagnosed with a right forearm abrasion. Adam later began to feel unwell, and so was taken to the hospital as a precaution for further assessment.

Five rounds into the 2024 season and Mackenzie lies twentieth in the general standings with 7 points, with Norrodin yet to score. Along with the rest of the WorldSBK field, the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team will now travel directly on to the Czech Republic, and Autodrom Most, for round six of the championship, set to take place on 19-21 July. It remains to be seen whether Mackenzie and Norrodin will be fit to compete, but this will be confirmed in the coming days.

Adam Norrodin: “We’d tried to change something in warm-up but that didn’t work out. I felt that we took a good step in the subsequent Superpole race, but then in race 2, despite my best efforts to keep pace with those ahead of me, I could tell right away that I didn’t have much grip at the rear. I tried to push but kept almost losing the front, and ultimately crashed out of the race.”