Friday Practice

The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team makes consistent progress on day one at the Nevers Magny-Cours Circuit in France.

Round eight of the 2024 Superbike World Championship is now in play at the historic French circuit of Nevers Magny-Cours. Tarran Mackenzie and substitute rider Ivo Lopes were out for the day’s two free practice sessions, both of which ran in dry conditions, allowing the team’s technicians to work on the dry setup of the CBR1000RR-R machines.

Friday saw Mackenzie get back on his bike for the first time in almost two months, the British rider having missed the last two rounds due to injury. He used the (dry) FP1 to get back into a rhythm and better understand the technical Magny-Cours layout, the rider having never competed at this circuit with a Superbike until now. Setting a best of 1’39.609, Tarran placed twenty-first at the end of the opening session. Lopes had never ridden at Magny-Cours at all until today and only experienced the CBR1000RR-R for the first time during the Portimão round, where he substituted for Mackenzie. The Portuguese rider therefore used these initial sessions to learn the layout, adapt the setup of his bike accordingly, and generally build his confidence with both bike and track. By the end of FP1, Lopes was lying twenty-third with a time of 1’40.282.

FP2 ran in similarly warm and dry conditions in the afternoon. Mackenzie continued to make gains, improving his feeling and shaving close to a second off his earlier time to set a 1’38.695. Lopes continued to get to grips with this technical track and gradually lower his lap times over the course of the final half hour, closing day one with a best of 1’39.326. These results meant that the duo placed twenty-second and twenty-third overall as Friday drew to a close.

Tarran Mackenzie

“The feeling with the bike in FP2 was actually really good, I’m just struggling with the changes of direction and opening the throttle. I’ve had a couple of months off and was experiencing some arm pump at home while riding super moto, so I knew I’d be in for a bit of a tough time here with that. I just have to manage it as best I can. We have a few things to try on the bike tomorrow that might help, so we’ll see how it goes.”

Ivo Lopes

“I’m very happy with how today has gone, especially considering it’s my first time riding here at Magny-Cours. I had a little trouble in FP1 as we had a small problem with the bike, and I knew I needed more laps to better understand the track. FP2 went better after we made a change to the bike. I was able to start building confidence and understand how to adapt my riding style to the bike. A positive first day, but we want more of course and know we can improve further. I really like the track and hope to continue working in the right direction tomorrow.”

Saturday

The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team unfortunately was unable to secure a finish in a wet WorldSBK race 1 at the Nevers Magny-Cours Circuit, with rider Mackenzie crashing out mid-race while lying a promising eleventh and Lopes falling in the early stages.

Round eight of the 2024 Superbike World Championship is now in play at the historic French circuit of Nevers Magny-Cours. Tarran Mackenzie and substitute rider Ivo Lopes were out for the day’s two free practice sessions, both of which ran in dry conditions, allowing the team’s technicians to work on the dry setup of the CBR1000RR-R machines.

Friday saw Mackenzie get back on his bike for the first time in almost two months, the British rider having missed the last two rounds due to injury. He used the (dry) FP1 to get back into a rhythm and better understand the technical Magny-Cours layout, the rider having never competed at this circuit with a Superbike until now. Setting a best of 1’39.609, Tarran placed twenty-first at the end of the opening session. Lopes had never ridden at Magny-Cours at all until today and only experienced the CBR1000RR-R for the first time during the Portimão round, where he substituted for Mackenzie. The Portuguese rider therefore used these initial sessions to learn the layout, adapt the setup of his bike accordingly, and generally build his confidence with both bike and track. By the end of FP1, Lopes was lying twenty-third with a time of 1’40.282.

FP2 ran in similarly warm and dry conditions in the afternoon. Mackenzie continued to make gains, improving his feeling and shaving close to a second off his earlier time to set a 1’38.695. Lopes continued to get to grips with this technical track and gradually lower his lap times over the course of the final half hour, closing day one with a best of 1’39.326. These results meant that the duo placed twenty-second and twenty-third overall as Friday drew to a close.

Tarran Mackenzie

“The feeling with the bike in FP2 was actually really good, I’m just struggling with the changes of direction and opening the throttle. I’ve had a couple of months off and was experiencing some arm pump at home while riding super moto, so I knew I’d be in for a bit of a tough time here with that. I just have to manage it as best I can. We have a few things to try on the bike tomorrow that might help, so we’ll see how it goes.”

Ivo Lopes

“I’m very happy with how today has gone, especially considering it’s my first time riding here at Magny-Cours. I had a little trouble in FP1 as we had a small problem with the bike, and I knew I needed more laps to better understand the track. FP2 went better after we made a change to the bike. I was able to start building confidence and understand how to adapt my riding style to the bike. A positive first day, but we want more of course and know we can improve further. I really like the track and hope to continue working in the right direction tomorrow.”

Sunday

The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team concludes a tough WorldSBK weekend at the Nevers Magny-Cours Circuit in France.

At 11am local time (CET), the ten-lap Superpole race got underway. Conditions were cool but dry, in contrast to Saturday’s very wet race action. From tenth on the grid, Mackenzie worked hard to keep pace with his closest rivals but slipped back a little over the first few laps. Struggling with arm fatigue, Tarran was nevertheless determined to hold on and complete the race, crossing the line eighteenth. Lopes, twenty-first on the grid, ran a consistent but rather solitary race. The Portuguese rider, who stands in for Adam Norrodin this weekend, made up two positions over the course of the ten laps, completing the race in nineteenth position.

The second and final full length Superbike race ran at 3.30pm, again in dry conditions. Twelfth off the line, Mackenzie was caught up in traffic through lap one and dropped back to nineteenth, just ahead of team-mate Lopes, twentieth. An uneventful race for the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda riders saw them hold these positions for the first half of the 21-lapper, after which they each made up one place to conclude Race 2 eighteenth (Tarran) and nineteenth (Ivo).

The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team will be back in action on 20-22 September, when the ninth WorldSBK round will run at the Cremona Circuit in Italy.

Tarran Mackenzie

“I knew that today’s longer race was going to be a challenge due to arm fatigue more than anything. But the bike felt quite good, and I feel we’ve made a step with my feeling so that’s positive. I always feel good in wet conditions, so warm-up this morning was fine, but then I found myself struggling in the races, partly with managing the rear of the bike, and partly with my arm, which made it hard in the changes of direction, especially later on in the race. I knew we just had to get through this weekend and now we’ll work on finding something for the Cremona round and the rest of the season.”

Ivo Lopes

“Today went better than yesterday for sure. In the Superpole race I understood the bike a little better and my lap times were not so bad, I wasn’t quite so far from the group ahead. I’m happy with my performance in race 2 also. The result is what it is, but I was able to push a bit more and improve my pace throughout – my fastest time came on lap 20. The variable weather hasn’t helped us this weekend as it was hard to identify the right setting, but my feeling was good today and I’m happy overall. A big thankyou to the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team for giving me another new experience and opportunity.”