Conditions prevent Mackenzie and Zaidi from making the Most of SBK free practice

Rain and red flags hinder progress for the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team during day 1 of the Czech WorldSBK round.

The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda team and riders Tarran Mackenzie and Zaqhwan Zaidi dealt with mixed conditions during Friday morning’s first WorldSBK free practice at Autodrom Most. In cool, windy conditions and on a partially wet track, the riders set to work adapting their CBR1000RR-R machines to the Czech track. Malaysian Zaidi has never seen the Most track until now and so faced the added challenging of learning another new circuit. This was made more complicated by the fact that the session was red-flagged four times following incidents involving other riders. Able to at least make the most of the final stages, Mackenzie and Zaidi’s times began to drop, the track as good as dry by this time. A best of 1’33.890 for Mackenzie meant that he placed seventeenth, while Zaidi put in a 1’38.160 to finish twenty-second.

Rain returned just before FP2, which meant that the SBK field faced a full wet track. Many of the riders elected to wait until the asphalt dried a little, Mackenzie included. In need of track time, Zaidi made a brief albeit cautious exit in the first few minutes. Back out on a drying track, the duo continued to work hard in preparation for tomorrow’s Superpole and first race. Tarran soon improved on his FP1 reference, finding another seven tenths to set a fastest time of 1’33.190, while teammate Zaqhwan was able to take a full two seconds off his best of the morning to round out day one with a 1’36.193. These results put the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda riders twentieth and twenty-second in Friday’s combined standings.

The team will be back out on Saturday for a final practice, Superpole and the first of the weekend’s races.

Tarran Mackenzie #95

“This morning was a bit up and down with the four red flags, but we stayed on the same tyre and luckily it was all ok. It feels strange to ride here again after two years away, especially coming back on a Superbike, but it felt like I made a bit of progress. I then struggled a little bit in FP2. I don’t have the best feeling yet, and so found it difficult to find the lap times. A bit of a shame but we’ll work to find something that can hopefully help us take a good step tomorrow.”

Zaqhwan Zaidi #21

“Today’s practices were strange, and my feeling was mixed to be honest. In the first session, I focused on learning the track, making as many laps as I could. I improved lap by lap, but not my feeling as the conditions were not ideal and I didn’t have the confidence to push. The track is tricky, with some very fast corners, but I’ll do my best to progress. We did that already in FP2 to some extent, and I’m sure that I can do more in tomorrow’s FP3 and Superpole. We hope conditions will be good, and in the meantime a big thanks to the team for all their hard work and support. We’ll keep working!” 

Saturday at Most an uphill struggle for the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team

SBK Race 1 does not bring the desired results for either PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda rider at Autodrom Most.

The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda team and riders Tarran Mackenzie and Zaqhwan Zaidi are on track at Autodrom Most, the stage for WorldSBK round five. After wet conditions on Friday, Mackenzie and Zaidi were able to get in some dry track time during Saturday morning’s final practice. While British rider Tarran made some final tweaks to his CBR1000RR-R ahead of Superpole, setting a 1’32.660, Malaysian rookie Zaqhwan made further gains in terms of lap time, setting a PB of 1’35.323.

The 15-minute Superpole also ran in dry conditions. Tarran unfortunately suffered a crash almost immediately, at Turn 2, which forced him back to the pits. With only time to complete a couple of fast laps in the final stages of this brief phase, the Brit was able to set a best of 1’32.384, a valid qualifying time but only enough to put him twenty-first. A dirty track saw Mackenzie go down again, at turn 21, right at the end of the session but luckily, he walked away unhurt. Teammate Zaidi continued to close the gap to those ahead of him, little by little, setting a fastest time of 1’34.793. This meant that the Malaysian qualified twenty-second for the afternoon’s race.

As a result of the heavy crash at the end of Superpole, and with safety in mind, the team and rider Mackenzie decided not to compete in Race 1 and to focus instead on preparing for Sunday’s Superpole race and second SBK race. Teammate Zaidi got away well when the lights went out and was lying nineteenth by lap two. The Malaysian did his best to manage the race but ultimately retired in the latter stages, citing difficulties relating to arm pump.

Tarran Mackenzie

“A difficult day. We made a change to the bike earlier today that I think can be positive, but we need more time on it. Unfortunately, I had a crash in qualifying, for which I apologise to the team. This evening we’ll try to reset so that we’re ready to go again tomorrow.”

Zaqhwan Zaidi

“For some reason, the bike felt difficult to handle in the race today. I tried to manage the race and the pace, but I couldn’t set consistent lap times and was struggling with some arm pump, so it wasn’t easy and, in the end, I decided to pull in. I want to apologise to the team and thank them for all their hard work. Today was not our day, but we’ll work hard to find a fix for tomorrow so that I can feel more comfortable on the bike. It was also very windy today, so hopefully conditions will be better tomorrow.”

A complicated Czech SBK round draws to a close for PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda

The Most SBK weekend fails to bring the desired results for riders Mackenzie and Zaidi.

The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda team and riders Tarran Mackenzie and Zaqhwan Zaidi have now concluded what has been a complicated WorldSBK round at Autodrom Most.

Sunday morning warm-up was unfortunately of little use, running in damp conditions, which meant that neither Mackenzie or Zaidi chose to rode during this short session. Two hours later, at 11am CET, the duo lined up for the Superpole race, a ten-lap sprint that took place in dry conditions but under very cloudy skies. Both riders held their positions off the line, working to establish a good rhythm with their CBR1000RR-R bikes. Although Mackenzie and Zaidi ran a consistent ten laps, they were unable to remain in contact with the group ahead, both running a rather solitary race to close twenty-first and twenty-second.

The final race of the weekend, another 22-lapper, ran in dry, cloudy conditions in the early afternoon. A multi-rider collision through turn 1 saw Mackenzie and Zaidi move up to eighteenth and nineteenth on lap one. Tarran had little time to get into any kind of rhythm as a lap-three crash, at Turn 1, prevented him from continuing with the race. Teammate Zaqhwan also had a challenging time. He did his best to manage the race, holding nineteenth place for the best part of the 22 laps but a lack of feeling ultimately saw the Malaysian pit in the final stages.

Five rounds in, and Mackenzie lies nineteenth in the overall standings with 9 points. The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team now has a little time to prepare for round six, which will take place at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli on 13-15 June. Before then they will make use of a two-day test on 27-28 May at the same Italian circuit.

Tarran Mackenzie #95

“I was happy to finish the morning’s Superpole race. This afternoon’s long race was another difficult one and I crashed again; I’m honestly not sure why. Anyway, we move on and will try to work through some things at the Misano test so that I can regain some feeling and confidence, as I seem to have lost some of that since the Assen round. We’ll reset and go again…”

Zaqhwan Zaidi #21

“A difficult day. The feeling was OK in the Superpole race but things got more complicated in Race 2. I lost contact with the riders ahead but tried to focus on my own performance. In the end, I was struggling a lot and decided to come in. I want to apologise to the team and will now concentrate on training hard in preparation for the Misano test and next Misano round.”