'Much happier' Tarran Mackenzie makes strides at Catalunya WorldSBK, 'gutted' to just miss points

26/03/2024 14:29

Tarran Mackenzie says he is 'gutted' to come up just short of scoring his first points of the 2024 WorldSBK Championship season but otherwise pleased to have made a sizeable step forward from the start of the year.

The Petronas MIE Racing rider endured a steep learning curve at Phillip Island last month but the return to European soil saw Mackenzie flatten it by lapping more competitively on the Honda CBR1000RR-R.

Mixing only a few seconds adrift of his factory Team HRC counterparts in Race 1, Mackenzie would pick off other scalps too but cross the line just shy of the points in 16th place.

"The first couple of laps weren't the best but then I got into a nice rhythm. I was held up a little mid-race but eventually I was able to get past Oettl and make good inroads into catching those ahead. 

"I'm gutted I couldn't get at least one point after all the effort but it's a good result anyway, our best so far this year actually, also because we were a lot closer to the front in terms of overall race time. So, I'm much happier."

The improved performance carried through to the Superpole Race - where he finished 19th - and Race 2, though a mistake with the tyre choice left him trailing in 17th by the flag.

"I was really pleased with the Superpole race. I hadn't had a chance during FP3 to do a decent long run with the Q tyre, so it was good to be in the mix during the sprint race, and closer to the guys in front too. 

"In the long race, perhaps I didn't make the right tyre choice, but we didn't think we needed to change anything with respect to yesterday's race. 

"It was only afterwards that I saw almost everyone else had switched tyres! But that said, the first half of the race was positive; I was in the group and we were all close. 

"It was nice to be in the fight, and although I perhaps could have saved the tyre a bit for the end of the race, I'm generally happy. 

"So there were positives and negatives but we've learned a lot and I'd say that the weekend overall has been a lot more positive."

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