Tarran Mackenzie Brings Home More Points in Final World Championship Round
Kimura’s Tarran Mackenzie headed to Circuito de Jerez deep in Sherry country in southern Spain for the final round of the 2023 World Supersport Championship with his Petronas MEI Racing Honda Team over the weekend of 28th and 29th October.
Friday’s qualifying on the Honda CBR600RR was a wet affair “It was a bit damp at the start of FP2 but I kept at it, making as many laps as I could after losing FP1. The setting was quite hard for the conditions but we were top ten for a good part of the session so that was nice. We dropped back towards the end, but I think we can have a much better weekend here and hopefully round out the season on a high.” Tarran said.
Race 2 on Sunday dawned dry conditions, the lights went out on the final Supersport race of the 2023 season at 12.30pm local time. A revised grid saw Mackenzie line up twentieth, team mates Pawi twenty-third and Norrodin twenty-fifth for the 17-lapper. The riders only reached lap four before a red flag brought the race to a halt due to safety conditions, with a section of air fence requiring repair after a crash for another rider. The race was restarted a short time later but reduced to a distance of just seven laps, with the riders starting from the positions they were in prior to the red flag.
From 20th position on the grid Mackenzie made a strong start, immediately making up three positions. Part of a group of five riders, the Brit was lying sixteenth on lap two. Pushing hard to reach the points zone, Tarran was up into fourteenth by lap four, a position he battled hard to hold to the line to score a final two championship points.
Tarran commented “I didn’t feel great in the first heat, before the red flag, so we made a small change to the bike which gave me more confidence. I got a good start and ran a good first few laps, fighting a little along the way and moving to the front of my group. It was only a short race, but I felt good and it’s nice to end the season with points, having not scored any since Most. So I finish the season happy.”
Mackenzie finishes the season in 18th position with 42 World Championship points on a not so competitive Honda bike, but the season high point must be the win at the Most circuit in the Czech Republic in the summer which was a master stroke in tactics, skill and bravery.
Mackenzie’s 2024 plans will be announced soon, he is testing the Petronas MEI Racing Honda Superbike at Jerez this week and an announcement will be made shortly afterwards.