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.