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.”