Mackenzie and Norrodin optimistic ahead of Barcelona WorldSBK races
On track with riders Tarran Mackenzie and Adam Norrodin, the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team has completed the weekend’s first free practice sessions making up round two of the Superbike World Championship at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain.
Having tested at the same Barcelona track just a few days ago, both Tarran and Adam started with the base set-up identified during those sessions. Making only small adjustments throughout the opening FP1, which ran in dry, sunny conditions, both made gradual progress despite the track offering little grip. In warmer conditions, the team was back on track for the afternoon’s FP2. The higher temperatures did nothing to improve grip levels, though the session allowed the team to continue its preparations ahead of tomorrow’s first race. Considering the focus on race distance, Mackenzie did not improve on his earlier time and rounded out day 1 with a best of 1’43.180, set early on in FP1. Norrodin on the other hand was able to find a little more during the afternoon, improving on his FP1 time by a good six tenths to set a best of 1’44.280. With these references, the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda duo finished the day in twenty-second and twenty-third position respectively. Tomorrow will see the team compete in the Superpole qualifying session, followed by the first of the weekend’s 20-lap races.
Tarran Mackenzie WorldSBK Rider #95
"Today’s been quite good. My feeling was a little different compared to the test, some areas were good, others were less good, but overall, I had better consistency and felt more comfortable on the new development tyre Pirelli has brought. I did a longer run this afternoon, focusing more on distance than the flying lap, and that also felt quite good consistency-wise, so hopefully that sets us up for the race. Tomorrow morning we’ll try to fine tune things in the final practice in preparation for qualifying, where we can hopefully secure a good position for the race."
Adam Norrodin WorldSBK Rider #27
"In FP1 we tried something different with respect to the test but it didn’t work out and so we went back to something close to the test set-up and I found the feeling again. I’m quite happy, in that we were able to improve on our times with this particular tyre with respect to what we did during testing, but we still have room to improve of course. The track conditions were worse here today compared to testing, I would say, but now we need to see what the weather is like over the weekend. It might be good for us if it’s a bit cooler, but I’m confident we can take another step anyway."
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