The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team has concluded the first of the weekend’s WorldSBK races at Italy’s Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” in sixteenth and seventeenth place with riders Tarran Mackenzie and Zaqhwan Zaidi.

Prior to the race, the riders took part in a final practice, with both Tarran and Zaqhwan able to exploit the cooler conditions as they prepared for the Superpole. Tarran found a little more pace to set a 1'35.025, while Zaqhwan continued to focus on building his performance step by step at another new circuit. In the final minute the Malaysian rookie was able to set a 1'36.895, eight tenths quicker than his best of yesterday and a time valid for qualification.

During the 15-minute Superpole phase, Mackenzie completed three fast laps. Setting a best of 1’34.385 in the final stages, the British rider qualified for SBK Race 1 in twenty-second position. Rookie Zaidi’s session played out in similar fashion, the Malaysian making his fastest lap - a 1’36.256 - on returning to the track for a second exit. Though this reference fell one tenth of a second short of being a valid qualification time, his earlier FP3 time meant that he was permitted to line up for the afternoon’s first race. 

Race 1 ran over 21 laps with a track temperature of 55°C. Teammates Mackenzie and Zaidi both lined up on the eighth row of the grid. Making a clean start when the lights went out, both PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda riders soon made up several positions following a series of crashes for other riders. Lying seventeenth and eighteenth on lap two, they each gained a position at the mid-race point before concluding just outside the points zone – Tarran sixteenth and Zaqhwan seventeenth.

Tarran Mackenzie #95

“Things went a bit better this morning and I was happier with my qualifying performance. We’ve changed the chassis quite a bit since the recent test and that’s brought some improvement, but I haven’t done many laps with it yet. So, today’s race was basically the first long run, which will hopefully put us in a better direction for tomorrow. It was a bit worrying early on when riders started crashing - the track was a bit greasier than usual, but it could have been worse. We’ll keep working anyway and see what we can do tomorrow.”

Zaqhwan Zaidi #21

“It was nice to see some improvement today. I was lapping with a pace only around one second slower than those running mid-field, which I didn’t expect to be honest. The track was perhaps more slippery today, considering the high temperatures, but I was able to run with consistent pace, though I realise it’s still not enough. We’ll keep working to improve of course, but I’m pleased because the team has done a good job today. We only made small changes in terms of setup and now Race 1 has helped us to understand where to focus our attention as we prepare for tomorrow’s races.”