The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team has rounded out the fourth WorldSBK championship round at Cremona Circuit, but is left wanting in terms of Sunday’s race results.

After a brief morning warm-up, Mackenzie and Zaidi readied themselves for the ten-lap Superpole race. Saturday’s qualifying results meant that the duo lined up on the eighth row of the grid for this short sprint. Mackenzie picked up the pace as the race went on, but it was no easy task today, the British rider lying twenty-second for the best part of the ten-lapper. With just two laps to go, Tarran suffered a fast crash at turn 9 and was unfortunately unable to bring the race to its natural conclusion. Teammate Zaidi did his best to keep his closest rivals in his sights throughout this short sprint. Lying within a couple of seconds of his teammate through the first laps, he lost a little ground as the race went on but completed the race, crossing the line in twenty-second place.

The weekend’s second and final Superbike race ran at 2pm local time (CET), but it was not to be for Mackenzie. Twentieth off the line, the Brit barely had time to get into a rhythm before a turn 8 crash interrupted his progress. He tried to rejoin the race but was forced to pit a few minutes later due to a technical problem with his bike. Teammate Zaidi meanwhile made gradual progress from twenty-second on the grid, moving into the top twenty in the early stages. Running a solitary second half of the race, the Malaysian rookie held twentieth to the line.

After four rounds, Mackenzie lies eighteenth in the classification with nine points. The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team will be back in action during the fifth Superbike World Championship round, taking place at Autodrom Most on 16-18 May. 

Zaqhwan Zaidi #21

“Overall, I think we’ve taken a step today, making progress and improving on our lap times by almost one second. I think the feeling is getting better and I understand how I need to change my riding style in order to ride the bike effectively. We need to keep working hard to achieve our target, but I feel that race by race we’re gradually improving. Hopefully I can be stronger again at the next round, and in the meantime, I’ll keep working. We’ve done our best and will try to do more next time. Thanks to the team, they’ve done a great job here, and thanks to everybody who supports us. I’m looking forward to the next round.”

Tarran Mackenzie #95

“I’m just happy to walk away in one piece, particularly after a very fast crash in this morning’s Superpole race. Friday afternoon seemed quite positive but then I just struggled with the feeling all weekend really. It wasn’t the smoothest of rounds, but we kept trying right until the end. Even in race 2, I was a bit battered and bruised but gritted my teeth and the pace was good up until the crash. I don’t feel overly comfortable on the bike so to be just off the back of the points group is positive going forward, I think. Next up is Most - I’ve not ridden the Superbike there before but if we can find good feeling right away like we did at Assen, then hopefully we can have a good weekend.”