The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team has completed a very valuable two-day session at the Misano World Circuit in Italy, which comes just two weeks ahead of the sixth Superbike World Championship round, scheduled to take place at the very same track.

Rider Tarran Mackenzie was joined on track this week by substitute rider Ivo Lopes, who stands in for permanent entry Zaqhwan Zaidi, who was unable to test due to a previous commitment in Asia. Portuguese rider Lopes was the obvious choice for the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team, in that he already served as a substitute rider last season and has good knowledge of the CBR1000RR-R.

Mackenzie and Lopes headed out on track on Tuesday 27, making the most of the mainly stable weather conditions to complete 65 laps (Tarran) and 75 laps (Ivo) during the course of the day, with just some light rain towards the end of the afternoon encouraging most of the SBK field to finish up a little early. The work continued on Wednesday 28, with Tarran putting in another 60 laps and Ivo making a further 62. On Mackenzie’s side of the garage the focus was on identifying a base setup with which he can feel more comfortable, in light of a few difficulties at the recent Czech round. The team tested several new solutions and updates, the goal being to give Tarran better overall feeling and renewed confidence heading into round six and beyond. Ivo meanwhile clocked up a good number of miles during the two days, which enabled him to provide his own feedback as to the feeling and sensations the CBR1000RR-R currently offers. 

Working in preparation for both the upcoming Emilia Romagna WorldSBK round and subsequent race weekends, the team is satisfied with what it has achieved this week. The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team will be back in action at the Misano World Circuit in a little over two weeks’ time, on 13-15 June, during round six of the 2025 Superbike World Championship.

Tarran Mackenzie 

“We focused on trying to iron a few things out in preparation for the next few races, and it’s not gone badly. We’ve learned a lot and have tried a number of different things, like a new fuel tank, a bit of geometry, some electronic updates and a few other items. It’s still quite hard to understand the feeling and what works well, but I’d say we’re moving in a better direction heading into the Misano round than we were before we got here, so that’s good. Now I’ll head home and focus on preparing as well as I can for the next races.”

Ivo Lopes

“First, I want to thank the team for giving me the opportunity to ride; it’s always great to be on track with the WorldSBK field and I’ve really enjoyed it. On Tuesday, I took a little time to adapt to the bike and to the Misano track, as I'd only ridden here once before, a long time ago. We worked generally on the setting, and I think it went better than expected. We identified something of a path to take, but there’s only so much you can do over two days of course. We completed a lot of laps anyway, and I’m pleased. Again, a big thank you to the team.”