The Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in France will stage the eighth round of the 2024 Superbike World Championship this coming weekend and the event marks a return to action for Tarran Mackenzie. The British rider has not competed since Donington, after an incident that resulted in a concussion sidelined him for both the Most and Portimão rounds. Tarran has now been passed fit to race and will be reunited with his PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda technicians after an enforced break of roughly seven weeks. 

Feeling unwell on the Saturday of the Portuguese race weekend, Norrodin was deemed unfit to race on the Sunday. He was feeling better in time for the subsequent test sessions that the team conducted at the Estoril Circuit, but a crash towards the end of the day left the Malaysian with a fracture to his right big toe. Adam is still not fully recovered and will therefore be replaced at Magny-Cours by Portuguese rider Ivo Lopes, who previously substituted for Mackenzie at the Portimão round and during the Estoril test session. 

A regular fixture on the Superbike calendar since 2003, the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours was constructed in 1960 and has also hosted MotoGP and F1 races in the past. Measuring 4.411 kilometres in length, the track incorporates seventeen turns and runs in a clockwise direction. 

Tarran Mackenzie 

“It’s been a bit of a frustrating time but I’m glad to finally get back on the bike at Magny-Cours. It’s going to have been just under two months since I last rode, almost as long as the winter break! It felt weird watching the Portimão round on TV and I’m very much looking forward to being back with the team. I haven’t ridden at Magny-Cours on a Superbike, only the Supersport bike last season. Last year was a little odd as the weather was uncharacteristically hot, rather than the usual mixed conditions. I’ll probably be using this French round to get back up to speed, considering that I’ve had a few weeks of enforced rest and limited training, before having a good crack at the last four rounds – the goal is to round out the season on a high.” 

Ivo Lopes 

“First, I want to thank the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team for giving me another opportunity to compete in WorldSBK. I don’t know the Magny-Cours track so I know it’s going to be a challenging weekend but I’m keen to get started and can hopefully use what I learned about the CBR1000RR-R while riding for the team at Portimão and Estoril. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do over the course of the weekend – hopefully we can start strong on Friday and make progress every time we head out on track.” 

Track Information: 

Country: France
Name: Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours
Length: 4.411 km
Pole position: right 

Turns: 8 left, 9 right
 
SBK RECORDS: Best lap – Bautista (Ducati) 1’36.084 (2023). Superpole – Gerloff (BMW) 1'35.453 (2023). 

2023 SBK RESULTS: 

Race 1 – 1. Razgatlioglu (Yamaha), 2. Rinaldi (Ducati), 3. Rea (Kawasaki) 

Superpole race – 1. Razgatlioglu (Yamaha), 2. Bautista (Ducati), 3. Rea (Kawasaki) 

Race 2 - 1. Bautista (Ducati), 2. Razgatlioglu (Yamaha), 3. Rea (Kawasaki)