Constructive first winter test for Mackenzie and Norrodin at Jerez
On track with rookie World Superbike riders Tarran Mackenzie and Adam Norrodin on both Wednesday and Thursday, the team had a lot of work to get through as it starts preparing for the 2024 Superbike World Championship. Conditions fortunately remained dry, although Wednesday in particular was very windy. Tarran and Adam represented the team in the Supersport category in 2023, and so considering that this was their first official test aboard the CBR1000RR-R Superbike, the riders initially worked with their technicians to define the best riding position before turning their attention to general set-up.
On Thursday, Mackenzie and Norrodin continued to build confidence with their machines. Having been unable to compete in the final races of the 2023 season after injuring his right shoulder in a crash during warm-up at Magny-Cours, Adam continues to recover his strength and mobility, but was nevertheless keen to participate in these tests and begin the important work ahead of the new season. Both he and Tarran were able to collate valuable data and provide precious feedback to their respective teams over the course of the two days.
Generally satisfied with the progress made in Spain this week, the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team will confirm the dates of its next winter test in due course.
Tarran Mackenzie
“Compared to my last test, the general feeling has been quite similar, though conditions have been a little colder and windier this week. We’ve made changes throughout the sessions, and I feel we’ve made quite good progress from start to finish. The goal was to complete as many laps as possible, collect data, and better understand the bike, and we’ve done that. We were riding the 2023 bike this week but will hopefully have an updated version for the next test in January, so that will be interesting and should change some things. But in the meantime, it’s been useful to ride the Superbike, also with traction control which I’d only used at the Suzuka 8 Hours. So, I still have a lot to learn but am happy with what we’ve done here. On 27 November I’ll get some screws removed from my femur as I’ve been a little uncomfortable. It’s only a small procedure, so I’ll be able get back to training already after one week. In the meantime, I want to say a big thank you to the team for deciding to do this test, as it’s been particularly valuable for me as a rookie.”
Adam Norrodin
“Unfortunately, I am still not 100% fit and so I wasn’t totally comfortable with my shoulder while riding. The target for the test was to build feeling with the bike, which we did, but my physical condition limited how many laps we could complete as I have little power in my arm and get fatigued after only a short run. I’m continuing with physio and rehab, but it’s going to be a long process, so now I want to visit my doctors back in Malaysia to see what else we can do to speed up the recovery process. A big thank you to the team anyway, as they’ve worked really hard this week. My focus over the next weeks is my physical recovery – I want to do all I can to better prepared for our next test in January.”
