Double eighteenth place for MIE Racing Honda Team in mixed conditions at Aragón
MIE Racing Honda Team has completed the Superbike World Championship event at Motorland Aragón with rider Leandro Mercado, the Argentinian closing both of the day’s races in eighteenth position.
The 10-lap Tissot Superpole race got underway at 11pm on a wet track. Mercado was able to make up two positions through the opening corners, positioning nineteenth by the end of lap one. Gaining another position through the subsequent laps, the Argentinian worked hard to maintain his rhythm, crossing the line eighteenth at the end of the short sprint.
The earlier Superpole race result meant Mercado also started the second Superbike race from the sixth row of the grid. He spent most of the race in eighteenth position, unable to catch the riders immediately ahead of him despite doing his best to maintain consistent lap times. Just as he did earlier in the day, the Argentinian completed the last of the weekend’s races in eighteenth position.
Private: Leandro Mercado 36
“Today’s conditions meant that any tyre choice was really just a gamble. We made the most conservative choice, opting for rain tyres in the Superpole race and intermediates in Race 2. In the sprint race, I was actually about to change over to intermediate on the grid but in the end I kept the rain. Having said that, the team made a change to the set-up that I found quite good and even though we are still a long way off, I was able to ride more comfortably. Clearly, we need to cover many miles on the bike and keep working on it in order to make a bigger step forward.”
