WorldSSP – Mackenzie and Norrodin make progress at Misano
The Misano World Circuit in Italy is the stage for this weekend’s fifth Supersport World Championship round, in which the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda team is competing with British rider Tarran Mackenzie and Malaysian Adam Norrodin.
Friday brought the first free practice sessions, in which the riders worked to make initial adjustments to the setup of their CBR600RR machines in preparation for the weekend’s races. Mackenzie worked to get back into a rhythm aboard the Supersport, having recently tested the team’s Superbike at Misano. The Brit gradually improved on his lap times to close this first session in twenty-fifth place, with a fastest time of 1’41.234. Norrodin rounded out the session in twenty-ninth place, the Malaysian finishing with a best of 1’41.992.
The weather only got warmer throughout the day, which meant that free practice 2 ran on a very hot track. Despite the change in conditions, both riders were able to improve on their earlier times. Mackenzie set his fastest time of the day at the very end of the second session, a 1’40.653 placing him twenty-sixth in the combined standings. Norrodin also did well to improve on his earlier time by over a second, rounding out the day in twenty-seventh place with a fastest time of 1’40.841.
Tarran Mackenzie P26
“Coming here for the test with the Superbike helped me refamiliarize myself with the track, as I hadn’t been here for a few years, but it also meant that I had to get back into the swing of things with the Supersport today. I feel that the bike has improved a little compared to the last round at Barcelona and I’ve felt a bit more comfortable. The fact the conditions got hotter in the afternoon made things a bit more tricky – we tried the softer tyre which gave us a little more grip but we’re not sure how it might be over race distance. We’ll keep working anyway, and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Adam Norrodin P27
“We tried some different things in FP1 but it’s not easy as there’s always a lot to understand every time we come to a new track. But I feel that overall things are moving in the right direction and there’s improvement compared to the previous race. We still need more track time, and more races, in order to continue closing the gap to the front. So we need to find something more, but we have the basics I think, and it can be a good weekend if we keep working like this. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”
