Mackenzie and Norrodin warm up for the Catalunya WorldSBK round with a two-day test

The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team has completed a particularly useful two-day test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain as it prepares for round 2 of 2024 Superbike World Championship, to be staged on 22-24 March.

Having not had a lot of track time with the 2024 bike to date, riders Tarran Mackenzie and Adam Norrodin were keen to put this test session to good use. Exploiting the dry weather, both riders clocked up the miles on Thursday and Friday, collecting more precious data and working closely with their respective technicians to better understand the bike, refine the base set-up and identity solutions that can serve them well during the upcoming second championship round and beyond.

Mackenzie and Norrodin now feel better prepared for the races as a result, also considering that neither has significant experience of racing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team will be back at the Spanish track next week, ready to tackle the second round of the 2024 Superbike World Championship

Tarran Mackenzie

“Thursday was probably the most positive day of the year so far for me. I’m now working with a new crew chief, Mick Shanley, and although the bike was the same as at Phillip Island, I’ve had much better feeling with it here. We made a small geometry change for Friday and I started to improve as the day went on. My times were similar over the two days, but when we put in a qualifying tyre, I found a good bit of time, so I’m happy overall with how we’ve done. I also feel that I’ve improved in myself, which is very important, and think we’ve made a good step.  I haven’t done so many laps at Barcelona in the past, aside from last season’s race weekend of course, so it’s been nice to be able to enjoy some solid track time with the bike. We’ll do our best to carry this positive momentum into the race weekend.”

Adam Norrodin

“This test has been a good opportunity to understand more about the bike after the Phillip Island round. I was quite happy on Thursday morning but then we changed a few things in the afternoon that were less effective. On Friday we made more modifications and completed a lot more laps, and I felt quite comfortable, also because I’ve changed up my training since the Phillip Island round with the aim of improving my physicality. I can feel an improvement there already so that’s another positive as we look ahead to next weekend’s races. I can feel the potential is there; we just need to put it all together.”