Norrodin and Mackenzie looking for more at Barcelona
The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team and riders Tarran Mackenzie and Adam Norrodin have completed Friday’s free practice sessions at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The riders worked hard during the day’s free practice sessions, both of which ran in sunny conditions and on a track that was perhaps hotter than expected for the time of year.
FP1 saw the pair working on the set-up of their CBR600RR machines together with their respective technicians. Norrodin’s best lap came right at the end of the session, a best of 1’47.831 placing him twenty-second. Mackenzie worked to make changes to his setup, closing the first session in twenty-eighth position with a time of 1’48.656. The afternoon’s second session ran on hotter asphalt, which made conditions trickier and raised a few grip issues for the team. The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda duo nevertheless continued to work hard, with Tarran able to improve on his earlier time by a good six tenths. A best of 1’48.019 saw the British rider place twenty-ninth in the combined standings. Twenty-sixth overall, Adam was able to lap with similar times to FP1 but is looking for a step forward in terms of grip, particularly considering that temperatures may be equally hot tomorrow.
The team will now analyse the day’s data and make some final preparations ahead of tomorrow’s Superpole and first race.
Adam Norrodin P26
“At the moment we are struggling with grip to be honest. Sometimes you expect a lack of grip in FP1, if the track is dirty or something, but things were no better for us in FP2, which surprised me. I feel we are a little behind in this area compared to others, but if we can find something to improve the grip, then I think we can take a good step forward. At the moment it’s difficult especially through the first and second sector. We’ve tried the different tyre solutions but are unsure which way to go right now. We’ll keep working and do our best to come up with a solution.”
Tarran Mackenzie P29
“Well, I hadn’t ridden here at Barcelona for six years so it’s nice to be back out there. I feel the bike is a little better with respect to Assen, from what I’ve seen today, but with the hot, greasy track we’re experiencing some spinning at the rear of the bike. I put the soft tyre in towards the end of FP2 and that felt a little better but hopefully we can do more to improve tomorrow. If we can iron out the issues, then hopefully we can have a good qualifying and have a chassis that allows us to run a good first race.”
