WorldSSP – A garage for three at Portimão for the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team
The penultimate round of the 2023 Superbike World Championship will see the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda team in action at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimão with three riders. Permanent entry Tarran Mackenzie will compete in the Supersport class together with Italian star Andrea Migno, who stands in for injured Adam Norrodin, and wildcard entry Ibrahim Norrodin.
The latest WorldSSP round drew to a close just days ago at Motorland Aragón in Spain. With Adam Norrodin unable to participate due to injury sustained at the previous French round, Tarran Mackenzie was joined in the garage by Adam’s younger brother, Ibrahim Norrodin. The riders successfully completed the weekend’s two races after making continual progress over the course of the three days. Ibrahim now has another chance to gain experience on the world stage, the team having decided to field him as a wildcard entry. Brother Adam is unfortunately still not fit to race, and so he will be replaced at Portimão by Andrea Migno. The 27-year old Italian has ten years of experience in the Moto3 World Championship but will be making his World Superbike debut with the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team in Portugal.
This weekend, all three riders will take on the undulating Portimão track, one that none of them have raced at before, although Mackenzie did complete a test session there at the start of the 2023 season. The Autódromo Internacional do Algarve is located in southern Portugal, almost 300 km from Lisbon. 4592 metres long, the track comprises fifteen turns and is particularly undulating, which presents riders with a unique challenge.
Tarran Mackenzie
“I’m looking forward to heading back to Portimão with the Supersport bike. We tested at the track at the start of the year, when the project was brand new, so I’m keen to see where we are now in comparison. I’ve never raced at the circuit before though, and it’s a totally different layout to other tracks, one that I think is nice for a 600, so I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do. With any luck, we can be a little closer to the guys in front.”
Andrea Migno
“First of all, I want to thank the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team for giving me this wonderful opportunity in what is a whole new racing world for me. I am very excited and will do my best to enjoy it together with the whole team. I feel ready and am looking forward to this new experience, which I can already sense is going to be a great one.”
Ibrahim Norrodin
“I’ve never seen Portimão before, so it will be challenging to have to get to grips with another new track. I gained some initial experience at Aragón last weekend and the team really helped me with the bike setup, but that was my very first race weekend in the WorldSSP championship, so there’s still a huge amount to learn! I’m looking forward to having another opportunity to compete in Portugal, and want to thank Midori and the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team once again for the opportunity.”
Track Information:
Country: Portugal
Name: Autódromo Internacional do Algarve
Length: 4.592 km
Pole position: right
Turns: 15
2022 SSP RESULTS:
Race 1 – 1. Manzi (Triumph); 2. Baldassarri (Yamaha); 3. Caricasulo (Ducati).
Race 2 – 1. Aegerter (Yamaha); 2. De Rosa (Ducati); 3. Oncu (Kawasaki).
SSP RECORDS: Best lap – De Rosa (Ducati) 1’44. 123 (2012). Superpole – Aegerter (Yamaha) 1’43.065 (2022).
