WorldSSP- Aragón: a solid start for Mackenzie and a learning curve for rookie Ibrahim Norrodin

The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team has today completed the free practice sessions making up this tenth round of the Supersport World Championship, now underway at the Motorland Aragón circuit in Spain.

Tarran Mackenzie and replacement rider Ibrahim Norrodin, who stands in for injured brother Adam this weekend, were out at 11.25 CET for the weekend’s first practice session. Mackenzie soon saw the benefit of having recently tested at the Aragón track, the young Brit able to hit the ground running using the bike set-up he identified during last month’s test session. Setting some interesting lap times and able to make constant progress throughout FP1, Tarran set a best of 1’56.763 to round out the session in twenty-first position. For Ibrahim, there is a lot to learn of course, the young Malaysian tasked with adapting to a new bike, new tyres and a new track. He therefore used Friday’s practice sessions to start building confidence with the CBR600RR and learning the layout of a circuit he has never visited before. Completing his first fifteen laps around the Aragón track, Ibrahim recorded a fastest time of 1’58.566 in the final stages to place thirty-first.

During the second practice, which ran mid-afternoon and again in dry conditions, Mackenzie continued to improve on his flying lap times. Finding another half second with respect to FP1, the Brit closed with a time of 1’56.228, which moved him into twenty-fifth position in Friday’s aggregate standings. Norrodin was able to take a solid step forward already in the first few minutes of FP2, taking a good six tenths off his earlier time. The Malaysian continued to work to adapt his riding style to the bike, and his bike to the track, ultimately setting a best time of 1’57.907. With this result, he placed thirtieth in the day’s combined standings.

Tarran Mackenzie P25

“This morning’s session went quite well, and I had pretty good feeling with the bike. We made some small changes for the afternoon session, but the bike didn’t feel quite right during FP2 for some reason. I went a little faster but struggled to do so, whereas I thought I’d be able to do more. We’ll check everything over this evening and then hopefully we’ll be able to take a step tomorrow, both me and the bike, so that we’re ready for the first race.”

Ibrahim Norrodin P30

“Firstly, I want to thank Midori Moriwaki and PETRONAS for giving me the chance to ride here this weekend. It’s all a new experience for me, the bike, the team, the track, but we’ve made some improvements over the course of the day. We took a step in FP2 but are still too far away to be able to fight with the other riders. Nevertheless, I’m happy with the work we’ve done and the improvement we’ve seen so far, and I hope we can do more tomorrow.”

Full Results *Courtesy of WorldSBK