WorldSSP – Points for Mackenzie and Norrodin in WorldSSP Race 1 at Mandalika

It was an intense race day for the PETRONAS MIE MS Racing Honda Team at Mandalika in Indonesia, with riders Tarran Mackenzie and Adam Norrodin both scoring points in the weekend’s first Supersport race after placing fourteenth and fifteenth.

Earlier in the day, a dry Superpole allowed Mackenzie and Norrodin to further improve on their times. During the 20-minute phase, the Brit set two fast times, the best of which a 1’37.892 with which he qualified sixteenth for the weekend’s races. The Malaysian had a little difficulty finding the right feeling during this brief phase, but he did lower his time in the final seconds, qualifying twentieth thanks to a 1’39’199.

Race 1 ran over a distance of 18 laps and got underway on what was a slightly damp track that soon dried fully. Mackenzie was lying seventeenth through the first turns, followed by Norrodin, eighteenth. The PETRONAS MIE MS Racing Honda duo retained these positions through the opening laps before making up two positions each to move, one behind the other, into fifteenth and sixteenth position. Setting his best time of the race on lap eleven, the young Brit did his best to catch the rider immediately ahead of him, making gradual gains but unable to quite reach him. Gaining another position when a fellow rider crashed on the last lap, Tarran crossed the line a worthy fourteenth to score two more championship points. Norrodin lost contact with his team-mate during the second half of the race but was nevertheless able to hold fifteenth to the line, rounding out the points zone just behind Mackenzie.

Tarran Mackenzie P14

“There was a tiny bit of rain at first but that was the happiest I’ve felt on the bike in the dry. The bike setting was good and I had a bit of a battle with another rider and felt OK. We’ve scored more points and if we can improve the setting a little for tomorrow, as the front suspension was a little hard today, I think we can do a little more in tomorrow’s race.”

Adam Norrodin P15

“I was almost hoping it would be wet actually, but the rain didn’t last. We still have more to do in terms of identifying the right bike setup to be honest. We’ve made a lot of changes but in today’s race I was struggling with the front end and had little feeling and without good front feeling, I’m losing too much through the fast corners. We scored one point anyway but we will definitely try to change something to see if we can do more in tomorrow’s race.”

Full Race 1 RESULTS