Tarran back for new race season
Tarran Mackenzie is already looking ahead to the next round of the Bennetts British Superbike season after a solid opening weekend at Donington Park.
The Stirling-born rider, son of former GP ace Niall, collected two seventh places and a sixth to start his third season with Mcams Yamaha and was pleased with his progress after big crashes in practice and warm-up.
Taz said: “I didn’t come here for a couple of sevenths and a sixth but I’ll take it after this weekend.
“I had two massive crashes. The first one could have been quite nasty so I was lucky to walk away. My kit really saved me.
“That knocked me back a little bit and we were chasing a better setting all weekend but in each race we made a step forward.
“We made a few big changes for the first race and changed the geometry to something more like what the World Superbike guys have and that was a big step forward.
“The race was a bit hectic on the first lap but once I got clear track we had all right pace. I hadn’t ridden the bike set-up like it was until the race so, considering that,
I was happy with the result.
“In the second race the bike felt really good and I had a strong race towards the end and that put me on the front row for race three.
“We made a small change for the last race and I think that, while it wasn’t a massive change, it was enough to change how the bike felt and unfortunately it didn’t work.
“We’ll use the information we’ve gained this weekend to better ourselves at Snetterton.”
Tarran’s brother Taylor returned to the top tier of British racing with Synetiq BMW, despite battling a leg injury that
Tim Keeton it was feared could rule him out until September.
He took a point for 15th in his first outing for the Northern Irish team before 17th and 22nd place finishes but admitted that getting back on a bike was a bonus in itself.
The 27-year-old said: “No results to write home about but it was good to spend three days riding a bike again.
“I’m now looking forward to two weeks rest and hopefully riding with two legs again.”
Snetterton in Norfolk hosts the next round between August 21 and August 23, with the races live on Eurosport.