Wet weather helps Taz make his mark
Tarran Mackenzie enjoyed a World Supersport debut to remember, as he took an unlikely fifth place finish at Phillip Island in Australia.
Logistical and customs problems meant that Mackenzie was forced to run a stock engine in his Petronas MIE Racing Honda, which was more than 20mph down on rivals in a straight line.
However wet weather proved somewhat of a leveller, as Mackenzie carved his way from the back of the field to fifth place.
Eighteenth on the grid, Mackenzie made a lightning start and was straight into eighth through the first corners.
The Stirling-born rider, known as Taz, looked instantly comfortable on the wet asphalt, and made rapid progress, moving from seventh to fifth by lap three – and holding the position, despite stiff competition from title favourite Stefano Manzi on a far quickeryamaha.
A delighted Taz said:“i’m very happy with the result.
“The rain meant we had a more level playing field and right from the start, I felt comfortable and was able to push.
“I definitely need to make the most of this kind of situation moving forward and am pleased that our first race turned out to be a wet one. I didn’t expect that to be the case of course, but I can say that I had a lot of fun and am very happy with fifth in my first race.”
The second race, in dry and sunny conditions, proved a far tougher affair - with Mackenzie losing grip with the leading pack after swerving to avoid an accident on the first lap.
He added:“race two was okay.
“On the first lap somebody crashed in front of me and I ran wide and lost the slipstream to the guys in front so it was a long race on my own.
“That said, it was the first time since starting to ride this bike that we were able to complete many laps in a row because we missed out on some of the testing and yesterday it was raining. So it was nice to gain information.
“I would have liked to be further up but that’s okay; we know we must be patient and keep smiling, so we will do just that as we head to Mandalika.”
Taz is back in action this weekend as the series travels to the Mandalika Circuit in Indonesia, although the team’s race engine won’t be available until the European leg of the Championships gets underway in the Netherlands on April 21.
The races are live on Eurosport 2.