McAMS Yamaha’s Tarran Mackenzie is focused on narrowing the Bennetts British Superbike podium points gap to leader Scott Redding at this weekend’s Snetterton round - a track where his bike has historically been fast.
Mackenzie bounced back from a whopping qualifying crash at Brands Hatch with a podium in race two at Knockhill and now the Leicestershire-based Scotsman wants to make up for recent lost time.
“I was happy with Knockhill as after the crash at Brands Hatch I wasn’t sure what would happen at the next round and FP1 actually went well. As the weekend went on I felt alright and I qualified quite strongly in the wet when I am not normally that strong, so I was happy with that,” said Mackenzie.
“I was just annoyed that I crashed out in race one because it wasn’t cool and I was annoyed with myself as I shouldn’t have done it. Then in race two I felt quite strong and then I felt like I was catching Redding a bit towards the end of the race, it got cut short, I don’t think I would have caught him in the five laps, but it was nice to be closing the gap down.
“That was good for me especially after what happened at Brands Hatch and not being able to race, so to be back on the pace straight away was a perfect comeback.”
Last year at Snetterton, the team were fighting for wins with Josh Brookes and the Yamaha proved to be a strong package at the Norfolk circuit, something that Mackenzie is hoping will be a similar story this weekend.
I was looking at the results from Snetterton last year and even though we were only four or five rounds in, I was quite strong there in some of the free practice sessions, so I think it should be a good track for us. Obviously Josh was fast there last year on the Yamaha and I think hopefully we can have another strong weekend there.
“It is important to have a strong round as we are at that point of the season now; it is important as we are getting closer to the Showdown although it is still a few rounds away. We just need to keep getting on the podium to get as many Podium Points as possible as I missed out on them at Brands Hatch and then I crashed in race one at Knockhill.
“I think maybe Tommy, Scott and Josh are obviously the most consistent, but even after the crashes I am not that far off in the Podium Points table and that is the biggest thing, so I was surprised after the weekend to even be in the top six.
“To be fourth was quite good and we need to build on the results from race two at Knockhill and take that into Snetterton this weekend.”
