Tarran Mackenzie arrives at his home round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Donington Park this weekend (October 1/2/3) leading the standings by just a slender two point advantage after the opening round of the Showdown at Oulton Park.
Fighting back from injury at Cadwell Park and at Silverstone, Mackenzie won the opening Showdown race at Oulton Park last weekend, and as his teammate Jason O'Halloran crashed out, he closed down the deficit, before ascending to the top of the standings after race three.
Reflecting on last weekend, Mackenzie said: “Before the weekend at Oulton Park, with how my wrist was feeling at Silverstone and doing nothing in-between then, I didn’t know how I was going to fare.
“With Jason's winning tally before even getting to Oulton Park, and then the triple at the start of the year, I was fearing for the worst really! I was thinking he was going to leave with another triple potentially and I didn’t quite know how the weekend would go on my behalf so after the first practice, I knew I needed to tape up the wrist again and do less laps to conserve it for qualifying and the races.”
Mackenzie had been keeping his laps during free practice to a minimum as he aimed to keep O’Halloran within reach in the championship standings, but the title chase took an incredible turn as his McAMS Yamaha teammate crashed out twice from the three races.
“I was saving myself for the race and I thought ‘I just need to hang in there as much as possible at the start of the race and try and follow Jason or Josh or Christian or whoever was in front. I got five or six laps in and I was hanging in there thinking I can still do this and should be ok, and I thought a podium would be alright and damage limitation as Jason was leading, and then when he went down, I knew it was big points to gain on him,” added Mackenzie.
“When I saw the opportunity to try and win I knew I had to try and maximise it as it isn’t often that Jason makes a mistake. To get the win, especially at Oulton Park and still with my injury, was just amazing. That set me up nicely for the rest of the weekend.
“I think having ridden the past three rounds injured, with the one from Cadwell Park and then at Silverstone, there were only two rounds where I didn’t finish on the podium. My last one I did on the track before the penalty, so to be on that kind of form with how my injuries have been has not been bad at all.
“To be honest I seem to notice it more in practice than in the races, but to still be there against the other guys, challenging for podiums and wins with the circumstances at tracks like Oulton Park, where maybe in the past haven’t been as good for me is good. I want to get the injury gone to try and be back to full fitness. To be where I am now and how these last races have gone, I couldn’t have asked for much more really!”
Mackenzie now leads the Bennetts BSB standings for the first time this season, and the McAMS Yamaha rider is feeling confident ahead of this weekend’s penultimate round at Donington Park before heading to the season finale at Brands Hatch in two weeks’ time.
“I head into Donington Park and Brands Hatch in a really good place and each day and week my injuries get a little bit better and it makes it even more exciting going into these last two rounds,” said Mackenzie.
“I am really looking forward to this weekend; I ended Donington Park last year in a really good way and also won there before. Earlier in the year on the National circuit I had a good weekend and felt as strong as anyone else.
“We know the Yamaha works well at the next two tracks and they are both ones where I have won a race this year. It is really exciting for me and I want to enjoy it as much as possible really. It’s a new position for me to be in; I have led championships before but never in BSB and going into the last races of the season so it is a new experience for me.
“I have good people around me, a good team, I obviously have my dad who has won in the past and I can use my own experience from winning the British Supersport Championship before to go into these last few races. I feel in a really good position and place, with my bike as we have hardly changed anything this year, we rock up and it seems to work in all conditions.
“I don’t feel like there is any pressure on me at the moment, I just want to go out and try and do the best I can to win as many races as possible, and when I can’t, try to be as close to the win as possible. I can let the rest take care of itself and then we will see where we end up.”