Tarran Mackenzie’s Triumph: From World Supersport Victory to Suzuka 8 Hours Podium
After Mackenzies astonishing victory at the World Supersport race at Autodrom Most in the Czech Republic, Mackenzie boarded a flight to Tokyo to head to Suzuka to test the Honda CBR1000 RR-R superbike at an invitation from HRC (Honda Racing Corporation)
The test went well with Tarran putting in fast and consistent times which impressed HRC and subsequently he was offered a seat on the bike for the 8 Hours to replace the injured regular rider Josh Hook in the Endurance World Championship winning F.C.C. TSR Honda France machine at the prestigious Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hours.
The qualifying process started over Friday and Saturday with all three riders Mike Di Meglio, Alan Techer and Tarran Mackenzie qualifying the bike in P10 ahead of Sundays race.
Race day arrived and the start of the 8 Hours began but an uncharacteristic mistake saw Mike Di Meglio crash the bike but he was able to get it back to the pits albeit they lost a lot of time and were plunged down to 26th position by the end of the first hour.
The race carried on and the team and riders methodically made its way up the ranking, with Tarran doing two 45 minute stints the team made it to a stunning P4 at the flag the team making 7 pitstops and spending 6 mins 32 seconds in total with their stops for fuel, tyres and rider changes.
News broke a few days later that the 2nd place team TOHO Racing had been disqualified from the results for a an oversize fuel tank which promotes Tarran and his F.C.C. TSR Honda France Team to a magnificent 3rd spot and podium position.
Congratulations to the Team and Tarran its been an exceptional week for you.
