Adapting to the 2026 Ducati: Why it took Mackenzie longer

With his move to the MGM-Ducati team, Tarran Mackenzie was given competitive machinery for the first time in the production-based World Superbike Championship during the 2025 season. The Briton replaced Scott Redding from the eighth race weekend at Balaton Park onwards and was quick to capitalise on the potential of the Ducati Panigale V4R. This season, Mackenzie is riding the new version of the Panigale V4R, which has been further improved on its predecessor.

However, whilst some of his Ducati team-mates quickly adapted to the new bike, Mackenzie found the transition considerably more difficult. After seven of twelve race weekends, the 30-year-old sits 13th in the World Championship standings with 81 points. His highlights of the season so far include a fourth-place finish in the rain-affected second race at Phillip Island and fifth place in the second race at Misano.

Mackenzie explains his slow start to the 2026 season

“I felt really good on the old bike. That’s why I had high expectations of the new one. I thought I’d just get on it, press the button and the bike would do the rest on its own – based on everything we’d heard from the tests and from others,” says Mackenzie. “But that wasn’t the case. I had a difficult pre-season and didn’t get many laps in. Of course, many riders were in a similar situation, but people like Montella, Baldassarri and Surra adapted to the bike much more quickly than I did. It simply took me longer.”

It wasn’t until the test at Misano that the MGM team managed to tailor the bike specifically to the British rider’s physical requirements. “Misano was the first proper test for me. There, we even experimented with handlebar positions, fuel tank covers and the seating position, because for the first time we had enough time to really tailor the bike to me. Just because something works for other riders doesn’t mean it works for me.”

Why comparisons with the factory riders are difficult

Above all, Mackenzie’s low body weight makes the set-up work more difficult. “We’re simply trying to set up the bike so that it suits me. If you look at my fuel tank, it’s significantly shorter than the other riders’. I can’t use my body weight in the same way as others. At the same time, we still need to put weight on the bike. So it’s all about finding the right balance and placing the weight in the right place.”

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The Briton is one of the lightest Ducati riders on the grid and is significantly smaller than the two factory riders, Nicolo Bulega and Iker Lecuona. “Of all the Ducati riders, I’m probably the second lightest. I’m not as light as Bautista, but I don’t know the exact difference. The only thing that’s certain is that I’m slightly heavier than him.”

Consequently, the efforts to optimise the weight distribution were extensive. “Generally speaking, there’s a common understanding of where weight should be placed, and that works for many motorbikes. But with ours, we tried everything: more weight at the rear, at the front, in the middle, higher up or lower down.”

The effort eventually paid off. “During the Misano test, we finally found something that works for me. That enabled me to take a small step forward.”

Donington follows on from the successful Misano weekend

Mackenzie sees his development as an ongoing process anyway. “At Phillip Island I was around 11th or 12th, and it was similar at Portimão. I took a small step forward at Assen, and another at Most. The progress has been slow, but I’m just someone who needs time.”

The Briton has set himself a realistic goal for the second half of the season: “I’ve said this many times before: I’m not the sort of rider who gets on a bike and is fast straight away. It just takes me a bit longer. Hopefully we can continue this trend at Donington. Maybe it’ll be fifth place again, maybe better, maybe worse. But the most important thing would be to establish myself consistently in the top nine.”