Best result in the dry: Tarran Mackenzie in the top 5 with MGM!

The German MGM-Ducati team celebrated a top five result at the Superbike World Championship in Misano. Tarran Mackenzie finished Sunday's race 18.7 seconds behind series winner Nicolo Bulega and was the fourth-best Ducati rider. Mackenzie thus secured his best result to date on a dry track. He had finished fourth in the wet at the season opener in Australia, but fifth place in Misano had a higher value for many outsiders.

"I think 7th place was my best result in the dry so far, in a sprint race last year. So it's obviously nice to be in the top five now," said the likeable Scot after his success in Misano. "I was a bit lucky with Bassani's crash, but sometimes that's just the way it goes. I think, regardless of whether he would have finished or not, a solid sixth place would have been a good result. That's why I'm satisfied."

Important steps in Most and at the Misano test

The current season has had its ups and downs for Mackenzie. At the race weekend in the Czech Republic just over a month ago, his MGM crew managed to improve, even if the results did not yet show it. "To be honest, I took a step forward in Most. Things went well in the warm-up, then I crashed in the last race in Most, but when I arrived here for the test I was pretty competitive. Normally I'm somewhere between 9th and 12th, but at the test I was mostly in 5th, 6th or 7th position on both race tyres and qualifying tyres."

"I don't know exactly why, but I just made a step here. I've never ridden a really good bike here before. So I can't say that I ever had a good feeling. It was the first time I had a really competitive bike here and suddenly it just clicked," marvelled Mackenzie.

Mackenzie laid the foundations at the Misano test between the race weekends in Most and Aragon. But the good feeling from the test was suddenly gone at the start of practice on Friday. "After the test, I went home with a good feeling. When I came here on Friday, I thought I would just roll out of the pit lane on the same bike. But it felt completely different. We had to change and try out a lot of things. The whole weekend was hard work to get back to where we were at the test. I think we managed to do that in qualifying," said the Ducati rider happily.

Good qualifying the prerequisite for good results

Mackenzie finished Race 1 in 11th place, which was also due to the penalty he received after the collision with Honda rider Ryan Vickers in FP3. "Unfortunately, I then had the long lap penalty. Nevertheless, I already knew after Friday that my pace should be good enough for 8th to 10th place. The problem is qualifying - I hate it. It often decides the whole weekend."

"You saw it with Oliveira at Phillip Island, where it ruined his whole weekend. Garrett (Gerloff) was just as fast as me in the test. If you make a mistake in qualifying, it often ruins the whole weekend. Unless you really have top three pace and can simply fight your way through the field and still finish in the top nine in the Superpole race. But if your pace is more for the top 10, it's incredibly difficult to get to the front. That's why 9th on the grid made a huge difference in the afternoon," explained Mackenzie.

The fact that he had such a good race from the third row also amazed Mackenzie: "Before the last race, I honestly didn't expect to be in the top six. On Sunday morning I had the feeling that I might be able to keep up with Oliveira and Locatelli. That's why I thought 7th or 8th would be a good result."

"I don't know what happened with Sam (Lowes) and Baldassarri, because they were actually quite strong. But I just made the best of it. I had a good start and knew after yesterday's race that I could ride a similar pace to Surra if I stayed with him. He pulled me along a bit at the start, but later I was able to overtake him," reported Mackenzie.

"Of course, I was a bit lucky because Bassani crashed and that put me in the top five. But I'm still very happy," said the MGM rider. The next stop on the calendar is the home race at Donington. Mackenzie has high expectations for this, even though he missed out on the event last year.

With momentum for the home race at Donington

"Yes, Donington is obviously a track I've raced at a lot. I grew up just ten minutes away. You could hear motorbikes and cars from my home. I've practically spent my whole life there," said Mackenzie.

"Unfortunately, I missed Donington last year. I retired here at Misano and then didn't have a bike for Donington, so I couldn't ride there. But now I'm really looking forward to coming back," explained the Scot, recalling the situation a year ago.

"Last year, I was probably at the lowest point of my career. I was convinced that I could achieve better results than I showed back then. But I qualified last here and even crashed, even though I was at the back of the field. At some point, I just thought that this wasn't right and I had to stop," Mackenzie looked back. "If someone had told me back then that I would achieve my best dry result a year later, I would probably have laughed at them. That's why it feels really good now."

Is fifth place in Misano more important than fourth place in the wet Phillip Island race in February? "Phillip Island was a pretty cool start to the season, though. Fourth place is better than fifth, so as long as I don't finish third, that's still my better result," commented Mackenzie.

The MGM rider is particularly hopeful for the time after Donington: "After Donington I'll be back on tracks where I've already ridden the Ducati. This will at least give me a certain reference. I've said this before: When I come to a track where my only basis for comparison is the Honda, it feels like I'm riding on a completely different race track. That's nobody's fault, not even mine. But it's a strange feeling that's hard to explain. You suddenly drive different lines and brake in completely different places. You have to get used to it first."

In the championship, Mackenzie is 13th in the drivers' standings after seven of twelve race weekends. He is just 14 points off the top 10.