World Supersport race winner Tarran Mackenzie will make his FIM Endurance World Championship debut in this weekend’s 44th Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Race with F.C.C. TSR Honda France.
Having travelled to Japan as reserve rider for Team HRC, the 27-year-old joins forces with Mike Di Meglio and Alan Techer to race the #1 Honda CBR1000RR-R FIREBLADE SP for what will also be his first taste of the 5.821-kilometre track in competition mode. The Briton replaces Australian Josh Hook, who was injured training for Japan’s round of the EWC.
After testing for F.C.C. TSR Honda France yesterday (Wednesday), Mackenzie said: My first time on the TSR bike was a great experience and a lot of fun. I just came to this track as a reserve rider for HRC, so this is quite unexpected. I’ve never raced here and I’ve never done an endurance race. Obviously there’s a bit of pressure riding with TSR, which is in contention for the championship and it’s their home track. But they’ve been really welcoming and my two team-mates have been really nice and made my job at lot easier.
Mackenzie makes his EWC debut less than a week after his maiden FIM Supersport World Championship victory at Most, Czech Republic. Malaysian Adam Norrodin, who partners Mackenzie in the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team’s World Supersport line-up, will also contest the Suzuka 8 Hours, as will the squad’s World Superbike rider Hafizh Syahrin. They will ride for Team Frontier and AutoRace Ube Racing Team respectively.
F.C.C. TSR Honda France starts the Suzuka 8 Hours one point behind Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team as it bids to win the FIM Endurance World Championship for Teams for the second year running.
The 44th Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Race is due to start at 11h30 local time on Sunday 6 August.
Original Source [ FIM EWC ]
