Best career result for Tarran Mackenzie in WorldSBK

MGM Optical Express Racing and Tarran Mackenzie experience a superb start to the season in Australia.

Following intensive pre-season preparations, the first round of the Superbike World Championship kicked off this weekend at the legendary Phillip Island Circuit in southern Australia. In front of nearly 50,000 spectators, the MGM Optical Express Racing team, with Tarran Mackenzie, made an impressive start. This culminated in fourth place in Sunday’s second race – Mackenzie’s best career result in WorldSBK to date.

As early as Friday, a sunny day, Mackenzie was able to slightly improve upon his test times from the beginning of the week, initially finishing 13th in the combined free practice sessions of the day. On Saturday, the first race day of 2026, the Briton took another step forward. He shaved another 0.560 seconds off his fastest lap time in Superpole, securing 11th place on the starting grid. In the first 22-lap race on Saturday afternoon, Mackenzie initially dropped back a bit in the first lap. He was only in 15th place at the end of lap one. From there, he gradually worked his way forward. Eventually, he finished in 12th place.

On Sunday, the weather conditions at the Phillip Island Circuit changed.

What started as a few raindrops during the Superpole Race turned into a wet affair for the second 22-lap encounter. Although Mackenzie fought for the coveted top nine positions in the Superpole Race to score points and improve his starting positions, he ultimately had to concede some ground and finished in 11th.

His 11th place finish in the Superpole Race meant that the MGM Optical Express Racing team rider would start the second race from P13. However, the 30-year-old Mackenzie, known for his rain-carrying prowess, delivered a brilliant second main race. In the turbulent first lap, Mackenzie managed to stay out of trouble and initially crossed the finish line in ninth place. From there, he was able to make up considerable ground and positions over the course of the 22 laps. By lap eight, he was already in fifth place. By lap 15, he was fourth. With solid lap times despite the difficult conditions, Mackenzie ultimately managed to hold onto fourth position. He secured his best Superbike World Championship result to date.

MGM Optical Express Racing leaves Australia with 17 points in an excellent seventh place in the overall standings and with plenty of momentum for the European season. The European season begins from March 27th to 29th at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal.

#95 Tarran MACKENZIE (MGM Optical Express Racing, Ducati Panigale V4R)

Grid position 11 / Race 1: 12 / Grid position 11 / Superpole Race: P11 / Grid position 13 / Race 2: P4

«I’m really happy. I was a little bit disappointed to not make the top 9 in Superpole Race as I was close in a group with Petrucci and Lecuona, but I was happy. I’ve been struggling from the test really and from the weekend with some feeling. We improved a bit this morning, but I was still struggling. When the rain came, I was happy because I thought now is the chance to get a better result. I feel like my position all weekend has been around 10^th/11^th position in the dry, so it would have been difficult to try to improve on that in the last race. With the rain, it just gave me an opportunity to try to get a good result. I was confident. The out lap and the warm-up lap, I thought this is the first time I’m riding this bike in the rain. I hadn’t even ridden it in the rain really last year, but I thought now is my chance. I made some good progress in the first few laps and then managed to get my best result. I wasn’t expecting a fourth position, I thought a solid sixth would have already been great. I’m super proud. It hasn’t been an easy off season, not making so many laps. It has been difficult and it is just nice that all the team came together this year. Even better with my best result straight off, which gives us a lot of confidence and we’re looking forward.»

Michael GALINSKI (MGM Optical Express Racing, Team principal)

«First of all, I want to thank my team, because we had to reorganize in several areas this year, but everything worked out really well. The most difficult thing about the whole race weekend was the incredibly fast corners here in Phillip Island. Since Tarran isn’t the tallest rider, the challenge is always maneuvering the bike, getting the changes of direction quick in the fast corners, and we worked extremely hard on that and partially succeeded. Of course, the rain this afternoon played into our hands. But we also have to say that we lacked practice time due to the rainy January, but nevertheless, we’re happy. We’re on track. If we manage to achieve our top 10 finishes over the course of the season, we’ll be really satisfied. Now we still have some things to sort out, get hold of parts that haven’t arrived yet, and then it’s on to the next race in Portimao.»

Words and images courtesy of MGM Optical Express Racing

SuperBike Magazine – Racing