Best weekend for Mackenzie and MGM Optical Express Racing since February

Points in all races and steady improvement crowned MGM Optical Express Racing’s fourth race weekend of 2026 in Hungary.

For Sunday’s Superpole Race, Mackenzie got off to a good start, but after the race was red-flagged and restarted for just eight laps, he lost a position from 11th on the grid, dropping back to 12th. However, on the second lap, he overtook two competitors and was once again in the top 10. With a steady pace, he snatched ninth place in the fourth lap and held this coveted position to the finish, improving his starting position for the second main race on Sunday afternoon from 11th to ninth and onto the third row.

From there, the 30-year-old once again got off to a decent start and moved up to fifth position on the opening lap. Although he briefly held fourth place in lap two, Mackenzie had to ease off the pace in the following laps and lost some ground. By lap eleven, he was in eighth position, and despite pressure from former World Champion Alvaro Bautista right behind him, Mackenzie consistently set good lap times and was able to maintain his eighth place to the finish line. The MGM Optical Express Racing rider thus took home another eight championship points and improved his overall standing from 13th to 12th.

In less than two weeks’ time, the World Superbike Championship will enter its fifth round of the season, which will be held from May 15th to 17th in Most, Czech Republic.

#95 Tarran MACKENZIE (MGM Optical Express Racing, Ducati Panigale V4R) – I’m really happy with today to be in the points in both races and then all three races were really good. Two top 10 today, which is always the goal, so I’m really happy. I’m still suffering a bit with some feeling from the bike that’s not allowing me to ride how I’d like to do, but I feel like we made some good steps this weekend. Another weekend in Most next, we’ve got some good ideas to try to give me some feeling trying to make that next step and click with the bike a little bit more. To be already in the top 10 like this is really good. This is only positive going forward.

Michael GALINSKI (MGM Optical Express Racing, Team principal) – We had a rather slow start, as we still had to make quite a few changes to the bike to be well-positioned for these hard braking points and to ensure Tarran felt truly comfortable with it. We gradually improved in this regard. The middle and end parts of the weekend were excellent, exactly what we had planned and what we hoped for. Tarran did a fantastic job. We still have a few minor things to work on. Nevertheless, we’re looking forward to Most. If you can make it into the first three, maybe four rows in practice, then you’ll have a good race weekend. That’s why we’re looking ahead and saying: anything is possible.

Words and images courtesy of MGM Optical Express Racing