People were saying: ‘It’s raining, you’ll bring home a good result!'” – Mackenzie on fourth place at Phillip Island

A great finish for the Scotsman in the Round that opened the 2026 season in Australia.

The Australian Round, which inaugurated the 2026 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship season at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, saw Tarran Mackenzie (MGM Optical Express Racing) continue the excellent form that characterized the end of his 2025 season: a fourth place in Race 2 that earned him his career-best result.

FIRST SENSATIONS IN THE WET: “I felt confident on the out lap and the warmup lap, but it was the first time I was riding the bike in wet conditions”

Mackenzie started the weekend well, with a 1’29.718 in the Tissot Superpole which earned him the 11th fastest time; after slipping to 15th position at the end of the first lap of Race 1, Mackenzie recovered to finish 12th. He had a similar result in the Tissot Superpole Race, taking 11th.

In Race 2, the track was very wet due to the heavy rain that had fallen, and Mackenzie definitely appreciated these conditions aboard his Ducati V4 R, securing a fourth place that marks his best career result.

“I felt confident on the out lap and the warmup lap, but it was the first time I was riding the bike in wet conditions. I had only ridden in the rain once last year on the old bike, so I didn’t have many kilometres, but I thought this was my chance to get a good result.”

“…even though I don’t like being someone who is only fast in the wet. I want to try and achieve these same results in the dry too. I think my riding style is quite smooth, and maybe that pays off in the wet. I have a lot of confidence in the wet. Maybe coming from Great Britain helps, given that it’s rained every day since January; maybe us Scots are used to it.

I wasn’t expecting this fourth place. I’m really proud. It was a tough preseason, with few laps, but this result shows the work done by the team and gives us a lot of confidence going forward. I want to find something that helps me make a step forward in the dry. We need more time on the bike.”

Reference: WorldSBK Official Website