Moto2: Mackenzie down but not out after Misano crash

Tarran Mackenzie has come away from last weekend’s San Marino Grand Prix at Misano down but not out, positive about what he learned riding the Kiefer Racing Suter in the rain despite crashing out after only four corners of Sunday’s race.

Struggling all weekend despite teammate Dominique Aegerter winning the race for the squad, he admitted afterwards that conditions had gotten so wet during Sunday’s race that he felt uncomfortable from the off.

“First, I would like to congratulate Dominique and the entire team for this fantastic win today – it was such a strong performance, I’m really happy for them and at the same time also proud to race in a winning team. Unfortunate, my race ended prematurely whereas this morning in the wet conditions it was not so bad, the setting we had was quite good. It just felt a little bit hard so went softer for the race, which was better.

“But as soon I left the pit lane I had two big moments and nearly crashed and then in the warm up lap I nearly crashed twice again. Conditions were slightly different with a bit more water on the track because of more raining. It was strange, I had the gas not opened but I saw me straight over the handlebars. Anyway, I’m very sorry for Stefan and Jochen because this weekend has been a disaster but I guess it’s all part of experience and we will try again in Aragón.”

But with conditions the way they were, team boss Stefan Kiefer admitted afterwards that he couldn’t hold the fall against Mackenzie afterwards.

“It was obviously very annoying that he had this fall in the warm up session which cost him valuable practice time again. A rookie like he needs many, many kilometres. We would like to give him as many laps as possible in order that he can re-gain his confidence. Instead, a small slide at the rear has been added in the race. We hope that the next races will be more successful for him.”