BSB: Mackenzie: 'I've got nothing to lose'

Tarran Mackenzie has said he’ll be giving it all to clinch his maiden Bennetts British Superbike races at Assen after securing his first front row start.

The McAMS Yamaha rider was just 0.004 seconds off Jake Dixon’s pole position in this afternoon’s qualifying session, and says he’s got nothing to lose as he goes head to head with title fighters Dixon and rival Leon Haslam in tomorrow’s two races.

“I struggled a little bit in practice this morning,” Mackenzie said. “Yesterday was positive and we tried a few things this morning that we thought would make it even better but it didn’t really work, so we were still changing things going into Q3 and the bike was getting better and better.

“I was really happy with how the bike was in the last run, it allowed me to run on a little bit more. I didn’t expect to be that close to pole, so I’m really happy with that and looking forward to tomorrow.

“My one lap pace is definitely better than overall race pace, but we’re working on it. We seem to struggle a lot more in the cold mornings and go better in the warmer afternoons so it’s a good job the races are in the afternoon. These guys have got a championship to think about, while I’ve got nothing to lose so I’ll be giving it my all and we’ll see what happens.”