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Honda returns to WorldSSP with MIE MS Honda team, Mackenzie and Norrodin to compete in 2023

Wednesday, 14 December 2022 08:01 GMT

    • The Japanese manufacturer will return to WorldSSP in 2023 with a collaboration of the MIE Honda Racing Team and MS Racing Team

    A sixth manufacturer will join the FIM Supersport World Championship grid in 2023 as Honda returns to the Championship with the CBR6000RR machine, which will be fielded by the MIE MS Racing Honda Team with riders Tarran Mackenzie and Adam Norrodin. The newly-created WorldSSP outfit will feature the MIE Racing Honda Team that competes in WorldSBK combined with the MS Racing Team which has enjoyed success within the paddock.

    The MS Racing Team outfit have had a presence inside the WorldSBK paddock since 2018, including in WorldSSP and WorldSSP300, and will now link up with the MIE Racing outfit which competes in WorldSBK, using the CBR6000RR machine from Honda. It marks Honda’s return to the Championship for the first time since 2020. The Japanese manufacturer is one of the most successful factories in WorldSSP, winning ten titles and has 104 wins, 283 podiums and 98 pole positions in the Championship.

    The MS Racing outfit joined WorldSSP300 in the 2018 season and were instantly a front running team and they were fighting for the title as recently as the 2022 season when they fought for the Championship with Marc Garcia. In 2019, they expanded into WorldSSP, using Yamaha machinery in both WorldSSP300 and WorldSSP, winning Race 1 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with Andy Verdoia in remarkable circumstances.

    The two riders for the team will be 2021 British Superbike champion Tarran Mackenzie and Malaysian rider Adam Norrodin. Mackenzie, who made his WorldSBK debut in 2022 with a wildcard appearance at Donington Park, won the 2016 British Supersport championship with five wins to his name. 27-year-old Mackenzie also has experience in the Red Bull Rookies, where he competed for two seasons in 2012 and 2013, as well as in British Superbike where he made his debut in 2018. The Stirling-born rider took 16 wins and 43 podiums in his native Britain, winning the title in 2021.

    Discussing his move onto the world stage, Mackenzie said: “I’m really excited to join the MIE MS Racing Honda Team! It has been a big goal of mine to return to World Championship level and I think that competing in World Supersport is the perfect way to learn and move forward. I just want to say a big thank you to Midori and the whole team for giving me this opportunity. I can’t wait to begin!”

    Mackenzie will be joined by 24-year-old Norrodin on the CBR6000RR machine for 2023. Malaysian rider Norrodin competed in Moto3™ for three seasons and finished with a best of 17th in the Championship in 2017. He does have experience of Moto2™ machinery, having made seven starts in the Moto2™ World Championship, although he did not score a point in any of his seven appearances. In 2022, he competed with BMW in the Asia Superbike championship and finished eighth in the standings, taking two third-place finishes at his home circuit of Sepang.

    Norrodin said: “It’s an honour and a privilege to be able to join the MIE MS Racing Honda

    Team and I would like to thank Midori Moriwaki very much for giving me the opportunity to race on the world stage. I fully intend to give it my all, as this is a great opportunity for my future. I can’t wait to join the team, to take part in our first tests and, of course, to start racing when the season kicks   off in February.”

    Midori Moriwaki, Team Principal and owner of MIE said: “Just do it. This has been a motto of mine ever since I started my racing activities and this is why I’m very happy and proud to announce that MIE Racing will debut in WorldSSP in 2023 with two riders of the calibre of Tarran Mackenzie and Adam Norrodin, and with the Honda family of course, competing with CBR600RR machines. Forming a partnership with the MS Racing Team means that we can start racing already next season. I’m sure that our combined strength and expertise will be instrumental in what will be an ongoing project, which will include an initial phase of development work that only the challenges posed by high-level racing can help with. We warmly welcome Tarran and Adam to the MIE and Honda family and we look forward to getting started!”

    Felix Garrido, Team Owner at MS Racing added: “We at MS Racing are super happy to be involved in this project together with Midori and Honda and want to thank them very much for choosing us. We are aware of the challenges involved when starting a project of this magnitude, but we are willing to give it everything and more in order for the project to be successful.  We are eager to start testing with the CBR600RR and the riders.”

    Re-watch some of the best moments from 2022 and get ready for the 2023 season using the WorldSBK VideoPass!