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With just under a month and a half to go until the first round of the season, which will kick off the weekend of February 21-23 in Australia, the Petronas MIE Racing Honda team has announced the lineups with which it will take the field in the Superbike and Supersport World Championships in 2025.
Confirmations and new faces for Midori Moriwaki's team, which will once again rely on British rider Tarran Mackenzie in the premier class of production derivatives, alongside Malaysian rookie Zaqhwan Zaid. Having completed an encouraging season in 2024, Japan's Kaito Toba will instead continue to defend the team's colors in Supersport in the upcoming year, sharing the box with Malaysian newcomer Syarifuddin Azman.
Having now become the mainstay of the team, whose colors he has been defending since his Supersport debut in 2023, Mackenzie will try to use the experience he gained in his Superbike debut last year to his advantage to achieve good results with his CBR1000RR.
"I’m excited to get going and be back in the garage with the team. I had a tough season last year, for various reasons, but we had a positive test at Jerez after the final race where some upgrades helped me to feel more comfortable on the bike. So that was definitely a good way to head into the off-season," stressed the 29-year-old. "Further improvements have been made to the package since then, so hopefully I can be more competitive and closer to the guys in front. Our first test will see us back out at Jerez, so that will be relevant after our most recent test there. I feel strong in myself and have had a good off-season so I’m excited and motivated to get back to work and prepare for the start of the season."
Instead, a new challenge awaits Zaidi, 2022 Champion, and 2023 Vice-Champion, of Asian Superbike. Getting used to a whole new environment like World Superbike will not be easy for the 29-year-old Malaysian, who hopes to be able to adapt to the category soon.
"I am definitely excited to announce that I’ll be racing in WorldSBK this season. My goal is to make the most of the experience and push to my limits. It won’t be easy, as the category is very competitive, but I happily accept the challenge and can hopefully achieve my targets and gradually build results," he said. "I have no knowledge of the European circuits or of the bike, so I will need to work hard to understand everything as quickly as possible. I want to say a big thank you to everyone who supports me and to all those who have helped make this opportunity possible."
Azman and Toba, the MIE team's new pair for World SSP 2025
After hitting the points zone on five occasions in 2024, former MotoGP rider Kaito Toba, on the other hand, is looking forward to relaunching in his second season in World Supersport, riding the MIE team's CBR600RR.
"I’d like to thank Midori Moriwaki for trusting in me and extending our collaboration into 2025. I’m really looking forward to another season with the team and the aim is to build on what we learned in 2024 and score consistent, solid results," said the 24-year-old . "We will make the most of each round as we work to fine tune the CBR and prove our competitiveness. I’m counting down the days to the first test at Jerez!"
Just like Toba, his new teammate Syarifuddin Azman, who is ready to make his debut in World Supersport after competing in JuniorGP, Moto3 World Championship and ARRC Asia Production 250 in recent years, also boasts MotoGP history.
"I am really happy to debut in World Supersport with the Petronas MIE Racing Honda Team. My target for the season will be to gain a lot of valuable experience, considering this is my first year in the category." noted the 23-year-old. "I will try to understand where and how to improve, race by race, and will work as hard as I can. I feel ready and am super excited about the prospect of jumping on the bike. It’s a great opportunity for me, and I want to thank the team, Honda and Petronas for making it possible."
Automatic Translation by DeepL
