Leandro ‘Tati’ Mercado is getting ready for his second season with the MIE Racing Honda Team in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship. After receiving a late call-up for 2021, he returns to the team on the CBR1000RR-R machine as he looks to build on his end-of-2021 results heading into the new campaign.

Mercado and the team endured a difficult start to 2021 and opted to miss a few rounds to work on the bike, before coming back and fighting for points and the top ten positions. In Indonesia, Mercado was running inside the top six in Race 2 before crashing out to show how far the team had come in 2021.

For 2022, ‘Tati’ is hoping to become a regular top ten and top six finisher. Looking ahead to this season, he said: “Last year was a very tough year. We started the season far away compared to the other guys. We stopped, we missed some races, but after we came back, we did a good job, improving race by race. Especially in the last part of the Championship, we were quite strong. We made a big step compared to the beginning of the year. I was in the top ten and in the last race top six. The crash was a shame, but I want to be there. We can be there. We are working for this, working hard. Last year, we were there and this year we want to repeat it and be consistently in this position. I hope we can do it. Expectations are much higher than last year because it’s the second year with the team. We want more. We finished the season inside the top ten so that’s the goal and then we want to fight always for the top ten, and also best Independent team. We’re working hard for this. I think it’s a good target for us.”

In the 2022 season, Mercado will have a teammate for the first time in his WorldSBK career as Malaysian rider Hafizh Syahrin joins the team for his rookie season. Discussing how a teammate will benefit both himself and the MIE Racing Honda Team, Mercado explains how there is extra motivation and having more data for the team to develop the bike.

He said: “I think it’s the first time in WorldSBK that I have a teammate. I was always alone in the team. It’s a good thing because your teammate is the first rider to beat. We are in the position where we are improving, and we are also developing the bike. To have another bike is good to have more data. It will be very nice to have a good teammate with lots of experience. It gives more motivation. I think it will be a very good year, very competitive and to have also more data is good for the team.”

While his goals for 2022 are to consistently fight in the top ten and the top six, Mercado was also keen that, at his home round in Argentina, he stepped onto the rostrum after a Parc Ferme visit after a podium finish. He said: “I want to be on the podium in Argentina! We have the whole season ahead and I want to arrive in the last part of the Championship very competitively. I want to be in Parc Ferme in Argentina. We are working really hard and we want to do our best to achieve this goal.”

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