MACKENZIE CLOSE TO PODIUM AT FIRST GP
The opening weekend of the Motocross World Championship in the Netherlands saw mixed fortunes for the CAS Honda team.
Reigning British MX1 champion, Billy MacKenzie, narrowly missed out on a podium position as he finished in fourth place overall after two gruelling motos at Valkenswaard, in southern Holland.
Heavy rain on the Saturday gave local riders the advantage on the deep sand circuit, yet MacKenzie achieved a creditable fourth place in the qualifying session.
He hoped to do better on race day and, in the first race, he forced his way to second place on the opening lap and held it for eight laps. He then slipped back to fifth place and, after 25 minutes, crashed and eventually came home in 10th place.
Team mate Mike Brown, who qualified in 19th place, had a poor start, running in 15th place for most of the first race, but worked hard in the wet conditions to finish 11th.
In the second race, MacKenzie gated poorly but recovered on the first corner and following straight to grab second place, after which he rode a superb race with Barragan pushing hard behind him, Billy kept his cool and held second place through to the chequered flag. Brown gated in the top 20 and steadily worked his way through the field to 12th place.
CAS Honda team manager, Neil Prince, was upbeat about the weekend and is looking forward to the rest of the campaign.
“Both riders worked hard in tough conditions and Billy’s lap speeds were very good. The set-up of both bikes was excellent. We must now continue to improve,” said Prince.
The team now travel back over to the UK for the third round of the British Championship this weekend at Torrington in Devon.
RESULTS
MX1 - Race 1
1 Ken de Dycker, 2 Max Nagl, 3 Steve Ramon, 4 David Philippaerts, 5 Manuel Priem, 6 Josh Coppins.
MX1 - Race 2
1 Ken de Dycker, 2 Billy MacKenzie, 3 Jonathan Barragan, 4 Steve Ramon, 5 Max Nagl, 6 David Philippaerts
MX1 World Motocross Championship Standings
1 Ken de Dycker, 50 points;
2 Max Nagl, 38 pts;
3 Steve Ramon, 38 pts;
4 Billy MacKenzie, 33 pts;
5 David Philippaerts, 33 pts
6 Manuel Priem, 29 pts;
7 Josh Coppins, 29 pts;
8 Kornel Nemeth, 24 pts;
MX2 - Race 1
1 Tyla Rattray, 2 Antonio Cairoli, 3 Tommy Searle, 4 Erik Eggens, 5 Shaun Simpson, 6 Rui Goncalves.
MX2 - Race 2
1 Tyla Rattray, 2 Antonio Cairoli, 3 Erik Eggens, 4 Rui Goncalves, 5 Tommy Searle, 6 Nicolas Aubin.
MX2 World Motocross Championship Standings
1 Tyla Rattray, 50 points;
2 Antonio Cairoli, 44 pts;
3 Erik Eggens, 38 pts;
4 Tommy Searle, 36 pts;
5 Rui Goncalves, 33 pts;
6 Shaun Simpson, 28 pts;
7 Nicolas Aubin, 27 pts;
8 Xavier Boog, 26 pts.
By: CAS Honda, Photo: Paul McCready