SO CLOSE FOR MACKENZIE IN PORTUGAL

Flying Scotsman Billy MacKenzie is sitting in fourth place in the World Championship following an eventful weekend at the Portugal GP in which he led both MX1 races.

The CAS Honda rider dominated both races, but arm pump in the first and a lapse in concentration in the second saw valuable points slip away.

The weekend also saw fellow team member Mike Brown hit a rich vein of consistency that bodes well for the CAS Honda outfit.

Saturday’s qualifying strategy went according to plan, with MacKenzie in second place and Brown in 16th.

On race day, the sandy Agueda circuit baked in the sunshine in stark contrast to the monsoon conditions experienced just a week earlier in Spain.

Billy led from the start in the first race – an advantage he held on to for 12 minutes before arm pump hampered his performance. He eventually finished in fourth place. Meanwhile, Brown rode strongly, fighting his way from 12th to finish in eighth place.

In the second race, MacKenzie again snatched an early lead, which he held on to until ten minutes from the end of the race, when he slipped on a tight right-hand hairpin. It was enough for the pursuing pack to overtake him and lack of composure prevented him from improving upon a disappointing sixth place – one place behind team mate Brown, who enjoyed a storming second half to the race.

It meant that on the day MacKenzie finished sixth overall with 33 points, while Brown finished seventh, with 28.

“It showed that Billy can run at the front and Mike is improving all the time,” said CAS Honda team manager, Neil Prince.

“Billy now lies in fourth place, only 20 points behind the leader. Both riders worked hard all weekend in hot conditions – and Billy will learn from his mistakes.”

Billy said “I just need to put the small mistakes behind me & I will be not only leading the races but winning them!”

Mike stated “I’m very happy to be back where I was last year at the finishing flag & there’s more to come”.

RESULTS

MX1 Race 1

1 David Philippaerts, 2 Sebastien Pourcel, 3. Jonathan Barragan, 4 Billy MacKenzie, 5 Josh Coppins.

MX1 Race 2

1 Sebastien Pourcel, 2 David Philippaerts, 3 Josh Coppins, 4 Steve Ramon, 5 Mike Brown, 6 Billy MacKenzie

Overall on the day

1 Pourcel (47 points), 2 Philippaerts (47), 3 Coppins (36), 4 Barragan (34), 5 Ramon (33), 6 MacKenzie (33), 7 Brown (28)

Standings

1 Philippaerts (102 points), 2 Ramon (96), 3 Coppins (83), 4 MacKenzie (79), 5 De Dycker (77), 6 Nagl (58), 7 Barragan (54), 8 Pourcel (52), 9 Leok (50), 10 Nemeth (48), 11 Desalle (43), 12 Brown (42).

By: CAS Honda