Scottish star Billy MacKenzie made a dream start to the 2010 Rockstar Energy MX Nationals at Horsham in Victoria on Sunday, the ex-GP winner taking victory on debut for the Kawasaki Racing Team in Australia.

MacKenzie, who suffered an injury-filled season last year in Europe, was consistent at Horsham with 2-1-3 results, handing him the series lead heading into round two at Canberra next month.

“I’m really happy with my start to the season,” said the 25-year-old. “I loosened up a lot after the first moto and aside from a small hiccup at the beginning of the third moto when I let the clutch out on the starting line and found myself in neutral, the day went well.

“The bike’s really awesome. That’s one reason I set out to ride a Kawasaki this year because I knew the Kawasaki’s a good bike. The team has done a great job getting it to where I want it. Power’s great, suspension’s great and the help from Pro Circuit’s been unbelievable. The team’s given me the package to go out there and win and that’s what we did. I’m pumped.”

MacKenzie heads back to Europe today to continue his training with a race, however he’s looking forward to returning for the remainder of the Nationals as an even stronger competitor.

“I’m going back to Europe on Tuesday and I’m going to do a race over there, get myself out there and keep riding,” he concluded.