Oz MX: Mackenzie vows he's not out of championship hunt
Scottish import Billy Mackenzie says he won't be conceding the MX Nationals title after a nightmare round in Canberra last weekend.
Mackenzie suffered a nightmare round in Canberra, but says he's still in the championship hunt.
Scottish import Billy Mackenzie suffered a nightmare second round of the 2010 Rockstar Energy MX Nationals at Canberra last weekend, however the Kawasaki Racing Team rider says his championship assault is far from over despite dropping from first to eighth in the series point standings.
Contesting his maiden round in the Sprint moto format, which saw the Pro Open riders do four 15-minute motos back-to-back, Mackenzie won the opening race before suffering a crash in the second, forcing him out of that race and the remaining two for the round.
“I felt good out there and was confident of another round win – the first moto went to plan and the second moto started off just as well,” Mackenzie reflected. “I was taking all the same lines as the first race and was riding really well.
“I felt comfortable and wasn’t pushing too hard or over-riding, but then I took off up one of the step-ups and realised I jumped a bit far to the right and got caught up with a tyre at the edge of the track and crashed and that one incident put an end to my day.
“Getting no points from those three motos puts me 57 points behind, which seems like a lot, but there’s still 19 motos to go so the championship is definitely far from over. For sure this is a set back but I’m already putting it behind me and looking forward to doing well at the next round.”
The day was also a frustrating one for Kawasaki in the Pro Lites class, where Cody Mackie raced to sixth overall for the round with 6-4-8-9 results in the moto, retaining fourth in the points.
“I’m not happy with my result – I’m employed to win and that didn’t happen today,” Mackie said. “I think I’m riding really well but I’m making it hard for myself with my starts. I couldn’t get a start to save myself today. I know I just need to get my starts dialled and the rest will take care of itself like it did at Horsham. I can’t say enough for the team though, their support is great.”
The best result for Kawasaki came from Under 19s rider Luke Arbon, who rode to second overall for the round after an impressive display of speed and fitness.
Round two will take place at Barrabool in Victoria on 2 May.
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