Tanel Leok’s eleventh position was all KRT could take away from the Grand Prix of Bulgaria at the sun-soaked Sevlievo circuit for the eighth meeting of fifteen in the 2007 FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship.
The weekend was not an enjoyable one for the team and dogged by bad luck. Billy Mackenzie could not finish either race after a first moto crash left the Scot with sore ribs and Leok was tripped up by bad starts and a bouncing gate to circulate outside the top ten both times.
Sevlievo offered a similar prospect to St Jean d’Angely, venue of the French Grand Prix last week, in terms of the hard-pack terrain and fast layout. The Bulgarian mud however offered more choice of lines and also provided a greater variety of jumps. The worn surface was rough in some sections and slippery due to the watering to minimise the dust.
Leok and Mackenzie qualified within the top ten with sixth and tenth positions. Mackenzie was in the bracket of the three fastest during the two practice periods but could not register an error-free lap during Timed Practice to vie for his first pole.
In the first moto the Japanese GP winner slipped off the bike while in fifth position on the first lap and was struck by another rider. The 23 year old had a problem with the front-end of his bike after over-jumping a section, and the front wheel stopped on the leap prior to entering the corner where he crashed. With some pain to his ribs he restarted but far behind the field and the high speed of the track limited any chances for championship points. Leok was deep in the pack and again found himself needing to carve past slower competitors. He struggled to edge inside the top ten and eleventh was the best he could manage by the chequered flag.
In the second race Mackenzie started well and was holding fourth but struggled with chest pain and dropped back and had to stop. Leok was almost thrown over the bars after he touched the gate and the metal barrier bounced back up. The 22 year old again had to race from virtually last and was again able to reach eleventh.
“It was not a good day and the organisation here was also bad,” he said. “They kept putting more and more water on the track and my start gate bounced in the second heat. They should have restarted the race and fixed the gate. It was really amateurish. I’m not happy. Coming from the back it was difficult to pass. My speed was good but I couldn’t come through.”
“The weekend started off really well, I was feeling confident on the bike and we had great lap-times,” said Mackenzie. “I tried too hard in qualifying and made too many mistakes trying to get a good lap. I should have been more relaxed. In the first race I had a bit of bad luck. I over-jumped the small scrub-jump past the start and landed awkwardly bending the forks and the clamps. They had twisted so I was riding around the first lap with wonky steering. I came into the finish line jump really hard and because the weather has been so hot we were using a vented front mudguard but it folded up and stopped the front wheel in the air. The front end dropped and when I landed I was off balance and slid off. Someone rode over me and that skinned my arm and bruised my back. I did not think it was that bad and in the second race I got a really good start and tried to hang in there for the first few laps with the top four because I needed to get used to the track. I was just finding some lines when I started to get pain in the centre of my back. Every time I was going up the hill the bumps were sending shock waves through my back and ribs. When I breathe in now I have sharp pain. It is just bruising and now I just want to get fixed for next few races.”
With both riders entering the top ten seven days ago in France the standings remain constant for Kawasaki after Bulgaria. Leok is now eighth and three points ahead of Ken de Dycker while Mackenzie has dropped to tenth and one point in front of Noble.
Mackenzie returns to British Championship duties next weekend with the fifth round of eight in the domestic series taking place at Desertmartin in Northern Ireland. He currently leads the series by 27 points. Leok will race at Halle for the fourth round of the Dutch national competition. KRT have their next FIM engagement in two weeks time with the ninth round of the championship taking place in the rural setting of Uddevalla for the Grand Prix of Sweden.
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