Kawasaki Racing Team’s Billy Mackenzie finished second overall at the penultimate round of eight in the 2007 Maxxis British Championship and now leads the high-profile national competition by eight points ahead of the final race on September 9th at Pontrilas.
On the small but sandy and technical Brampton circuit in northern England Mackenzie finished 3rd and 2nd in the two motos and climbed the podium behind reigning champion and current main rival Ken de Dycker.
The 23 year old Scot slipped off the KX450F-SR on the first corner of the opening race and then fought back to an impressive second but arm-pump through his exertions and a less than optimal suspension set-up meant he lost the runner-up slot to Brad Anderson. The second race saw Mackenzie trying his best to chase down De Dycker who was clearly the fastest rider throughout the day. The Japanese Grand Prix winner forced an entertaining finale as he close the gap to less than three seconds by the flag but could not overtake the Belgian.
“I went down at the start of the first race and then pushed as hard as I could,” he recounted. “It was the first time we had raced in sand for a while so we struggled to get the set-up of the bike just right throughout the day and it affected me in the first moto. I had some arm-pump and could not hold off Brad Anderson at the end. I had a better start in the second race and was around sixth. I got up to second and was trying as much as I could to close De Dycker but he rode well today. He fell off towards the end and I made some quick laps to get within two and a half seconds of him but it was just a bit too late.”
“I have kept consistent all year but it will be a straight fight now for the championship,” he added.
Kawasaki Racing Team now have three consecutive Grand Prix with trips to Ireland, Great Britain and Holland to wrap up the MX1 World championship before Mackenzie tries for his first British title on the welsh border.