The Grand Prix Citta di Faenza saw Kawasaki Racing Team’s Billy Mackenzie score fourth position and a second moto ranking of third as the tenth meeting of fifteen in the FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship took place under blue skies and rocketing temperatures in central-eastern Italy.
29,000 spectators applied a high-factor sun cream and watched as the fastest riders in the MX1 series defied strength-sapping conditions at the circuit close to Imola and only 50km east of Bologna. Faenza was hosting a world championship event for the first time this century and despite numerous alterations to bring the track up to Grand Prix standard and impeccable presentation, the layout offered a traditional Italian test with its fast, hard and dusty terrain. The course alternated between rough sections and others that were very smooth but the speed difference splitting the riders was slight.
Mackenzie had qualified just behind team-mate Tanel Leok on Saturday and started on the fringes of the top five in both motos. The 23 year old Scot held fifth for seven of the twenty-two laps but then made two mistakes in as many laps that saw the riders behind close to his rear wheel and he suffered arm-pump as a result, dropping to ninth place.
Making some suspension changes for the second race the British Championship leader was a different force and took part in the most exciting tussle of the day as four riders disputed third position. The Japanese Grand Prix winner set several scorching laps on the KX450F-SR in the middle of the moto to seize third and pull away from the gaggle, even closing slightly on Josh Coppins in second spot. He spent the last ten minutes fending off Mike Brown. It was his first finish in the top three aside from his success at Sugo in May.
“It has been a really hot day today but the bike was working great,” he said “We changed the set-up from the first to the second race because the front end was too soft and I think that is what gave me the arm-pump as the bike didn’t feel level coming down the hills. In the second race it was much better and I was able to stand up in most of the ruts and it all started coming together. On this type of track you had to be so careful with the throttle.”
“I knew Philippaerts would be hard to pass,” ‘Mac’ continued. “With it being such a tight track here I knew that I had to make the move early. I blocked him pretty hard and that must have giving me a small break as I was able to relax, breathe and pick my lines a bit better. I was happy to be able to catch Coppins a little bit at the end and kept charging while most people were backing off. I kept my lap-times consistent right until the flag.”
Tanel Leok was frustrated by a pair of mediocre starts that virtually cancelled the Estonian as a potential threat to the leaders. The 22 year old once more displayed good speed retaliating to his disappointment of being mid-pack on the first lap, but his absences from the top ten in the formative stages has become a familiar story this season.
Leok had qualified in thirteenth position during a very hot Saturday in which the thermometer almost touched 40 degrees and stayed that way for the remainder of the weekend. He reached eleventh from a first lap berth of twentieth in the first moto and although he was placed slightly higher in the second outing he still had to drill the four-stoke to reach seventh from being down in fifteenth. An entertaining fight with Ken de Dycker caught the attention of many spectators in the second race and the GP of Sweden ‘podiumee’ got the better of the Belgian.
“I don’t know what to say,” he admitted. “I am working and training so hard but when I get to the start I am blowing it all up. I can do much better than that. The track was OK here but it was a bit too dusty in the second moto. My speed was alright but the front guys are just getting away from me.”
In the MX1 World Championship points table Leok is ninth and fifteen points from the top seven while Mackenzie is just behind in tenth but needs twenty-three points to overtake his team-mate.
KRT now finally have a free weekend. Mackenzie will take advantage of a break in the British series to rest while Leok heads back to race in Estonia. The World Championship accelerates rapidly in two weeks however as the Grand Prix of Czech Republic at Loket begins a spell of five races that sees the season culminate by the first weekend of September.
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