Sixth overall for Mackenzie at Foxhill
26th July 2009
CAS Honda’s Bryan Mackenzie recovered from a heavy qualifying tumble at Foxhill today to finish in a solid sixth position overall for round six of the British MX1 Championship.
Mackenzie was lying in the top three positions throughout this morning’s practice and qualifying session when he was shunted down to fifth by a handful of late advances from his main rivals. The determined 24-year-old was keen to earn himself another good gate pick and attempted one final flying lap in a bid to move further up the order, but unfortunately crashed heavily, injuring his neck and mouth at the famous Foxhill hardpack track.
The CAS Honda pilot, although sore, was keen to make amends and got a good start to the first 30-minute plus two-lap moto into second position behind Jordan Rose. Mackenzie didn’t quite find the rhythm he needed in the first few laps and dropped back to eighth place where he remained until the chequered flag, despite coming strong towards the end of the race aboard his CRF450R.
In the second moto Mackenzie shot out of the gate to clinch the holeshot and take the race lead. The Scottish rider got his head down and managed to gain a small advantage over the chasing pack along with second placed Brad Anderson.
The gritty CAS Honda rider was looking sure of another career-best finish until lap five when he collided with Anderson and went down. A disappointed Mackenzie remounted into fifth position and finished in sixth, to take a strong sixth place overall.
CAS Honda now heads to Belgium for the Grand Prix next weekend in Lommel.
Bryan Mackenzie #121: Race One: 8th Race Two: 6th
“I really like this track and I normally ride quite well here. In practice I was in the top three right until the last few minutes so I went out to put in one final flying lap. I unfortunately had a big crash and I’ve broken one of my teeth as well as hurt my neck, so I wasn’t feeling great before the first race. I got a good gate pick though in fifth which helped with the starts, and in the first race I gated into second place. I’ve been getting a lot of arm-pump recently so I tried not to push so hard in the first few laps so I could settle in and build my pace up. I gave too much away in the opening part of the race and ended up eighth by the time I really got going, which wasn’t really where I wanted to be. I was really fired up for the second race and I wanted to do much better for the team. I got an awesome jump out of the gate, took the holeshot and put down some good laps. Brad Anderson and I broke away a bit from everyone in first and second place. About five laps in Brad closed down on me, I heard him come up the inside on a corner and I was already committed to the outside. I let him have it but didn’t want to lose too much time so I was trying to filter in behind him, but he stopped mid-corner and I hit into him then went down. I lost a bunch of positions, but came strong at the end so, although I’m disappointed it wasn’t the top placing we were capable of, I’m generally happy with that. I’m really looking forward to Lommel as I’m excited to get back to the GP’s. I enjoyed it when we had a few in a row as I got some momentum going, so I can’t wait to get back into them now.”
Neil Prince: CAS Honda Team Manager
“We definitely saw a better performance in race two from Bryan, and it’s a shame he collided with Anderson as I’m sure he would have earned himself a really strong finish. The crash wasn’t really his fault, and he rode a much better race than we saw in the first stint. His practice crash was a little unnecessary and he was making mistakes because he was trying so hard. I like Bryan’s determination, but he needs to relax a little, not panic and not make so many mistakes in these situations. This should also help him to turn his strong race starts into stronger finishes. His qualifying is improving, his fitness is superb and so are his starts; hopefully we can collate these together and turn them into even better results at British Championship level. We now head back to Belgium for the next Grand Prix where I hope Bryan can continue to make progress after his superb 10th overall in Sweden last time out.”
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