Billy MacKenzie’s Australian MX Championship aspirations suffered a blow after bad starts restricted him to sixth overall at round seven of the series at Albury, NSW.
The Scot’s Monster Energy Kawasaki team-mate Dean Ferris also suffered with bad starts but still managed to extend his lead in the championship. Billy is now third, 16 points behind.
Struggling with starts on a short, fast track, MacKenzie managed 6-5 results before the lunch break. A revised tyre choice for the third moto resulted in a better start with Billy quickly finding third place however a crash on the last lap put him back to eighth. A bad start, rain and roost hampered MacKenzie’s efforts in the final race with the Scotsman ending the day with a 6-5-8-6 card.
“Without a doubt starts did me in today,” says Billy. “Whether it was my reaction time or tyre compound choice I don’t know but I kept getting the concrete starts wrong. Then after bad starts I just struggled on the short and tight track. I was getting a lot of arm pump and found it difficult to pass riders and push as had as I’d like. I couldn’t flow. For me it was a really tough weekend and I’m pretty disappointed but I’m looking forward to working super hard over the next few weeks.
“There are still many points on offer and I’m looking forward to getting back to Coolum later in the month for the final two rounds. It’s a track I did well at last year. I’ll bounce back from this and a few solid moto results will put me well and truly in the mix for the championship.”
