Mackenzie in a class of his own
Published: 14th April 2008
Author: Pondo
Sword and Simpson are somewhat more similar… Billy Mackenzie just turned up and parted the brown sea at Torrington on Sunday, simply untouchable all day. In the MX2 class, however, it’s a more closely-matched affair…
If the season so far is a case history from which we can project the remainder of the Maxxis British Motocross Championship, give Billy the trophy right now - CAS Honda’s reigning champion was just an irresistible force in tough conditions at Torrington, maintaining his 100% win record in the championship so far and logging a fastest lap in moto two that was an astonishing eleven seconds quicker than the next man. That next man, contrary to expectations, was not Brad Anderson - the fiesty North-Easterner took a nasty spill on the last lap of moto one whilst comfortably second and did not appear for moto two. Instead, it was Tom Church who headed up the pack to take the second step of the podium behind Billy Mac with a brace of thirds - TC seems to have finally got the hang of launching the big bike out of the gate - whilst Hucklebridge came out ahead of Jones in the battle of the Marks to take third overall. James Noble took a very impressive fifth overall, a superb result for a man recovering from pneumonia.
In contrast, the battle for the win in MX2 was a two-man bun-fight - Steven Sword wore his red plate with pride in moto one as Simpson went down trying to make a move in turn two. Sword’s Molson Kawasaki just ran off and hid as the pack followed Simpson’s lead and hit the self-destruct button - Kristian Whatley got a great start, and had a grandstand view as first Pascal Leuret and then Martin Barr came by in the whoops on lap one, only for the pair to collide nastily right in front of him. Barr bounced up and was away within seconds, but for Leuret it was game over for the day. Whatley himself would fight gamely for four laps with the likes of Mike and Elliot Banks-Brown before he too withdrew, whilst Mike Brown would hit reverse and coast back through the pack - the reigning champion is having a torrid time of it at the moment, it just will not work for him. In contrast, back through the pack and into second came Martin Barr, the Irishman easing E B-B of the burden of second place and bringing it all the way home - Banks-Browne would hold on for an excellent third, ahead of Shaun Simpson, whose fight back though the sludge was inspirational. The roles were largely reversed in moto two - Brown and Sword got out together, but a lap two mishap saw them both plummet down the field. Simpson was ready and waiting to scoop a lead he would not lose, whilst Sword in turn had to start his charge back through the pack. At the flag, Sword would take third, enough to give him the overall ahead of Simpson - James Dougan would take third ahead of Barr, whilst Banks-Browne can consider himself unlucky to only finish fifth overall after two great rides.
Stateside, the fates are conspiring to bring the championships down to the bitter end. In the Supercross class, Chad Reed suffered a horrific-looking crash in practice, mistiming a rhythm section and just getting drilled into the face of the next jump - the plucky Australian sat out the rest of practice and had to use a bye to make the main, but even there his luck didn’t change, a first turn crash leaving him at the back of the field.
Nevertheless, battered and bruised, he remounted and staged a fight back that saw him cross the line twelfth. The win went to Millsaps, ahead of Tim Ferry and Kevin Windham, but Reed’s brave nine points kept his lead at the head of the championship to sixteen points.
In the Lites class, Ryan Villopoto got the holeshot and cleared off for the win - East Coast championship leader Trey Canard was in a safe third behind a fired-up Nico Izzi when he cross rutted and fell. The rookie bounced up straight away but took an age to restart his bike, rejoining in fifteenth and ultimately crossing the line tenth. Ryan Morais and Brandon Jesseman would take second and third, but the news is at the top of the charts - Canard’s lead, seventeen points before the racing began, has shrunk to just three with one round left…