Brits abroad - weekend round up!
July 30, 2007
Team Fork-Rent Suzkui Round eleven of the World Motocross championship headed to Loket in the Czech Republic.Team Fork-Rent Suzuki riders Jason Dougan and Jake Nicholls braved the damp conditions in two hard fought MX2 races. Jake put in a storming effort in the first qualifying race to finish in eleventh but Jason suffered bad luck in the same moto and had to fight it out in the last chance qualifying session to secure his start gate position for Sunday’s main event. Race one saw Jason and Jake both suffer indifferent starts but they battled through the field to finish just outside the top twenty. In race two Jason faired the best out of the two Suzuki stars and found himself battling with Monni, Schiffer and Pourcel for tenth place.
Mid race the weather deteriorated to rain which made the conditions tricky and Jason finally crossed the line in fourteenth.
Unfortunately Jake found himself in twenty eighth on lap one but put in consistent strong laps to finish just outside a points finish in twenty second. Team Manager - Mark Chamberlain “It’s been a hard weekend as the conditions were tough in Loket. Both Jason and Jake came through it well, especially the second race as they rode good. We now head to Belgium for the famous circuit of Namur for this coming weekend’s GP, Jake has never ridden there so it will be a real eye opener for him – it should be a great weekend and the whole team are looking forward to it.” Mackenzie seventh after tough Czech Grand Prix Factory Kawasaki motocross racer Billy Mackenzie was five points away from third position at the Grand Prix of Czech Republic. The Scot claimed seventh place in front of 24,000 spectators at a cold and wet Loket circuit for the eleventh round of fifteen in the 2007 FIM MX1 World Championship.
The 23 year old from Edinburgh is not a huge fan of the natural cambers and steep drops and climbs of the venue located a short distance from popular tourist town Karlovy Vary and more than 100 miles west of Prague. The fast layout is formed by a slippery terrain that became rougher throughout Sunday and the lack of variety in racing lines made overtaking a labour.
Mackenzie started well in both races of 35 minutes and 2 laps duration from his qualification slot of ninth. The Japanese Grand Prix winner was among a group of eight riders than treated the Czech fans to one of the most exciting and dramatic battles so far this season. Regular position changes, spills and technical problems meant that the leaderboard was constantly shifting. Mackenzie sadly played an unwilling part in the theatre after a tangle with regular rival David Philippaerts saw the British Championship leader crash out of sixth and lose six places. He suffered some arm-pump trying to recover ground and eventually passed the finish line in seventh.
The second moto started under a sheet of rain that did not let-up for the next forty minutes. Mackenzie again circulated in the mid-top ten through a decidedly calmer sprint and was closing on team-mate Tanel Leok for fifth position in the closing laps but finally had to accept sixth by one second.
“It has been a difficult weekend,” he evaluated. “The track has been really weird and every rider seemed to have a problem. I did not particularly like it and for the first time could not really gel with the bike and the terrain. The first race was going fine and I made some passes and set my fastest lap in the middle of the moto so I was going forward. I overtook Philippaerts and hit him pretty hard, which I did not mean to because I had the inside line and he did not let-off, so in the next corner he came back at me and I let him through but as I went to square-off I touched his back wheel and went down. After that I could not really get my rhythm going and ended up with seventh, which I wasn’t that happy with. In the second race it started raining and the track was even more slippery. I was up there in the beginning but it was the same thing again in terms of not being able to get comfortable, so I kept to my lines and came home. I was only five points off the podium and the overall result is not too bad considering but I knew things can be much better than this.”
Mackenzie is still tenth in the championship and needs 25 points to relegate Leok.
The Grand Prix of Czech Republic represented the first of six meetings in consecutive weeks for Britain’s most successful rider since 2001. Next weekend the historic and daunting circuit of Namur hosts the Grand Prix of Belgium before the penultimate round of the Maxxis British Championship occurs at Brampton in Cumbria. Trips to Ireland, the British Grand Prix and then Holland fill the rest of the world championship schedule and Mac’s last duty before representing his country for the fourth successive year at the 61st Motocross of Nations at Budds Creek in the USA on September 23rd is to try and secure his first national title with the eighth and last race at Pontrilas in Herefordshire.
Image by Ray Archer
Fantastic Sword fourth at Loket
Stephen Sword, in only his third Grand Prix in sixteen months, gave Molson Kawasaki a best result of fourth overall with moto results of tenth and fifth on the KX250F at a cloudy and temperate Loket circuit for the Grand Prix of Czech Republic and the eleventh round of fifteen in the MX2 FIM world championship. The track at Loket – draped across a steep hillside just outside the historic town and 10 kilometres from the wonderfully scenic Karlovy Vary – is natural in practically every sense with few man-made jumps and the aerial tests coming mainly from the undulations of the landscape. The stony mud however was not particularly deep and this meant many braking bumps and a slippery terrain, particularly with the showers through the weekend. The presence of one and sometimes two racing lines did not allow for free-flowing overtaking on a major scale either.
Sword benefited from two strong starts to score his best overall finish since 2005. The Scot circulated as high as seventh in the first moto but had to slow his pace in the latter half of the 35 minutes and 2 laps. In the second race he almost gained the holeshot and was neck-and-neck into the first corner with eventual winner Nico Aubin. He held third behind Antonio Cairoli and completed his best moto since shattering his lower right leg at the German Grand Prix of May 2006.
“I took a big step this weekend,” he commented. “I’d said that I would be happy with top ten overall but I felt good and comfortable all weekend and that showed in my lap-times. I have been training hard for weeks and weeks and it is paying off now. I’m really happy with the way things are going and I feel safe and strong on the bike. I rode a bit tight in the first moto and had some arm-pump. I wasn’t disappointed with tenth but I could have ridden better. I was looser in the second and had some good lines. I am looking forward to Namur now because I really like that place.”
Disappointment for Church
Tom Church failed to qualify for the first time this season. The Briton was under-prepared on Saturday when an oversight with his timing classification in pre-qualification practice caused confusion as to which heat the 25 year old was set to enter. Finally he had to take to the gate last for the second race and could not get a rhythm going before a near-crash left him out of the top twelve cut-off mark. In the Last Chance session he missed the top six.
“The organisers somehow put me in the wrong heat and I had to go last to the line,” he said. “I had to come through from there. I reached twelfth and tried to pass the next rider, nearly crashed, got overtaken and ended up fourteenth. In the Last Chance session I tried all I could but was not far off. I had a crash in the morning and was a bit sore from that. I just want to get fit and try and break this bad run I’ve had in the last few weeks.”
Image by Ray Archer
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