Et pour les déçus par Julien Bill :
Bike It Yamaha riders
At the opening round of the British motocross championship Julien Bill of Switzerland was looking to make a good impression at his debut championship ride for the UK Yamaha squad, he had a frustrating day but still finished 7th overall with two top ten finishes.
Ulsterman Martin Barr riding his YZ450f machine struggled in early morning qualification with a small misfire, he put together two consistent rides finishing in 10th and 12th position he suffered a few small crashes as comes to terms with his new found head of steam.
“I was having a few problems in qualification but I managed to put that behind me for race one, I was 19th on the start line but the fortunately the grid is pretty fair here so I wasn’t worried, I started well and was insight of the top five but then I crashed and stalled the bike, I ended up 10th after struggling to get back onto the pace. I have been making too many mistakes, I think because my speed is up now compared to last year I just need more races under my belt and then the mistakes will stop. I know that one of my biggest problems is that I not aggressive enough during the first few laps when it’s important to be fighting for your space on the track. In race two I was ahead of Julien but then he passed me and I fell stalling the bike, I slipped back to 18th but still had some fight left in me to come back to 12 at the chequered flag.”
As for Bill, he also knew it is going to be a tough series to race in.
“I started very well and was in 4th position from the first turn, I stalled the engine mid race but soon restarted but started to suffer with really bad arm pump, it was then difficult to give 100% and I was disappointed that I could only finish 9th. For race two I had a small problem on the start line with my clutch, it was dragging and I was moving forward when the gate dropped, I missed the drop but fought my way through from a low position, I was much more happy with my riding and speed which gives me confidence for the future rounds. When I agree to ride the British Championship for Steve Dixon I knew that the standard and the level of riding was almost at GP level, I also knew it would not be easy. I came back to 9th position again which proved to be consistent but I now know which areas I need to work on before the next races. I am very happy with the Yamaha’s engine and power output, we still need to work more on the suspension set up as this needs to be improved but these thing you always find out after the early season races, you practice and train by yourself during the winter months and it’s not until you are in a competitive environment that you see the shortfalls.”
Bike It Dixon Yamaha lead rider Billy MacKenzie climbed to the podium Sunday with a magnificent second place overall finish at the opening round of the eight race Maxxis British Motocross Championship staged at cold but sunny Cadders Hill circuit at Lyng near Norwich, the young Scot notched up 50 points to get his 2006 domestic and international season with a flying start. After qualifying 5th the 2005 MX2 runner-up battled arm-pump in the first moto of 30 minutes plus 2 laps he was also hindered by a failing rear brake after picking up track marker tape which saw him drop from 3rd to 4th spot. From another good start Billy put together yet anther strong outing finishing second to Dutchman Mark De Reuver in race two.
Fears that the season opener would cancelled due to torrential rain during the days leading up to the weekend failed to have any effect on the race circuit, come Sunday the hillside sandy circuit was in prime condition and continued to improve throughout the day as race lines developed as the overnight frost thawed in the bright sunshine.
The circuit proved to be a tough test for all MX1 and MX2 competitors, winter signing Julien Bill of Switzerland was looking to make a good impression at his debut championship ride for the UK Yamaha squad, he had a frustrating day but still finished 7th overall with two top ten finishes. Ulsterman Martin Barr riding his YZ450f machine struggled in early morning qualification with a small misfire, he put together tow consistent rides finishing in 10th and 12th position he suffered a few small crashes as comes to terms with his new found head of steam.
Billy MacKenzie “We went out with the wrong tyre width during qualifying so I made one lap, came in for the change and then I stayed out for the whole session because I wanted to get rid of my arm pump, I had a few problems during the first race at Hawkstone last week and wanted to try and get them out of the way. I got a pretty good start from the gate for the first race and was sitting comfortably behind the KTM’s of Nunny and De Reuver and was waiting to make my move but after a few laps I felt my arms starting to tighten and I knew then that the win was slipping away. I tried to be consistent and bring the bike home. Half way through the race I ran into some track marker tape and that wrapped itself around the rear wheel, I had some fade on the rear brake and also over-jumped a section slightly which wrecked my concentration a little. I came home fourth in the end which I was not too happy about.”
MacKenzie “I changed to the spare bike for the second race and also used a brand new suspension unit which was much better, my start was good and I got into the lead. I set the fastest time and again felt like I could give a lot more. I was below my limit and that was a good sign. At every first round of the British Championship I have either won or crashed so I was determined that I would leave with a couple of good races this time. De Reuver was very fast and came through but I could see that Nunn had a problem with his bike. Nunn is the only one I am concerned about, for the Championship as he will be the one to beat. I rode along in second and De Reuver crashed so I was able to get back onto his rear wheel but two lapped riders got in the way and I lost a few seconds in one lap. I was also mindful of last season. The backmarkers were unbelievable this weekend and they were costing a lot of riders a lot of laps. Overall it was not a bad weekend, for once it was a steady performance and taking De Reuver out of the equation I am leading the series so in that respect it was positive.”
Steve Dixon the team manager of the Bike It Yamaha team was not too dissapointed with his teams performance.
“We came to Lyng expecting snow and for the race to be a wash out but in fact the racing and the circuit have been first class today, a little on the cold side for the large number of spectators who turned out but I think they would leave happy after some tight racing. Billy put together two good rides although he suffered arm pump in race one he still finished second overall on the day with 4th and 2nd place finishes. Once again he showed like last week at Hawkstone Park that he can ride with his head and come away effectively leading the championship. Mark De Reuver was strong today but this will be the only race he does in the championship, Billy was strong and every year he normally wins one and bins one but this was a positive start. Both Julien and Martin struggled to get on the pace in qualification and then in the races they were circulating together in or around 10th and 12th positions. I know that we can start to build from here for the GP’s and the remaining national championship races. We needed Billy to get a good championship start as his main opponents are Nunn and Searle, it’s been proven each year that you need to be consistent from the start if you want to win the title. Our long term plans this year are to focus on the GP’s and the British Championship races are a continuation of that, we can use it as a test bed. We have also tire testing and suspension testing in the next two week down in the south of France in the lead up to Zolder and the opening Grand Prix in three weeks time. We scheduled this testing during this break between the British Championship and round one of the world series, we should have a much better idea of where we are at now and this should help with the testing and hopefully we haven’t shown all of our cards just yet.”
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