CAS Race Report - Ireland

Round 13 of the World Championship – Fairyhouse, Ireland

MACKENZIE LEADS THE WAY IN DUBLIN

The 13th Round of the World Championship was held at the home of the Irish Grand National Racecourse at Fairyhouse near Dublin in Ireland. MacKenzie and the Team hoped to make an impact, although Billy was still recovering from his ‘big off’ at the last round in the Czech Republic.

The weather held up and qualification completed with Billy happy to be 3rd quickest, as at this particular circuit it was clear that the start was the crucial part of the race.

A superb start in the first race saw Billy in the lead with the remaining competitors breathing down his neck. Billy kept it smooth but was finding it hard to pull away from the pack. On lap 7 DeDycker made his move and passed Billy followed by Leok 2 laps later. This didn’t deter the Scot who fought hard, and rode an exceptional race, to bring his Monster Energy backed CAS Honda home in a well deserved 3rd place.

Another holeshot in Race 2 helped Billy to keep out of trouble until around 15 minutes into the race when being pushed by Leok and Philippearts got his front wheel caught in a rut between corner and hit the dust. He quickly got to his feet but Leok and Philippearts had already passed. On crashing Billy hit his head and the sweat had splattered onto the inside of his goggles, which he had to dispose of half a lap later. This left him with the unenviable task of racing without any eye protection – always a last resort, but again Billy dug deep. Ramon and DeDycker passed him after another error, but he held his position in 5th to the chequered flag.

Billy was clearly initially disappointed as the day could have been so different, he was 5th overall on the day, with the same points as Philippearts in 4th.

Billy MacKenzie comments: Overall its been a great weekend, the bike is perfect and my speed was good, but I should have been on that podium this weekend!

Team Manager Neil Prince comments: I was proud of Billy’s performance today, especially as he is still recovering with his injuries from the last round. I feel positive there’s more to come and we all feel sure Billy is more than capable of winning races.

Results – Race 1

1st K DeDycker, 2nd T Leok, 3rd B MacKenzie, 4th D Philippearts, 5th S Ramon, 6th S Pourcel

Results – Race 2

1st T Leok, 2nd S Ramon, 3rd K DeDycker, 4th D Philippearts, 5th B MacKenzie, 6th M Nagl

Overall Results on the day:

1st T Leok, 2nd K DeDycker, 3rd S Ramon, 4th D Philippearts, 5th B MacKenzie

Championship Positions to date:

1st D Philippearts 441 points, 2nd S Ramon 436 points, 3rd K DeDycker 414 points.

B MacKenzie 9th with 293 points


Pictures from the days racing below: