Strong Performance Leaves CAS Honda in High Spirits at Hawkstone

CAS Honda concluded its first official outing of 2009 at Hawkstone Park International race today in high spirits after a strong performance, as Cedric Melotte achieved a superb fourth position overall and despite crashing out of race two, Billy Mackenzie demonstrated his form with a third place in the opening moto.

 

In the first moto both riders got steady starts with Mackenzie completing lap one in eighth position and Melotte, who had to steer his CAS Honda around a crash off the start line, in fourteenth for the 25-minute plus two lap race.  

Mackenzie, who is suffering with tendonitis in his right arm, battled through the pack aboard his Honda CRF450R race machine and managed to fend off various challenges in the closing stages to finish the race in an impressive third position. Teammate Melotte also fought his way through the field, settling into a good rhythm, to cross the finish line in a strong fifth place.

In race two Melotte suffered with a poor start out of the gate, which left him outside of the top 20 by the end of lap one. However, the 30-year-old Belgian rode hard during the opening stages to work his way up into the top ten around the sandy Hawkstone Park track. The CAS Honda pilot found visibility difficult as the sun lowered, and after charging his way up through the order, decided to settle for sixth place to finish the day in a superb fourth position overall.

Despite gating well into second position behind fellow Honda rider, Kevin Strijbos, Mackenzie unfortunately crashed heavily before completing the first lap of race two. The 24-year-old Scot hit his head hard and remounted into last place before choosing to retire to reduce the risk of injury at this stage in the season. Although the CAS Honda pilot was disappointed not to achieve the overall result he was capable of, Mackenzie was pleased with his first race of the season against some of the rivals he will compete against in this year's World Motocross Championship.

 

Cedric Melotte: #10 - 4th Position Overall

"I struggled a little with the first start as I had to avoid a big crash before we reached the first corner. I was a long way back, but I got my head down and kept on fighting my way through the pack to finish fifth. I am still familiarising myself with the CAS Honda, and I didn’t get the start I needed in the second race, which left me dead last, so I tried as hard as possible to work my way through the field in the opening stages. I settled into a good rhythm and the bike was feeling very good, but the sun was low and it was difficult to see, so I decided to settle for sixth place, as this race isn't so important to us and I didn't want to do anything stupid. Overall I am very pleased as we have had more track time to further develop our set-up, and it's given me a lot of confidence ahead of the first British Championship race next weekend.

 

Billy Mackenzie: #211 – 12th Position Overall

"I got a good jump off the start in race one, but I didn't get out of the gate so well and lost a lot of time, which left me back in eighth position. I was concentrating on my lines and settled into a good rhythm, although by the halfway point I had a lot of arm pump, as I'm suffering a bit with the tendonitis I have at the moment. However, the difference in my training regime from last year certainly paid off because while normally have accepted a position further down, today I could battle through the pain to finish in third place. In the second race I gated well into second position and I felt really up for trying to take a win. I was pushing hard, but the sun was really low making it difficult to see and I hit some bumps, which caused me to crash. I hit my head fairly hard and by the time I remounted I was a long way back off the rest of the pack, so I retired because my arm needs as much rest as possible for the important races. Although we didn't get the overall result we were looking for, I was happy with our performance for the first race of this year. The bike is feeling great and I'm really looking forward to going out and racing next weekend as we warm-up to the first Grand Prix.

 

Neil Prince: CAS Honda Team Manager

"Today was a really good indicator as to where we are at in terms of our rivals in the World Championship for this year. Both riders performed well, and I am pleased with the results we achieved, especially as many of the other riders have already done two or three races prior to coming here. Cedric didn't get the best of starts in either race, but he fought very hard and managed to achieve two solid race finishes with a strong overall fourth position. Billy rode very well in the first race, and although he's suffering with some problems in his arm, he managed to finish in third place. Unfortunately, despite a very good second race start, Billy crashed before completing lap one and he made the right decision to retire, as at this early stage in the season it's important he doesn't risk injuring himself before the important races. We now must build on what we have learnt here and use the next two races in the British Championship to fully prepare ourselves for the first round of the MX1 World Championship in Italy."

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