Trail Bike Adventure Magazine

Mackenzie rides in Aus for 2010

Monday, 22 February 2010 13:57

The Kawasaki Racing Team is confident of Championship glory in 2010 with the announcement of its new team line-up.

Renowned international import, Billy Mackenzie, will be representing KRT on board the 2010 KX450F (Transworld MX magazine’s Bike of the Year) in the Open class at the Australian Motocross and Australasian SuperX Championships in 2010. Acclaimed Australian rider, Cody Mackie (formerly of Cool Air Kawasaki), will represent KRT in the Pro Lites class at both Championships ,and young sensation Luke Arbon goes into his second year with KRT in the Under 19s class. Both Cody and Luke will compete on board the 2010 KX250F (ADB magazine’s 2010 250 MX Shootout winner). Steering the ship is new Team Principal Kevin Crutcher and new Team Manager Troy Carroll, (both formerly of the Cool Air Kawasaki Race Team).

KRT also welcomes Cool Air Conditioning on board as a major sponsor of the team in 2010 and looks forward to continued success with existing major sponsors, No Fear and Michelin.

The cool, calm and collected persona that greets you when you shake Billy Mackenzie’s hand is totally at odds with the Billy Mackenzie you witness on the race track. A highly capable rider with a ton of experience and talent, Billy is currently setting blisteringly fast lap times on the practise tracks of QLD. Hailing from Edinburgh, Scotland, 25 year old Mackenzie is a comfortable top ten rider in MX1 GPs in Europe. He was the British MX Champion (450 class) in 2007 & 2008 and was a triple Japenese GP winner from 2005-2007. Billy has been a MX2 GP round winner in Europe and finished the 2005 MX2 Championship in 6^th place overall.

Billy, who will wear his regular # 211 this year, is excited to be with KRT in 2010, saying, “Everything’s going to plan so far. I’ve been in Australia now since November and the training has been going well. I feel really good within myself and feel like the speed is there. I’m really looking forward to racing. The KX450F is amazing in standard form. We haven’t done that much to it, it doesn’t need a lot of changes. We’re just working a bit on the suspension at the moment. I’ve been pushing it hard and feel very comfortable on it.”

“I’m loving Australia. The weather is in the minuses back home at the moment so it’s nice to be training here. The tracks are good and the people are cool.”

The name Cody Mackie is synonymous with the green team in Australia. Cody raced with KRT (Lites) in ’07 & ‘08 before joining Cool Air Kawasaki to race in the Opens in 2009. This year Cody rejoins the factory team to compete in the Pro Lites class. Cody’s previous results include 4^th place overall at the ’06 Aust. SX Masters (Lites) and 5^th place overall at the ’06 Aust. MX Championship (Lites). In 2007, Cody not only contested the opening round of the AMA SX Championship (West Coast Lites), he made it into, and raced in the main event. 2008 was a year to forget for Cody with successive broken femurs preventing him from competing (same leg twice throughout the year). Then in 2009, Cody turned many heads for all the right reasons. After finishing the ’09 Aust. MX Championship in 4^th place (Opens), Cody came out firing at the SuperX Championship and brought the crowd to its feet at the opening round in Launceston, almost taking the win from fellow Kawasaki rider Chad Reed. Although he didn’t walk away with the win that night, he did leave Launceston with a load of new fans and with his head held high knowing he had just proven himself as one of the best riders in the country.

Fresh back in the country after 3 months of extensive training with the world’s best riders in the USA. Cody (who wears # 33 in 2010) says, “The time spent in the USA was well worth it. When you can ride everyday on a variety of top notch tracks. you can’t help but feel 100% motivated. I’d head to the gym each afternoon exhausted because of so much time spent on the bike. I learnt a lot over there and gained a lot of confidence. I was surrounded by good people over there like Michael Addison, Dan Reardon and Gilmour who helped me out so much and the support from Kawasaki, both in Australia and the USA, has been excellent.”

“I head up to QLD to be with the rest of the team tonight and I can’t wait to start testing my new 2010 KX250F race bike this week. I’m really looking forward to racing this year. Last year I was going into a new class on a new bike, this year I’m going into the Championship to win.”

Taking some very good results and National experience with him from 2009, Luke Arbon is full of optimism going into his second year with KRT in 2010. The 17 year old from SA is no stranger to the podium with a list of achievements that include winning the Australian Junior Motocross Championship in 2007 in the 250cc class, 85cc class and 85-150cc class and he was the Australian Junior Motocross and Supercross Champion in the 85cc class in 2006. In his first year with a factory team, Luke raced his KX250F to 5^th place overall in the Under 19s class at the ’09 Aust. MX Championship and also managed a podium finish in a moto at the final round of the ’09 SuperX Championship in Brisbane. Luke has already well and truly proven himself as a junior Champion. In 2010 Luke will be fighting hard to also prove himself as a senior Champion.

Luke will continue to wear #121 in 2010 and is looking forward to racing, saying, “Preparation is going great and I can’t wait to race. I’ve been training really hard and feel very good. I learnt so much last year stepping up to the seniors and right now I feel a whole lot more confident than I did this time last year, so I can’t wait. The KX250F is great. We’ve got it pretty much perfect after only 3 days of testing so I’m very happy. ”

12 time Australian Champion, Troy Carroll, retired from racing at the end of 2009, finishing a career that the vast majority of racers only ever dream about. Troy, who raced on board Kawasaki for the last 2 years with the Cool Air Kawasaki Race Team, will now take his many years of racing experience with him into his new role as Team Manager at KRT.

Troy says, “The transition from rider to Manager has been very smooth thanks to the support of the riders and Team Principal, Kevin Crutcher. Although I was riding last year, I was still playing a managerial role within the Cool Air Kawasaki Race Team so I’m not totally thrown in the deep end. My job is made a lot easier thanks to having such a good product to start with in Kawasaki and extremely talented riders signed up.”

“We’re really happy with how Billy’s going. He’s brought a lot to the team, especially in regards to the development of the KX450F and he’s a good role model for not only the other team riders but also all young riders. On the practice track he’s quick…very quick. Cody Mackie steps back into the Lites class after a successful year in the opens. The transition is not a major one for Cody as he is already a proven 250 rider. He’s a determined rider and a very strong chance at winning the Championship. Luke Arbon has been up here in Toowoomba testing for the last few weeks and progressing really well. He has a real chance at winning the Championship this year. Actually all 3 riders are genuine threats to their respective Championships this year. We just can’t wait to go racing.”

The final word goes to Team Principal Kevin Crutcher, who says, “Thanks to everybody at Kawasaki for giving us the privilege of running the Kawasaki Racing Team. We have big shoes to fill after the departure of Brett Whale but I’m confident we’ll make Kawasaki proud. Our 2010 rider line-up is very strong and we’re looking forward to winning Championships in 2010 and beyond.”

KRT’s first race meeting for 2010 will be the opening round of the Australian Motocross Championship at Horsham, Victoria on 28 March.