Rotorua’s John Phillips has been thrown in the deep end of racing as he took his 250cc Honda into action in the MX1 class at the Belgian Motocross Championships at the weekend.

He won the final MX2 moto of the New Zealand Motocross Championships in Taupo over the Easter Weekend, but he had very little time to catch his breath before he was racing internationally.

Very soon after stepping off the international flight, Phillips and his mate/mechanic Cameron Janes teamed up to tackle the major Belgian event at the Mons Ghlin track, close to the French border.

Phillips had his passport back on Wednesday and they were on the plane Thursday to be racing Sunday, so there was little time to get settled in before he was in the thick of it.

Phillips’ Dirtbike Gym team owner Rex Michau brought the bikes over from the UK so it was a matter of ‘take what you’re given and go for it’.

This meant Phillips had to ride his Dirtbike Gym Honda 250 in the MX1 and he was the only 250cc out there on the track.

Phillips said he was happy with that as “it was only Rex’s ability to persuade race officials that made racing in any class possible”.

Phillips was lined up with the likes of GP stars Ken de Dycker, Kevin Strijbos and Russian Evgeny Bobryshev on the “seriously sandy” track.

Phillips qualified 18th, before making a few suspension changes and then he finished 12th in the first of two 15-minute-plus-one-lap races.

He raced hard again in the next race, eventually crossing the finish line in 14th spot.

In the day’s third race, a brutal 25-minutes-plus-one-lap affair, he made a few more suspension adjustments and then “chucked everything at it” to finish up in 10th position.

Phillips and Janes are living Lommel, in Belgium, and experiencing some very cold weather.

still really cold over there but the setup is great and they can’t wait to get their teeth into the mx season.

The pair of them were totally exhausted after the weekend, dealing with jet lag, no sleep in the freezing van and a full day’s racing as well.

Red Bull KTM Factory rider De Dycker finished 1-1 to win this opening round of the Belgian Motocross Championships.

Belgian Championship round one results:

1. Ken De Dycker 1-1 50pts

2. Kevin Strijbos 3-2 42pts

3. Evgeny Bobryshev 2-3 42pts

4. Jeremy Van Horebeek 4-4 36pts

5. Shaun Simpson 5-5 32pts

© Words and photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com