Scottish visitor Billy Mackenzie (Kawasaki) won the fourth round of the 2010 Rockstar Energy Drink Australian Motocross Championships in Toowoomba at the weekend.

Mackenzie won two of the three motos on Sunday to take the round win, while Yamaha rider and Wollongong local Jay Marmont snatched the series lead by four points ahead of KTM’s Tye Simmonds.

It was a mixed day for New Zealand’s Cody Cooper (Suzuki), the only Kiwi in the open class this season, who finished 5-2-5 in his three outings.

However, it was enough for the man from Mount Maunganui to move up from ninth to seventh in the series standings.

The other Kiwis in Australia this season, racing in the Lites (MX2) and Under-19 classes, also had mixed results at Toowoomba but, significantly, they all still feature among the top 10 in their respective divisions.

Rotorua’s Michael Phillips (Honda) posted results of 0-14-4, while Hamilton’s Darryll King (Yamaha) finished 12-15-9 in the Lites class. They are 9th and 11th overall respectively in the series standings.

In the under-19s class, Rotorua’s John Phillips (Honda) was the stand-out performer, coming home 8-5-8 in the three motos, while Warkworth’s Hamish Dobbyn (Suzuki) was next best of the Kiwis, clocking 10-8-5 results. Waitakere’s Ethan Martens (KTM) finished 9-10-7; Cambridge’s Kieran Leigh (Yamaha) was 11-6-11 and Taupo’s Cameron Dillon (Honda), who won the previous round, was a shock omission from the points schedule.

Dillon crashed heavily in the whoops section during practice and punctured his lung. He was rushed straight to hospital where he is reported to be “fine and recovering well, but very frustrated”.

Dobbyn stayed sixth in the overall championship analysis, while Phillips rose from ninth to eighth. Leigh moved up from eighth to seventh overall and Martens slipped from 10th to 11th. The big disappointment was for Dillon, who plummeted from fifth to 10th in the under-19 series standings.

It may not have worked out brilliantly for all the Kiwis but it was certainly Billy Mackenzie’s day.

In the first open class moto, Simmonds, took the holeshot before being overtaken by Mackenzie who was keen to make the most of his home track advantage.

The Kawasaki rider was soon out to an impressive lead, while Simmonds gradually fell through the field back to fourth.

The biggest on-track battle came from the former series Leader, Honda’s Todd Waters, and privateer Dean Ferris (Honda).

The two riders were banging bars for most of the moto before an eventual crash from Ferris allowed Waters a clean run into second place leaving the privateer in third.

As the second moto got underway, Cooper, who has struggled to find form since joining the Australian series took the holeshot, however he was unable to hold onto the lead, soon overtaken by the green freight train of Mackenzie and young-gun Ferris.

While Mackenzie led for the first few laps, Cooper eventually made his way past Ferris and at times was right on the back of the Scott, but was unable to make a pass stick.

Mackenzie managed to hold on to the lead, despite lapped traffic with Cooper wrapping up the moto in second place followed by CDR Rockstar Yamaha rider Cheyne Boyd who finished in third.

The third moto looked to be a repeat of the first two, with Mackenzie soon out to a strong lead, however after a lack-lustre day, Marmont found his form, eventually catching up with the Kawasaki rider.

The two riders went bar-to-bar in and out of the turns, while Simmonds made his charge through the field, until disaster struck for Mackenzie, appearing to stall on one of the turns allowing a now in-rhythm Marmont and charging Simmonds – amongst others, to fly by leaving him in sixth place.

Despite his speed, Simmonds eventually caught Marmont, knowing that the Series lead was on the line; however the reigning Champs experience was too much for Simmonds, with the young rider eventually ceding to the Yamaha star and forced to settle for second place ahead of Ferris.

“I’m definitely happy with today,” Mackenzie said.

“For my first ride back I was probably expecting a lot worse considering I haven’t ridden for so long.

“My wrist is pretty sore, I’m not going to lie, but it did the job today and it’s definitely better than it was at Broadford, so I’m just happy I had the extra time to heal and come back with a win.

“I really enjoy this track and the team have put a great bike together for me and we’ve had a great day.”

Meanwhile, American PJ Larsen (KTM) won the Lites class, while Kawasaki Racing Team’s Luke Arbon won the Under-19s division.

As qualifying got underway it was Yamaha rider Ford Dale who qualified fastest, less than a second ahead of team-mate Kirk Gibbs and Larsen.

Dale, Larsen, and Gibbs were all out to a strong start in the first moto when the race was red-flagged — when racing continued it was the same three riders out in front and when the two sessions were combined, American rider Larsen came out on top, followed by Dale and Gibbs.

In the second moto, Larsen took the holeshot however he was soon overtaken by veteran of the sport and purple-haired Kim Ashkenazi (Suzuki) who was followed by Kawasaki Racing Team’s Cody Mackie.

The three did battle until Mackie crashed and in dropping back through the field he let a number of riders slip by including JDR Motorex KTM’s Ryan Marmont and Kawasaki riding ‘privateer’ and former champ Luke George.

Larsen was out to a massive lead and despite a valiant attempt to rein him in by Marmont, he was too far ahead, forcing him to settle for second ahead of George.

In the third and final moto it all came together for Dale, with the Queensland local catching and passing Larsen on the first lap and holding onto the lead until the chequered flag, with Larsen taking second place and South Australian Gibbs forced to settle for third.

“It’s been a really good weekend,” Larsen said.

“We got four good starts with the red flag in the first moto and we just made it work.

“I’ll be sticking around in Australia until after the next round at Raymond Terrace and then I’ll fly out back to the US and get three solid weeks of training in.

“After the last round, the entire team wanted to come out here and do well for Andrew and his family.”

In the Under 19’s class, despite finishing fourth for the round, KTM rider Josh Cachia has retained his massive series lead, while South Australia’s Kawasaki’s Arbon celebrated his round win, with an impressive 2-1-3 finish.

“I feel really good right now!”  Arbon said.

“I felt good at Canberra and ended up second there but one more step up on the podium is good and I’m happy.

“I went to hospital at the first round and lost a bunch of points there, but everyone is riding awesomely and it’s going to be tough but there are a lot of races left.

“Hopefully I can win a few more – when you win you get more points and that’s what I want to do.”

PRO OPEN: OVERALL ROUND 4 TOOWOOMBA

1 Billy Mackenzie – Kawasaki – 65 Points

2 Tye Simmonds – KTM – 56

3 Jay Marmont – Yamaha – 54

4 Cody Cooper – Suzuki – 54

5 Cheyne Boyd – Yamaha – 53

6 Daniel McCoy – KTM – 41

7 Matt Haworth – Yamaha – 41

8 Dean Ferris – Honda – 40

9 Beau Ralston – KTM – 32

10 Robbie Marshall – Yamaha – 29

11 Lewis Woods – Honda – 26

12 Louis Calvin – KTM – 25

13 Todd Waters – Honda – 22

14 Richie Leech – KTM – 21

15 Craig Anderson – Husqvarna – 18

16 Dean Porter – Suzuki – 16

17 Riley Graham – Kawasaki – 13

18 Simon Thompson – Honda – 13

19 Jake Pengelly – Kawasaki – 12

20 Brent Landman – Suzuki 12 – 53

PRO OPEN: CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER 4 ROUNDS

1 Jay Marmont 190 Points

2 Tye Simmonds 186 Points

3 Todd Waters 171 Points

4 Dean Ferris 167 Points

5 Billy Mackenzie 157 Points

6 Cheyne Boyd 156 Points

7 Cody Cooper 138 Points

8 Daniel McCoy 137 Points

9 Andrew McFarlane 111 Points

10 Beau Ralston 93 Points

11 Lewis Woods 91 Points

12 Simon Thompson 53 Points

13 Dean Porter 50 Points

14 Craig Anderson 47 Points

15 Brent Landman 42 Points

16 Matt Haworth 41 Points

17 Robbie Marshall 41 Points

18 Louis Calvin 39 Points

19 Nathan Brochtrup 39 Points

20 Chase Mosig 38 Points

PRO LITES: OVERALL ROUND 4 TOOWOOMBA

1 PJ Larsen – KTM – 72 Points

2 Cody Mackie – Kawasaki – 51

3 Ford Dale – Yamaha – 49

4 Ryan Marmont – KTM – 45

5 Luke George – Kawasaki – 43

6 Luke Styke – Yamaha – 42

7 Kirk Gibbs – Yamaha – 40

8 Kade Mosig – KTM – 40

9 Cameron Taylor – Yamaha – 31

10 Brock Winston – KTM – 30

11 Lawson Bopping – Suzuki – 30

12 Darryll King – Yamaha – 27

13 Michael Addison – Honda – 26

14 Michael Phillips – Honda – 25

15 Lewis Stewart – KTM – 24

16 Matt Ryan – Husqvarna – 23

17 Kim Ashkenazi – Suzuki – 18

18 Kody Wheeler – KTM – 13

19 Nick Murray – Honda – 9

20 Sam Duncanson – KTM – 8

PRO LITES: CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER 4 ROUNDS

1 PJ Larsen 207 Points

2 Kirk Gibbs 183 Points

3 Cody Mackie Points

4 Ryan Marmont 163 Points

5 Ford Dale 149 Points

6 Lawson Bopping 139 Points

7 Luke Styke 125 Points

8 Luke George 120 Points

9 Michael Phillips 114 Points

10 Kade Mosig 106 Points

11 Darryll King 93 Points

12 Matt Ryan 89 Points

13 Lewis Stewart 70 Points

14 Michael Addison 64 Points

15 Nick Murray 54 Points

16 Cameron Taylor 49 Points

17 Brendan Harrison 45 Points

18 Kieran Tisdale 43 Points

19 Brock Winston 35 Points

PIRELLI UNDER 19’S: OVERALL ROUND 4 TOOWOOMBA

1 Luke Arbon – Kawasaki – 67

2 Harley Quinlan – Yamaha – 60

3 Matthew Phillips – Honda – 57

4 Joshua Cachia – KTM – 55

5 Ross Beaton – Yamaha – 51

6 Dylan Peterson – Honda – 49

7 John Phillips – Honda – 42

8 Hamish Dobbyn – Suzuki – 40

9 Ethan Martens – KTM – 37

10 Kieran Leigh – Yamaha – 35

11 Shaun Redhead – Yamaha – 29

12 Errol Willis – Yamaha – 22

13 Nicholas Sutherland – Yamaha – 21

14 Jake Wright – Husqvarna – 20

15 Sam Southey – Honda – 18

16 Mitch Budd – Honda – 13

17 Jacob McLeod – Suzuki – 11

18 Kyle McKeddie – Suzuki – 9

19 Michael Parker – Suzuki – 6

20 Cameron Solomon – Yamaha – 5

UNDER 19’S: CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER 4 ROUNDS

1 Joshua Cachia 201 Points

2 Ross Beaton 173 Points

3 Luke Arbon 163 Points

4 Dylan Peterson 163 Points

5 Matthew Phillips 160 Points

6 Hamish Dobbyn 137 Points

7 Kieran Leigh 124 Points

8 John Phillips 120 Points

9 Harley Quinlan 119 Points

10 Cameron Dillon 98 Points

11 Ethan Martens 97 Points

12 Errol Willis 76 Points

13 Nicholas Sutherland 66 Points

14 Sam Southey 56 Points

15 Shaun Redhead 55 Points

16 Jake Wright 55 Points

17 Cameron Solomon 48 Points

18 Mitch Budd 38 Points

19 Kyle McKeddie 26 Points

20 Luke Bond 24 Points

21 Brad Potter 24 Points

Photo courtesy Kawasaki Australia