TICHFIELD teenager Billy Mackenzie qualified for Sunday's French Motocross Grand Prix despite a high-speed crash which left him with chest pains and difficulty breathing.
He went on to finish in 24th place, just outside the points, and that would have been better but for a "coming together" with the Italian rider Christian Stevanini during the race which bent the gear lever of Mackenzie's Yamaha. "I kept missing gears for the rest of the race," said the rider.
It wasn't a good meeting for Steve Dixon's Swanmore-based Yamaha UK team. Dixon was moved to fine 250cc rider Justin Morris £500 for: "retiring from the race while the bike was still working."
Morris had crashed at the first turn. He rode on without goggles and explained: "I tried to make progress through the field, got up to 21st then started to go backwards.
Jason Higgs went down at the second turn and was forced to retire and team manager Dixon said: "I am disappointed with all three riders' results, especially Justin Morris, who retired early in the race after crashing - something I strongly disapprove of."
"The conditions were the same for all the riders who also struggled with tyres, stones and suspension set-up. I think all three riders just went to pieces and that's frustrating after all the hard work that was done in preparation for the race."
Belgium's Steve Ramos won the 125cc race, Michael Picon from France took the 250 honours and Stefan Everts consolidated his lead in the 500 class with another win. Best Briton was Jamie Dobb, fifth in the 250 race.
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