Agonising defeat for 'Vice' Champion Mackenzie.

Yamaha Dixon Racing's Billy Mackenzie was crowned Vice British Champion on Sunday when the young Scot finished in second position on the podium at the final round of the Maxxis British 125cc Motocross Championship.

Billy saw his lead in the title hunt draw even with rival Stephen Sword, after one of the best and closest fought race series in many years, the race went down to the wire and was only concluded on the last corner of the very last lap of the eight round series.

Mackenzie riding the Steve Dixon prepared Yamaha took second position to Sword in their opening encounter of the day but fought back in race two to win and retain his 8 point advantage in the series. With one race win and a second position each, Billy and Sword were tied on 57 race points as they started the final Maxxis Cup race.

Sword made a good start and Mackenzie was left to fight from just outside of the top five, a difficult task around the very rough hillside circuit Polesworth. Thrown in against the larger capacity four stroke machinery Billy fought for every meter of the very stony and slippery track, he passed Japanese Champion Yoshi Atsuta on the very last lap to move two points ahead of Sword and looked set for glory but then the Honda rider fought back passing Billy on the last corner.

After 24 races Mackenzie and Sword were tied on 541 points each, the rule books had been checked and as Billy crossed the line in 8th position he was devastated to see Sword's team mates showing him the number one plate. Sword took the British 125cc Title based on his number of race wins following the points tie with Billy.

Mackenzie was bitterly disappointed at seeing the title he had so close too, being lost at the final race of the series, he said " I feel totally gutted that I have lost the championship, I knew I would have pressure when I came here for today's racing but I thought with an eight points lead I could hold onto that and carry off my first title. It all went wrong and I can't describe how I feel right now, I just want to disappear."

The day got off to a reasonable start for Billy, " I started the first race in 5th position just behind Sword, we worked our way through the field, I got a little but of arm pump but moved to second to finish behind him at the flag. It was a hard race, the other KTM's ahead of us moved over to let him though and make his ride easy but I expected that and I knew it would be a hard day with so many of them out on the track. " said Mac.

Romping to victory in race two Billy took revenge for the earlier defeat, " I had a close call when the bike bounced from side to side, the track was rough, I caught my foot in the rear wheel I had to stop and get my leg out of the wheel before I could continue, fortunately I didn't loose and positions, I caught and passed Wayne Smith and went onto win ahead of Sword." added Billy.

The Maxxis Cup was to be the title decider, "The track was very rocky and slippery for the last race, I knew what I had to do but I didn't make the perfect start and had to work for ground. I have to say a big thanks to Jason Higgs, he has been a real friend, a true team mate, he stopped and encouraged me to get back on my bike when I fell off, he protected me the whole way around.

"I knew I needed to pass the Japanese rider Atsuta, it all came down to the very last lap, I passed him within a few corners to go, he tried his hardest and fought back, the hardest I have seen him ride all season and he railed the bike around the outside of a turn while I tried to protect my lines. On the 250cc machine he got the drive up the hill to the next jump, I went to the inside and almost landed on a posted so he crossed the line in front of me and I knew it was all over as I could see Sword and his team in front of me. I was gutted and broke down. I felt terrible. "

Stopping in his tracks, Billy's world fell apart and Jason Higg's dad, Ron ran to him and was the first person to reach him. " I have to thank him for his support, I felt like my world had ended but he told me to be strong in front of all the race fans and teams, I just felt like giving up but he was strong and there for me, his support meant a lot to me, I won't forget it." said Billy who will have to wait another twelve months to prove that he has the capabilities to be a champion.

Jason Higgs opted to ride a two stroke 250cc machine rather than the larger four stroke he rode at Hawkstone Park two weeks ago, " I have nothing against the bike or the power it's just that I haven't had the time to get used to it and feel much more at home on a two stroker." Higgs had a good day working hard to fight back from 20th to 8th place in race one and ended race two in 5th position just yards behind Paul Cooper who was crowned British Open Champion. " I was very happy with my two results, the track was very demanding but I enjoyed racing here, it was a new circuit for every one and I am looking forward to coming back."

Higgs caught up to Mackenzie in the Maxxis Cup Race and stayed behind him to protect him, " We had a small lack of communication in that race," admitted Higgs, " I stayed behind Billy when I should have maybe gone ahead and tried to slow Atsuta, I could have held him up and allowed Billy to move ahead. Billy fell off and I stopped and screamed at him to get back on, he caught up to Atsuta but by then it was the very last lap and it all went wrong for him on the last corner. " said Higgs.

Higgs is grateful to the Yamaha Dixon Racing Team for giving his a chance to get back into racing. "I have been out of racing for a couple of years prior to this season, to come and finish 9th is a great result, I have to thank Steve Dixon for giving me the opportunity to get back racing, I tied of points with Flockhart in 8th position, we both had 227 points, I never imaged I could have done so well, I am a little disappointed looking back that I missed three rounds through injury as I think I could have finished even higher in the rankings. It's a motivating factor for next season when I will be much better prepared physically for the start of the season. " said Higgs

Team manager Steve Dixon said " It's been a real sickener today, Billy and the team have worked very hard all season and too loose the championship with a tie on points and it having to be decided by the number of race wins is disappointing. The championship was lost by only a couple of bike lengths, Billy recovered from fall earlier in the final race and rode hard to catch and pass Atsuta with only four corners to go, I don't think anyone expected him to put up such a fight at the last corner and he passed Billy back to hand the title to Sword. Everyone on the team is disappointed, maybe Billy didn't handle the pressure of leading the series for most of the season, he's only 18 years old, he will have other opportunities, I am pleased with the maturity that he has started to show during the later part of the season."

Dixon added, " You can see that Billy and Sword are leagues above the other riders competing in the British Championship, it has taken Sword several years to achieve this title, he too has finished 2nd several years in row but he is now regularly finishing in top 5 positions at GP level so I think Billy should be happy that he is at least on that pace. This season has been a big learning curve, it's very hard to win a British Championship. For Yamaha, had we won here today it would have been four 125cc titles in six years, now we only have three from six but I feel confident that with Billy next season, he will be older and wiser from today we'll soon have that sixth title under our belt. This has been a great season with the title being fought for down to the last corner of the last lap of the last race, for the spectators and those who will watch it on TV it's been a great championship, one which has been fought for very hard by all the competitors.