This morning’s surprise news that Billy Mackenzie will contest the Italian Grand Prix at Maggiora will be interesting to watch. The Scottish star has been a regular in Australia since 2010, but has extensive GP experience including victories at the top of the sport.

While we’d been anticipating Todd Waters’ appearance at last weekend’s French GP and again this weekend in Italy, it’ll now be Mackenzie we’ll have to monitor the current level off Australian Motocross against. As for Waters, he and KTM decided to delay his Euro guest rides until he’s 100 percent recovered from a recent head knock.

Where it all gets interesting though is the fact that Yamaha Motor Australia didn’t permit MX2 series leader Luke Styke to ride in Europe during the mid-season MX Nationals layoff. Styke’s there at the moment as a spectator, but any potential opportunities to race were denied by Yamaha from what we understand.

Now, Styke is obviously the title favourite in his class, but then again, Mackenzie is a promising third in the MX1 standings with four podiums from five starts. If it weren’t for his disastrous round at Wonthaggi, he’d be right there in the hunt. It’s all irrelevant who’s riding where for the most part when all’s said and done, but you can guarantee Styke would have loved to line up if the chance was there to do so.

Last weekend was a great one on the Aussie MX calendar with the running of the prestigious Manjimup 15,000 in Western Australia. Held in KTM Australia’s backyard over there in WA, Waters and rookie teammate Kirk Gibbs came up trumps with a 1-2 result much to the delight of KTM of course.

There’s a great synergy happening for that team right now and a real privilege to watch Waters and Gibbsy shine with so much race experience under their belt – exactly as general manager Jeff Leisk planned.

Billy Mackenzie will make a return to the GP scene in Italy this weekend. Image: Simon Makker/Makkreative.com.

Speaking of teams, Daniel McCoy has officially parted ways with Carlton Dry Honda Racing, although the team is yet to actually confirm it when contacted numerous times. McCoy was actually on a round-by-round deal, however both parties mutually agreed that considering his contract terms and difficult in attaining the top five results Honda was looking for, they’d split.

We could see McCoy back for Supercross aboard a Honda or even potentially in the team, but of course that’s some way off as we speak. A proven Supercross title contender, he’d be a strong option for teams, but in saying that he’s ridden for Motul Pirelli Suzuki, CDR Yamaha and Honda during the past couple of years so options are running thin.

On the topic of Supercross, the Australian Grand Prix Corporation today released details on the Phillip Island round. Apparently the rounds alongside the MotoGP will be the fourth and fifth stops of the season, but we’re yet to actually see the rest of the calendar.

What we do know is that Darwin will host the first two rounds in another double-header event, but apart from that International Entertainment Group seems to be piecing the puzzle together.

It may be the quiet time of the MX Nationals right now, but as usual there’s plenty of action going on across the world and behind the scenes – just the way we like it! Here’s Makker…

The lengthy mid-season break between rounds five and six of the Monster Energy MX Nationals has given a heap of riders the opportunity to head either overseas or interstate to have a crack at some other race meets.

While Matt and Jake Moss have headed to the US, Billy Mackenzie has answered the call to fill in for Stephen Frossard at the Italian grand prix with the Monster Energy Rinaldi Yamaha team.

Billy Mac has a long-standing relationship with Yamaha in Europe and will relish the opportunity to get back to his roots, catch up with some familiar faces and race against the world’s best without the pressure of championship points on the line.

Over in New Zealand, current MXD leader Hamish Harwood has continued his impressive profile rise when he finished the prestigious Michael Godfrey Memorial MX behind 2012 MX Nationals champ Josh Coppins and MX Nationals regular, Justin McDonald.

Dan McCoy’s future plans are up in air at this stage, stay tuned for more on that. Image: Simon Makker/Makkreative.com.

Harwood looks set to be one of the next big things to come out of New Zealand and continue the flow of blisteringly fast Kiwis who continue to emerge on the Australian scene.

In Australia the Manjimup 15,000 took centre-stage in WA, with WA-based manufacturer KTM flying their two racers, Todd Waters and Kirk Gibbs, over for it. Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jay Marmont returned to one of his favourite events to try and extend his reign at the natural-terrain MX to four years. It wasn’t meant to be as he rode to fourth behind Waters, Gibbs and local rider Jamie Law.

I had the opportunity to talk with Marmont yesterday and find out a bit about his 2013 form slump. We’ve grown accustomed to seeing him running at – or near – the front of the pack and it’s been disheartening to see him struggling to crack the top 10.

After talking to him it’s clear he’s struggling mentally after his confidence has taken multiple hits in the first half of the series. He said himself he’s in a dark place right now, but is taking the necessary steps to turn his attitude and form around.

Here’s hoping we see a rejuvenated, confident and blazing-fast Jay Marmont return to the start-gate when the series recommences at his home round of Appin in mid-July.

That’s all from me this week, here’s Spence!

With the Monster Energy MX Nationals mid-season break currently in full-swing, it’s interesting to see the choices each rider makes to assure they take full advantage of the time off.

Riders such as the Moss brothers have made their way to the US with Dan Reardon from AlterEgoElite. Making use of the abundance of high-quality outdoor tracks in Southern California, you can expect both Matt and Jake to come back to Australia very sharp.

Billy Mackenzie announced this week that he will re-join the GP scene for this weekend’s round in Italy aboard a Monster Energy Yamaha in the MX1 class, and Luke Styke is already over in Europe with Dean Ferris scoping out possible rides for the future.

Within Australia, riders have already been competing in one-off events such as the Manjimup 15,000. Todd Waters (who won the event), Kirk Gibbs and Jay Marmont all took advantage of the event to further tune their race craft. You can expect a majority of the field to be popping up at local races also throughout the break.

MXD contender Jay Wilson plans to carry his recent momentum into the final rounds of the season. Image: Simon Makker/Makkreative.com.

One group of riders currently joining forces and training together is Tye Simmonds, Luke Clout and Jay Wilson. The Yamaha mounted riders are currently at Simmonds’ hometown of Bourke in New South Wales laying down motos and pushing each other’s pace and having some fun with it undoubtedly.

Wilson is one rider from the group that I feel will benefit greatly from this mid-season break. The MXD contender has been struggling during the first-half of the season. The pre-season title favourite is sitting seventh in points currently and he isn’t excited about that.

I spoke with Wilson last week for this Race Recap interview which you can click here to view. The 18-year-old was mixing it up with BMX star Jai Toohey in the foam pit at the time, keeping it light and relaxed. This same attitude is what Wilson brought to his very successful MX2 debut at Conondale’s round five.

With a wild card MX2 entry into the event, Wilson put together his best performance of the season taking fourth overall in a class he had never lined up for in his career. He feels that this might be the turn around his season needed and looks forward to a big second-half of the season.

Funny enough, fourth overall is also the same result Serco Yamaha’s Clout earned at Raymond Terrace on debut before going on to take the overall win at Murray Bridge’s round two. Could some of Clout’s rookie wisdom rub off on Wilson during the break as they travel the east coast?

The mid-season break might not be for everyone, some riders may prefer a series that just motors on week-by-week. But for riders like Wilson who are battling with themselves to find their form, it couldn’t be anything other than a godsend.

Sure, we have to wait around for what feels like an eternity for the racing to return, but who can argue with the advantages of a rejuvenated, refined and excited field of riders? I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely excited to see riders such as Wilson hit the track on 14 July with an all new attitude and ready to win.

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