Billy Mackenzie celebrated his third Super X podium in three tries on Saturday night. Image: Shayne Rice - Rice Photography.

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Billy Mackenzie is hoping to capitalise on his performance in the opening round of Monster Energy Super X, scoring second on Saturday night in Melbourne.

Mackenzie continued his perfect podium record in Super X despite treacherous conditions, finishing second after crashing while leading the reduced 12-lap main event.

With the riders who Mackenzie believes will be his title challengers struggling in the conditions, he’s happy to gain vital points in the series’ early stages.

“It was definitely a better start to Super X this year for me than last year,” Mackenzie noted. “I stuck to my lines, kept it straight, concentrated and tried not to make too many mistakes in the terrible conditions out there and it paid off.

“I’ve been getting a lot of good supercross practice in recently as well, so I feel confident for this series not just in the wet, but the dry as well.

“The riders who I thought were going to be my biggest contenders had bad races this round so it was good to stay consistent. I feel I did the best I could in a bad situation.”

Mackenzie was also happy with his debut aboard the 2012 model KX450F, the team gaining additional support from Pro Circuit on the new model.

“The new 2012 KX450F performed really well,” he added. “It has noticeably more power than last year’s bike and I think it’s a massive improvement on an already good thing.”