What's happening at CDR Yamaha in Australia?

CDR Yamaha will enter the 2013 season looking for a sixth straight MX Nationals championship with Lawson Bopping and Billy Mackenzie at the controls of teams factory YZ450Fs.

Competing in the premier MX1, CDR Yamaha is pulling out all the stops to keep their win streak alive and keep the YZ450F ahead of the pack. With the retirement of 2012 champ, Josh Coppins, CDR went on the search for a new rider capable of winning races and championships. That search ended with the signature of ex GP racer, Billy Mackenzie.

Craig Dack: "I have watched Billy a lot over the past few seasons and his speed has always been impressive. I felt there were a couple of areas he needed to address and we have spoken about them and now that he is settled in Australia and comfortable racing here combined with his new attitude and CDR’s on going desire to stay out front, I’m confident Billy will be a major contender in 2013.”

Mackenzie himself is excited to be on the CDR team and back on Yamaha where he spent a lot of years on the blue bikes during his GP days. Since getting a YZ450F in December, Mackenzie has been hard at work in preparation for the New Zealand Motocross championships and the prized MX Nationals.

Billy Mackenzie.  Photo credits: Shayne Rice / 404 shots

Billy Mackenzie: "The first time I sat on the team bike, it just felt right. The team has great staff and enormous knowledge on the bikes and the years spent developing them is obvious. CDR Yamaha is the most professional team in the pits and I’m humbled Craig selected me and this is my chance to make this year the best year of my career.”

After impressing in 2012, Lawson Bopping is back on the team for his second year and looking to continue his surge up the field. Bopping surprised many in 2012 with his bursts of speed and fantastic results that saw him finish in the top five of both motocross and supercross championships.

In 2012, Bopping set many of the fastest laps, qualified on pole and won several heat races and round wins. He wants nothing more to keep momentum going forward for 2013.

Lawson Bopping. Photo credits: Shayne Rice / 404 shots

Lawson Bopping: "Last year was great and it was a huge learning curve for me to be on a team like CDR. I now know what is expected and how things work within the team and also I’m totally familiar with the YZ450F so with a good pre-season behind me, I expect my results to improve in 2013. We already have a great base to start pre-season testing and the team is ready to go. The MX Nationals start in April and it’s going to be a great year,”

Mackenzie is already going back and forth to New Zealand to work to ride for the JCR Yamaha team in their MX1 championships which started last weekend at Timaru where he was 2nd to Cody Cooper.  It will prove to be the perfect hit out and warm up for the MX Nationals for Mackenzie and hopefully kick start his 2013 campaign.

Bopping will work closely with the team in getting the bike perfect to his requirements and also spend some time at the AIS in Canberra honing his fitness prior to the April kick off.