STRIJBOS 11TH ON ISLE OF WIGHT
28 August 2005 - Suzuki Racing

Kevin Strijbos scored 11th today with the RM-Z450 at Gore-Basin for the Grand Prix of England, the 15th round of the 2005 FIM World Championship.

Hot sunshine and clear blue skies greeted 27,000 spectators who poured through the gates and packed the popular circuit situated in the rolling Arreton downs in the centre of the Island.

Strijbos, who had also qualified 11th, suffered the same problems with adapting to the circuit and working up a level of confidence in which to attack the Gore-Basin ruts and jumps that affected his progress through practice yesterday.

The Belgian started the first moto brightly but due to arm-pump was not able to attack the riders ahead of him in a convincing manner even if his tussle for ninth was an action highlight of the 40 minute sprint; the 20 year old passed the chequered flag in 11th.

A slightly worse jump in the second moto meant that the RM-Z pilot had to make ground from the back of the pack and was disappointed with 14th place.

Motovision Suzuki Racing''s Yoshitaka Atsuta collected 15th overall and was less than enthused with his standing although he picked up a top-10 position in the second moto. The Japanese ace had been as high as seventh in the last race of the day but was relegated by Manuel Priem and James Noble in the second half of the duration. In Moto1 he crashed twice and picked up three points for 18th.

Strijbos lies 18th in the World Championship points table but has missed almost a third of the season due to an ankle injury, dislocated shoulder and a case of thrombosis. Atsuta is 14th and some distance away from the top 13.

The Grand Prix of the Netherlands, the penultimate round of the series and the third race in as many weeks, awaits the teams and riders next weekend at the Lierop circuit.

Kevin Strijbos:

''A pretty bad GP. I got a good start in the first moto but I was too slow in the first few laps, I got tense and my arms pumped up. I could not push at all and just had to ride at my own pace. I got boxed in and had a bad start for the next race and I was riding terribly. I don''t know what happened today. The track was really rough but it was the same for everyone; this was just not my Grand Prix.''

Yoshitaka Atsuta:

''My timing was not good at the start of the first moto and I was 15th in the first few turns. I crashed once and then again right afterwards. My riding was good but it was very hard to make up positions and points because I was so far behind. I started much better in the second moto and was in seventh but then I struggled to pass Jussi Vehvilainen and everybody behind caught me up. I dropped down to 10th. Overall it was a disappointing day.''

MX1 Moto1: 1 Steve Ramon, BEL (KTM) 39:49.678. 2 Mickael Pichon, FRA (Honda) 39:51.661. 3 Ben Townley, NZL (KTM) 39:52.575. 4 Joshua Coppins, NZL (Honda) 40:02.874. 5 Stefan Everts, BEL (Yamaha) 40:15.953. 6 Brian Jorgensen, DEN (Yamaha) 40:18.271. 7 Tanel Leok, EST (Kawasaki) 40:21.993. 8 Jonathan Barragan, SPA (KTM) 40:50.760. 9 Jussi Vehvilainen, FIN (Honda) 40:57.455. 10 Kevin Strijbos, BEL (Suzuki) 41:00.298. 14 Danny Theybers, BEL (Suzuki) 41:24.799. 18 Yoshitaka Atsuta, JPN (Suzuki) 41:49.948.

MX1 Moto2: 1 Ben Townley, NZL (KTM) 39:52.981. 2 Joshua Coppins, NZL (Honda) 39:56.629. 3 Mickael Pichon, FRA (Honda) 40:03.255. 4 Steve Ramon, BEL (KTM) 40:10.429. 5 Stefan Everts, BEL (Yamaha) 40:13.710. 6 Jonathan Barragan, SPA (KTM) 40:53.053. 7 Manuel Priem, BEL (Yamaha) 40:58.166. 8 James Noble, GBR (Honda) 41:01.539. 9 Jussi Vehvilainen, FIN (Honda) 41:03.617. 10 Yoshitaka Atsuta, JPN (Suzuki) 41:04.149. 12 Danny Theybers, BEL (Suzuki) 41:06.611. 14 Kevin Strijbos, BEL (Suzuki) 41:47.905.

MX1 Overall Result: 1 Ben Townley, NZL (KTM) 45. 2 Steve Ramon, BEL (KTM) 43. 3 Mickael Pichon, FRA (Honda) 42. 4 Joshua Coppins, NZL (Honda) 40. 5 Stefan Everts, BEL (Yamaha) 32. 6 Jonathan Barragan, SPA (KTM) 28. 7 Jussi Vehvilainen, FIN (Honda) 24. 8 James Noble, GBR (Honda) 22. 9 Pascal Leuret, FRA (Honda) 18. 10 Antti Pyrhonen, FIN (TM) 18. 11 Kevin Strijbos, BEL (Suzuki) 18. 12 Danny Theybers, BEL (Suzuki) 16. 15 Yoshitaka Atsuta, JPN (Suzuki) 14.

MX1 World Championship Standings (after 15 rounds): 1 Stefan Everts, BEL 621. 2 Joshua Coppins, NZL 576. 3 Ben Townley, NZL 505. 4 Mickael Pichon, FRA 446. 5 Steve Ramon, BEL 423. 6 Joel Smets, BEL 385. 7 Pascal Leuret, FRA 296. 8 Ken de Dijcker, BEL 274. 9 James Noble, GBR 274. 10 Tanel Leok, EST 268. 11 Jonathan .Barragan, SPA 256. 12 Brian .Jorgensen, DEN 249. 13 Danny Theybers, BEL 242. 14 Yoshitaka Atsuta, JPN 199. 18 Kevin Strijbos, BEL 144.

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