STRIJBOS TAKES 3RD PODIUM
19 June 2006 - Suzuki Racing

Team Suzuki’s Kevin Strijbos notched his third podium in a row and fifth top-three result in the last six races on the RM-Z450 with runner-up position today at a spectator-packed and hot Matterley Basin for the British Grand Prix

The eighth round of the MX1 World Championship.

Strijbos started poorly in the opening moto which meant 20 laps of hard work to push his way past the Kawasaki of Tanel Leok and the Yamaha of Cedric Melotte to capture fourth place. In the second sprint, he circulated at the front of the pack with team-mate Steve Ramon as Stefan Everts had earlier crashed from the lead to fourth. The inevitable retaliation by the World Champion, who has won the first seven GPs of the year, arrived at the midway stage of the 35 minutes and two laps and Strijbos tried his best to hang onto his countryman but the Belgian romped home to a 13th consecutive moto triumph.

The Matterley Basin circuit had been worked on overnight but still remained dry, hard and dusty in places. The course seemed very quick but the riders were still hitting over two minute lap-times and the average speed remained under 50 kilometres per hour.

Strijbos’ second place is his fifth from the last six motos in an impressively consistent spree of form and justifying his status as Everts’ nearest challenger; a claim also vindicated by his standing of second in the Championship table, 15 points ahead of Leok.

Steve Ramon was third in the second moto but a third podium double for the team was not possible due to a first race crash by the 26 year old.

Ramon had been leading on the first few corners but then fell and faced catching up the pack from half a lap down. Despite being slightly dazed and with some neck pain the Belgian drilled his RM-450 for the remaining 19 laps and gained seven points for 14th. The energy dispelled in his comeback left little for a late strong showing in the second moto and he walked away from Matterley with seventh overall.

The World Championship now pauses for a week and a deserved rest after a frantic stint of three consecutive races. The Uddevalla circuit north of Gothenburg will entertain the Grand Prix of Sweden in a fortnight.

Kevin Strijbos:

“I am happy with second even if my first race was not so good because of a bad start. I came back from fifteenth to fourth and up to the back of Josh and Ken but I could not pass them. In the second moto I felt better and faster and was trying to overtake Steve for the lead but I couldn’t find a way through and Stefan caught us back up. I was pushing hard at the end but as usual passing Stefan was not easy! The track was not too bad. On some corners it was too dusty but it was same for everyone.”

Steve Ramon:

“I was leading the first moto at the start but jumping the downhill I lost the front wheel. I slid down and had a hard crash. I felt groggy when I picked up the bike and I could see the riders half a lap in front of me. I was wondering what I could do and then just went for it. I pushed really hard to close the gap to the others and fourteenth was OK. In the second moto I started well again and I was right behind Stefan when he made the mistake so I had the lead. Towards the end there though I was getting tired because that first moto had been tough and I had to slow down a little bit. I was happy with my riding and it as nice to be leading a Grand Prix for a change but obviously the result is a bit disappointing.”

MX1 Moto1: 1 Stefan EVERTS, BEL (YAMAHA) 41:08.529, 2 Ken DE DYCKER, BEL (HONDA) 41:13.345, 3 Joshua COPPINS, NZL (HONDA) 41:13.822, 4 Kevin STRIJBOS, BEL (SUZUKI) 41:14.965, 5 Cedric MELOTTE, BEL (YAMAHA) 41:25.318, 6 Tanel LEOK, EST (KAWASAKI) 41:29.242, 7 Gordon CROCKARD, GBR (HONDA) 41:34.705, 8 Javier GARCIA VICO, SPA (HONDA) 41:37.356, 9 Pascal LEURET, FRA (HONDA) 41:45.574, 10 Julien BILL, SUI (YAMAHA) 41:51.550. 14 Steve RAMON, BEL (SUZUKI) 42:27.325.

MX1 Moto2: 1 Stefan EVERTS, BEL (YAMAHA) 39:21.708, 2 Kevin STRIJBOS, BEL (SUZUKI) 39:25.080, 3 Steve RAMON, BEL (SUZUKI) 39:37.583, 4 Tanel LEOK, EST (KAWASAKI) 39:59.379, 5 Joshua COPPINS, NZL (HONDA) 40:07.155, 6 Jonathan BARRAGAN, SPA (KTM) 40:12.384, 7 Ken DE DYCKER, BEL (HONDA) 40:18.179, 8 Cedric MELOTTE, BEL (YAMAHA) 40:21.334, 9 Marvin VAN DAELE, BEL (HONDA) 40:25.300, 10 Javier GARCIA VICO, SPA (HONDA) 40:30.581

MX1 Overall result: 1 Stefan EVERTS, BEL (YAMAHA) 50, 2 Kevin STRIJBOS, BEL (SUZUKI) 40, 3 Joshua COPPINS, NZL (HONDA) 36, 4 Ken DE DYCKER, BEL (HONDA) 36, 5 Tanel LEOK, EST (KAWASAKI) 33, 6 Cedric MELOTTE, BEL (YAMAHA) 29, 7 Steve RAMON, BEL (SUZUKI) 27, 8 Jonathan BARRAGAN, SPA (KTM) 24, 9 Javier GARCIA VICO, SPA (HONDA) 24, 10 James NOBLE, GBR (HONDA) 19.

MX1 World Championship Standings (after 8 rounds of 15): 1 Stefan EVERTS (BEL) 392, 2 Kevin STRIJBOS (BEL) 293, 3 LEOK Tanel (EST) 278, 4 Ken DE DYCKER (BEL) 267, 5 Steve RAMON (BEL) 254, 6 J.BARRAGAN (SPA) 190, 7 Pascal LEURET (FRA) 159, 8 Cedric MELOTTE (BEL) 147, 9 J.GARCIA VICO (SPA) 139, 10 Manuel PRIEM (BEL) 136.

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