TOP FIVE FOR SUZUKI
31 July 2006 - Suzuki Racing

Kevin Strijbos and Steve Ramon have taken fourth and fifth overall

A hot Loket circuit welocmed the Grand Prix of the Czech Republic and the 11th round of 15 in the FIM MX1 World Championship – only the second occasion this season that the RM-Z450 has not been on a GP podium.

The track was slick and getting rougher throughout the day as the heavy showers late Saturday afternoon had acted as an efficient watering system. The winding nature of the Loket layout meant that the riders were alternating between fast drops and climbs and tight hairpin sections that pushed balance, concentration and trust to the limit as precious grip was sought on the stony terrain. Twenty three thousand fans travelled to the venue as the Grand Prix series again benefited from some excellent weather on Sunday.

Strijbos, who started from pole position for the first time ever at the circuit where he gave the RM-Z450 its debut success last year, had initial pick of positions on the gate but suffered the majority of the opening moto with a sticking clutch lever. The Belgian had to adapt his riding to finish sixth after he had earlier shown his team mate Ramon around the Czech inclines.

In the second moto, Strijbos led after passing Jonathan Barragan and unearthed some good speed using a modified engine on the RM-Z that was tried and liked by the 20 year old on Saturday.

As suffered by the rest of the MX1 field for the entire season, Strijbos was a victim of Stefan Everts’ pace in race two but claimed his seventh second position from 22 motos this year so far; assisting in a good points haul and consolidating his second place in the Championship standings.

Ramon did not start particularly well in either outing and was not happy with his performance over the two races. The former World Champion was further hindered by a near-crash in the second moto that caused the 26 year old to twist his knee and lose time on the riders ahead of him in the top four. He was fourth and fifth by the end of the afternoon.

Both Strijbos and Ramon are still second and third in the Championship, split by 25 points in what has been an excellent campaign so far for the Belgian crew.

The team will have several days to prepare for their home Grand Prix which will take place next weekend at the daunting and distinct Namur circuit located on the Citadelle within the city centre near the French border. The Belgian round will be first of four remaining races in a seven-week period leading up to the end of this season’s competition.

Kevin Strijbos:

“On the sighting lap of the first moto I felt something wrong with the clutch. I asked my mechanic Luk if he had changed anything and he said he hadn’t. I thought it might just have been me but after two laps the lever was getting stuck and in the end I had to stop using it, which made life difficult in the slow corners. I had a fight with De Dycker and I wasn’t happy with some of his moves and told him afterwards! I had a good start in the second race and got through to the lead. I lost traction on the front end and ran over a berm in one of the corners and Everts was close enough to come past me. I was happy enough with second place but being off the podium wasn’t great. I will start training in the sand again now and that will be good preparation for the next few races.”

Steve Ramon:

“My starts were not that great and my riding was not good either today. I got away ok in the first moto but I spent too long behind Strijbos and Everts was able to make a gap. On this track you have to be right with the leaders to stand any chance of finishing at the front. I was not satisfied with my performance, even in that first moto with fourth. The lines would not come and I almost crashed in the second moto on the pitlane straight which caused me to twist my knee a little bit. I needed three or four corners to get my speed up after the shock of the pain. This is still not my favourite track and I hope for much better at the next four GPs.”

MX1 Race 1: 1 Stefan EVERTS (BEL), YAMAHA 40:08.345, 2 Joshua COPPINS (NZL), HONDA 40:12.866, 3 Jonathan BARRAGAN (SPA), KTM 40:23.505, 4 Steve RAMON (BEL), SUZUKI 40:32.700, 5 Ken DE DYCKER (BEL), HONDA 40:42.379, 6 Kevin STRIJBOS (BEL), SUZUKI 40:47.275, 7 James NOBLE (GBR), HONDA 40:54.616, 8 Tanel LEOK (EST), KAWASAKI 41:13.603, 9 Pascal LEURET (FRA), HONDA 41:20.217, 10 Wyatt AVIS (RSA), KTM 41:27.261

MX1 Race 2: 1 Stefan EVERTS (BEL), YAMAHA 40:35.004, 2 Kevin STRIJBOS (BEL), SUZUKI 40:40.774, 3 Joshua COPPINS (NZL), HONDA 40:50.620, 4 Jonathan BARRAGAN (SPA), KTM 41:00.453, 5 Steve RAMON (BEL), SUZUKI 41:10.811, 6 Ken DE DYCKER (BEL), HONDA 41:14.907, 7 Gordon CROCKARD (GBR), HONDA 41:20.964, 8 Cedric MELOTTE (BEL), YAMAHA 41:30.619, 9 Tanel LEOK (EST), KAWASAKI 41:33.648, 10 Manuel PRIEM (BEL), YAMAHA 41:38.428

MX1 Overall Classification: 1 Stefan EVERTS (BEL), YAMAHA 50, 2 Joshua COPPINS (NZL), HONDA 42, 3 Jonathan BARRAGAN (SPA), KTM 38, 4 Kevin STRIJBOS (BEL), SUZUKI 37, 5 Steve RAMON (BEL), SUZUKI 34, 6 Ken DE DYCKER (BEL), HONDA 31, 7 Tanel LEOK (EST), KAWASAKI 25, 8 James NOBLE (GBR), HONDA 23, 9 Manuel PRIEM (BEL), YAMAHA 21, 10 Wyatt AVIS (RSA), KTM 21

MX1 World Championship Standings (after 11 of 15 rounds): 1 Stefan EVERTS (BEL) 542, 2 Kevin STRIJBOS (BEL) 393, 3 Steve RAMON (BEL) 368, 4 Tanel LEOK (EST) 355, 5 Ken DE DYCKER (BEL) 353, 6 J.BARRAGAN (SPA) 273, 7 Pascal LEURET (FRA) 202, 8 Cedric MELOTTE (BEL) 190, 9 Manuel PRIEM (BEL) 189, 10 J. GARCIA VICO (SPA) 172.

Manufacturer’s Standings: 1 YAMAHA 542, 2 SUZUKI 449, 3 HONDA 403, 4 KAWASAKI 359, 5 KTM 329, 6 TM 128

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