RAMON TAKES 2ND PODIUM IN JAPAN
 Team
Suzuki rider Steve Ramon claimed runner-up position in the
fifth round of the MX1 Motocross World Championship at a hot
and sunny Sugo circuit for the Grand Prix of Japan this afternoon.
The Belgian lifted his second set of silverware for the squad
after just five events and extends Suzuki’s podium streak
to four successive races. He was fourth and second in front
of 17, 500 sun-tanned spectators at another impressive Japanese
Grand Prix.
23, 600 fans in total travelled to the venue located a few
kilometres from the road racing circuit used in the past for
World Superbike events and were treated to some riveting action
facilitated by the excellent course. The Sugo soil had been
meticulously prepared and the soft terrain soon carved into
numerous racing lines. Rough and bumpy, the two MX1 motos
were a fast but technical test in which speeds were similar
and small mistakes ultimately costly.
Ramon was third at the end of the first lap after briefly
passing Cedric Melotte for second spot but was reeled in by
Ken De Dycker and Tanel Leok. The Belgian eventually managed
to obtain fifth from Melotte on the last lap. After qualifying
in fifth position, Kevin Strijbos had a nightmare start by
getting boxed in around the first bend of the tight initial
‘S’ section. He then struggled to thread his way
through the pack of riders ahead of him and finished a frustrated
12th.
Ramon tried to follow the escaping Stefan Everts in race
two after having taking second position from KTM’s Jonathan
Barragan but the World Champion proved superior in both events
today. Ramon completed a fairly lonely ride but his second
place represented his highest moto result of the year so far
and assisted towards the same standing on the overall classification
sheet. Strijbos was unlucky to get tangled with a falling
Leok going through the tricky first corners but unveiled a
completely contrasting performance to the first race by rising
from last to fourth with an impressive rally. He emerged victorious
from a spectacular four rider battle at one stage and sealed
seventh overall with his efforts.
Strijbos has slipped to fourth in the World Championship
standings and is only three points behind his team-mate. Suzuki
is currently second in the Manufacturers points table.
Shinichi Kaga was 19th and a decent 11th, for 15th overall
on the fuel-injected RM-Z 450.
The team will visit the Suzuki factory on Monday before beginning
the long trip back to Europe.
The sixth round of 15 in the World Championship will take
place at the Sevlievo circuit for the Grand Prix of Bulgaria
on June 4th.
Steve Ramon:
“My start was not so good in the first moto but I made
some good positions in the first two corners. My riding was
not great after that because I could not get into a rhythm
and I saw that Stefan was pushing very hard at the beginning.
I lost two places in the middle of the race but towards the
end I was improving and could close the gap to Ken and Tanel,
although there was no time to attack. Fourth was ok but it
could have been better.
“In the second moto I was hanging third and the whole
race was tough for me; I had to work hard on the bike. To
finish second overall is a good result. Stefan was too fast
today and we will try in the next GPs to beat him but at this
moment it is really difficult. I want to give many thanks
to Suzuki and the team because they worked very hard to give
me the best bike they can. This runner-up position also feels
a little bit special because we are here in Japan. It has
been a nice trip.”
Kevin Strijbos:
“The day was good and bad. I had my worst and my best
races of the season. In the first moto I could not find my
lines and was too slow and I was not happy at all. My second
moto start was pretty bad. Tanel fell in front of me and because
I had my rear braking foot off the peg I could not turn the
bike and I hit him. It was bad luck because I had a decent
race after that and came back from last to fourth. My riding
was better and the lines came to me whereas the first heat
was just terrible.”
Eric Geboers:
“It is another podium for us but I am never enthusiastic
until we are on the highest step. It is going to be difficult
this year to get that win from what we have already seen so
far! We had great support from Suzuki this weekend and the
atmosphere around the team was much better after the second
race compared to the first!”
MX1 Moto1: 1 Stefan Everts, BEL (Yamaha)
40:42.166, 2 Ken De Dycker, BEL (Honda) 40:56.316, 3 Tanel
Leok, EST (Kawasaki) 40:58.110, 4 Steve Ramon, BEL (Suzuki)
41:05.772, 5 Brian Jorgensen, DEN (Honda) 41:11.949, 6 Cedric
Melotte, BEL (Yamaha) 41:24.773, 7 James Noble, GBR (Honda)
41:30.852, 8 Jonathan Barragan, SPA (KTM) 41:36.404, 9 Manuel
Priem, BEL (Yamaha) 41:37.884, 10 Marvin Van Daele, BEL (Honda)
41:39.886. 12 Kevin Strijbos, BEL (Suzuki) 41:56.267. 19 Shinichi
Kaga, JPN (Suzuki) 40:50.992.
MX1 Moto2: 1 Everts 39:44.664, 2 Ramon 40:07.800,
3 Barragan 40:15.525, 4 Strijbos 40:22.057, 5 Van Daele 40:25.169,
6 Priem 40:30.894, 7 Noble 40:33.929, 8 De Dycker 40:39.308,
9 Akira Narita, JPN (Yamaha) 40:43.491, 10 Danny Theybers,
BEL (Suzuki) 40:46.892. 11 Kaga 40:52.325.
MX1 Overall Classification: 1 Everts 50,
2 Ramon 40, 3 De Dycker 35, 4 Barragan 33, 5 Leok 29, 6 Noble
28, 7 Strijbos 27, 8 Van Daele 27, 9 Priem 27, 10 Melotte
21. 15 Kaga 12.
MX1 World Championship Standings (after 5 of 15 rounds):
1 Everts 242, 2 Leok 181, 3 De Dycker 168, 4 Strijbos
165, 5 Ramon 151, 6 Barragan 150, 7 Melotte 105, 8 Tortelli
99, 9 Priem 99, 10 Leuret 93.
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