STRIJBOS AND RM-Z450 WIN IN PORTUGAL
 The
Grand Prix of Portugal at a warm and bright Agueda circuit
has been a memorable one for Kevin Strijbos and Team Suzuki
as the Belgian left the third round of 15 in the 2007 FIM
MX1 Motocross World Championship with his second career victory
and the second triumph for the RM-Z450.
The 21 year old fought with Josh Coppins in both motos under
hot and sunny conditions and watched by a crowd of 18,000
spectators. The Agueda circuit was dry, rough and fast offering
a decent racing surface by virtue of the lines available.
Strijbos led the first half of Moto1 before being overhauled
by a charging Coppins but would have his revenge later in
the afternoon. He passed early front-runner Sebastien Pourcel
and again set the pace. Coppins came close and even seized
the lead around mid-distance but Strijbos retaliated immediately
and then initiated a flurry of laps to pull away and notch
his first moto success of the year.
The team celebrated their second overall victory with the
four-stroke factory machine after the maiden garland was collected
- again by Strijbos - back at the Loket circuit and the Czech
Republic Grand Prix in 2005.
"This feels good, for sure," the winner said. "The
first moto was hard. Josh was faster and I couldn't follow,
but in the last race I had good speed and put my head down;
I went full gas for the whole moto and really wanted that
win. It was important that I passed Josh back in the same
lap; I was happy with that. I have been training a lot on
the bike since the GPs have started and now my fitness is
right there. The team is working very hard, and has been right
through the winter, so it was great to do this today."
Steve Ramon had another Portuguese round to forget. The Belgian
crashed heavily last year and suffered a concussion. This
time he was a victim of two first lap accidents that saw him
having to work diligently to come back through the pack. The
former World Champion managed to reach 11th in Moto1 and then
a creditable eighth in Moto2 for eighth overall.
"I went down twice and this was the story of my results
today," he offered. "In the first moto I had a good
start but going over the first jump, Philippaerts hit a straw
bale and I was in between the bale and him so I lost some
places and crashed. My riding after that was pretty good but
I had to push hard to come back and pass riders on a track
that was not easy. I hoped to do better in the second moto
because I felt like my speed was ok. On the next start I was
fifth going up the jump and went for the second rut. Somebody
came from the inside but ran out and over into me. I hit the
floor with another rider on top of me so I could not get up.
From that point it was hard work because again I was looking
at the whole field in front. I was feeling good in that race.
The result was not great and I am disappointed, but to come
back from last to eighth was at least something. I hope I
have some better luck in the next GPs!"
After events in Agueda today Strijbos and Ramon now hold
second and fourth positions in the World Championship standings
respectively. Strijbos is 19 points adrift of Coppins.
"We have been successful this time and the hard work
paid off," commented Team Principal Sylvain Geboers.
"This kind of track is very demanding for both rider
and machine. I think we proved that we have the possibility
to be a very strong contender for this championship."
The third round of the Belgian Championship sees both Team
Suzuki riders busy next weekend before getting ready for more
back-to-back Grands Prix with trips to Mantova in Italy followed
directly by Teutschenthal in Germany.
MX1 Moto1: 1. Joshua Coppins (Yamaha), 39:18.003;
2. Kevin Strijbos (Suzuki), -0:11.015; 3. David Philippaerts
(KTM), -0:14.133; 4. Tanel Leok (Kawasaki), -0:17.340; 5.
James Noble (Honda), -0:40.774; 6. Manuel Priem (TM), -0:47.158;
7. Ken de Dycker (Honda), -0:55.077; 8. Kornel Nemeth (Suzuki),
-1:00.740; 9. Mike Brown (Honda), -1:05.022; 10. Sebastien
Pourcel (Kawasaki), -1:10.096. 11. Steve Ramon (Suzuki), -1:13.650.
MX1 Moto2: 1. Kevin Strijbos (Suzuki), 39:43.882;
2. Joshua Coppins (Yamaha), -0:20.114; 3. Sebastien Pourcel
(Kawasaki), -0:32.151; 4. Manuel Priem (TM), -0:38.825; 5.
David Philippaerts (KTM), -0:45.242; 6. Thomas Allier (Kawasaki),
-0:48.725; 7. Mike Brown (Honda), -0:52.165; 8. Steve Ramon
(Suzuki), -0:56.399; 9. Billy Mackenzie (Kawasaki), -0:57.586;
10. Kornel Nemeth (Suzuki), -0:58.844.
MX1 Overall: 1 Kevin Strijbos 47, 2 Joshua
Coppins 47, 3 David Philippaerts 36, 4 Manuel Priem 33, 5
Sebastien Pourcel 31, 6 Mike Brown 26, 7 Kornel Nemeth 24,
8 Steve Ramon 23, 9 Ken De Dycker 23, 10 James Noble 21.
MX1 World Championship Points (after 3 from 15 rounds):
1 Joshua Coppins (NZL) 144, 2 Kevin Strijbos (BEL) 125, 3
Jonathan Barragan (ESP) 89, 4 Ramon Steve (BEL) 86, 5 Ken
De Dycker (BEL) 84.
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