STRIJBOS BACK ON TOP FORM
 Team
Suzuki's Kevin Strijbos proved that he is coming back to full
speed and fitness just in time for the 10th round the 2007
FIM Motocross World Championship at Faenza this weekend by
winning all three motos at the fifth test of the 2CMX Belgian
Championship last Sunday.
The 21 year old collected a triple set at Nismes beating
team-mate and fellow works RM-Z450 rider Steve Ramon (third)
at the former Grand Prix circuit. "It was good to win
at Nismes and I found it a little easier than I expected,"
said Strijbos who has moved up to third in the domestic series
and holds fifth in the world championship standings. "I
was still a bit wary of how much I was able to push with my
knee but overall I was happy with my speed and race fitness.
"The Grand Prix this weekend will be tougher but I have
some confidence now and I hope to be able to get two good
motos together because in Sweden I could manage to only really
go with the leaders in the first race," added the Portuguese
Grand Prix winner.
Ramon managed to extend his lead in the Belgian competition
despite taking the lower step of the rostrum and carries a
58 point advantage with three rounds remaining. The 27 year
old will be looking to shrink further the deficit he faces
to Coppins in the world championship this Sunday that currently
lies at 89.
"My riding is now at a good level and that is obvious
in the results," the former world champion said ahead
of the GP series' second visit to Italy this year. "I
went testing at Faenze earlier this season, although I know
the track has been changed for the Grand Prix so it will be
interesting to see what we will find. It is a fun course track
with some hard-pack dirt. They say it will be hot for the
weekend so it will be a physical race. I managed to take a
few points away from Josh in Sweden and all we can do is try
to repeat that at each round. The championship will be very
hard to win but my main aim is still to take an overall GP
victory for Suzuki."
As for the future plans of the team there have been many
rumours and speculation in recent weeks with regards to the
personnel and line-up. "We are in negotiations at the
moment but we are not in a position to announce or confirm
anything just yet," said Team Principal Sylvain Geboers.
"As soon as Suzuki would like us declare the plans for
2008 then we will make them known right away."
Faenza is new to the world championship calendar but the
circuit itself is familiar to a sizeable element of the riding
fraternity as one of the preferred testing locations within
the country. Situated in the Ravenna province and close to
the cities of Bologna and Rimini the steep hillside hard-pack
venue has already been shortened from its original 1900m length
to meet FIM requirements and has also undergone modifications
to make the track more spectacular and television friendly.
The infrastructure itself - already a source of scepticism
for many due to its small size - has also been the subject
of alterations to cope with the scale and level of a 2007
Grand Prix standard paddock and to cater for an attendance
believed to crest at least 15,000.
The weather forecast for the weekend is unsurprisingly good
with sunshine and temperatures climbing above 35 degrees.
MX1 World Championship Standings (after 9 of 15 rounds):
1. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), 401 points; 2. Steve Ramon
(BEL, Suzuki), 312 p.; 3. David Philippaerts (ITA, KTM), 257
p.; 4. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), 240 p.; 5. Kevin Strijbos
(BEL, Suzuki), 235 p.; 6. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki),
235 p.; 7. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), 225 p.; 8. Mike Brown
(USA, Honda), 219 p.; 9. Tanel Leok (EST, Kawasaki), 217 p.;
10. Billy Mackenzie (GBR, Kawasaki), 186 p.
|
