DOUBLE VICTORY FOR STRIJBOS
 A
wet and cold Grand Prix of Czech Republic watched by 24,000
spectators at the Loket circuit represented a fantastic 11th
round of the FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship for Team
Suzuki as Kevin Strijbos claimed his first double set of moto
wins for the third overall victory of his career and the second
this season.
As well as being the third GP triumph for the RM-Z450 it
was his second success at Loket where he celebrated debut
spoils in 2005.
With the double non-score by Josh Coppins, Steve Ramon -
who was sixth overall - narrowed the gap in the championship
from 107 to 77 points.
The slippery and stony Loket surface meant that the riders
had to take care during Saturday's practice and qualification
sessions particularly when frequent showers gave the fine
mud a generous coating. The terrain continued to shift throughout
the weekend. The layout, with few lines, made overtaking far
from simple and the braking and accelerating bumps made for
a rough track. The rain on Sunday carved the surface up further.
Starts were at a premium but the opening moto saw a frantic
spell of action in the middle of the race as ten riders formed
a leading group. Several of the protagonists such as Mackenzie,
Barragan and Seb Pourcel had crashed. Josh Coppins had a technical
problem that saw him stop and drop out of the points while
Barragan also retired. Strijbos was able to come through the
melee and take his first chequered flag since Portugal in
April. Ramon was part of the troupe but crashed while avoiding
a fallen Barragan and dropped down to a final slot of ninth,
only able to slice twelve points from Coppins' championship
lead when it could have been a lot more.
As the rain fell again to soak the entire second affair Strijbos
was again the rider more capable on the bumpy surface. He
stalked Sebastien Pourcel for the first half of the moto before
moving through and taking a comfortable win. Ramon had a better
race and beat Tanel Leok to take fourth.
"Of course I am happy. This feels good and I don't know
what it is that I have with this track," said Strijbos.
"The place itself is quite easy but today there were
a lot of bumps and almost one-line. The motos themselves were
tough because of the rain but we had no problems with the
bike. I just want to try and win some more now."
"I had some bad luck in the first moto," commented
Ramon. "I did not start well and things were tough at
the beginning but it was getting better and better. I made
it to the front and it was quite exciting with so many riders
close together. I was fourth or fifth and made a little mistake
that let Barragan pass me. I was faster than him and attacked
right away on the step-up but he got out of shape and had
crashed before he landed. I could not miss him and crashed
also. The bars were bent and the brake level in the wrong
place. It was two laps before I could start racing again and
I had lost a lot of time by then. In the second moto I came
back once more from an average start and it was a pity I could
do no better than sixth overall because Josh had a bad day.
He is still quite far ahead in the points but today showed
that anything can still happen."
"We are happy and it is nice to see Kevin riding to
his full potential," said Team Principal Sylvain Geboers.
"It is just his 'ups-and-downs' that he has to work on.
We will see what he can do for the rest of the season now
but we are pleased and really excited with this race. With
all the rumours about Kevin's future we have showed that we
try to do our best all the time."
The world championship is now gathering pace towards its
conclusion. With just four races left in a five week period
Ramon has 200 points left to win. His chances of snatching
the title from Coppins may look slim but the New Zealander
left the Czech venue nursing an injured shoulder. Strijbos
has risen to fifth and lies 22 points from third.
Team Suzuki will now ready themselves for their home event
with a short trip to the south of the country and the Citadelle
of Namur for the Grand Prix of Belgium next weekend.
MX1 Moto1: 1. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki),
39:56.279; 2. David Philippaerts (ITA, KTM), +0:02.216; 3.
Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), +0:04.589; 4. Julien Bill (SUI,
Honda), +0:05.780; 5. Tanel Leok (EST, Kawasaki), +0:06.730;
6. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:13.226; 7. Billy
Mackenzie (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:26.465; 8. Pierre A. Renet (FRA,
Honda), +0:28.504; 9. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), +0:34.782;
10. Marc de Reuver (NED, Yamaha), +0:38.782
MX1 Moto2: 1. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki),
39:09.725; 2. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:19.843;
3. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), +0:26.363; 4. Steve Ramon
(BEL, Suzuki), +0:30.461; 5. Tanel Leok (EST, Kawasaki), +0:32.006;
6. Billy Mackenzie (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:33.669; 7. Julien Bill
(SUI, Honda), +0:36.537; 8. Pierre A. Renet (FRA, Honda),
+1:04.741; 9. David Philippaerts (ITA, KTM), +1:09.927; 10.
Mike Brown (USA, Honda), +1:11.122
MX1 Overall result: 1. Kevin Strijbos (BEL,
Suzuki), 50 points; 2. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki),
37 p.; 3. David Philippaerts (ITA, KTM), 34 p.; 4. Tanel Leok
(EST, Kawasaki), 32 p.; 5. Julien Bill (SUI, Honda), 32 p.;
6. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 30 p.; 7. Billy Mackenzie (GBR,
Kawasaki), 29 p.; 8. Pierre A. Renet (FRA, Honda), 26 p.;
9. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), 20 p.; 10. Ken de Dycker
(BEL, Honda), 20 p
MX1 World championship Standings (after 11 of 15
rounds): 1. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), 445 points;
2. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 368 p.; 3. Sebastien Pourcel
(FRA, Kawasaki), 322 p.; 4. David Philippaerts (ITA, KTM),
312 p.; 5. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 300 p.; 6. Jonathan
Barragan (ESP, KTM), 292 p.; 7. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda),
276 p.; 8. Mike Brown (USA, Honda), 272 p.; 9. Tanel Leok
(EST, Kawasaki), 272 p.; 10. Billy Mackenzie (GBR, Kawasaki),
247 p.
|
