RAMON 2ND AT BULGARIAN GP
 The
Grand Prix of Bulgaria at the fast and undulating Sevlievo
circuit has seen another podium celebration at the eighth
round of 15 in the FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship for
Team Suzuki.
Lone representative Steve Ramon finished as runner-up for
the second time in a week with race results of fourth and
second.
Under sweltering weather conditions and watched by 26,000
spectators, the hillside, hard-packed course offered an sapping
set of 35 minute and 2 lap motos. The track was affected by
hot sun and was a hard-pack, fast and at times slippery surface,
quite unlike the deluge of rain that plummeted from the skies
12 months ago to create an ocean of standing water and one
of the few wet races of the 2006 campaign.
Ramon gained second position in Timed Practice yesterday
and used his high gate pick to place himself on the far inside
of the first corner. The former World Champion was happy with
the set-up of his machine from Saturday and feeling confident
after recent good form.
In the first moto, the 27 year old exited the sharp opening
corner in the mid top 10 but was too far adrift of Jonathan
Barragan, Josh Coppins and Sebastien Pourcel to have any designs
on the top three. The fast track permitted lap-times that
were very close therefore the Belgian was frustrated in his
attempts for further promotion. In the next moto he bustled
for second place with Coppins before the duo both overtook
Mike Brown within the first five laps. Coppins was able to
edge away and Ramon soon found himself holding a steady pace
behind the New Zealander and comfortably ahead of Italian
David Philippaerts.
Ramon, who rose to second position in the championship standings
after his moto victory and podium last week in France, is
now facing a 97-point gap to leader Coppins who claimed overall
success. He is 49 ahead of Philippaerts.
Kevin Strijbos expects to have some news on his troublesome
left knee tomorrow (Monday). If the internal bleeding has
stopped then the Belgian will be able to resume light training
and hopefully be in sufficiently decent shape to return for
the next Grand Prix. If the joint is still proving unstable
then he may need a third operation in six months. The 21 year
old has slipped to sixth in the standings because of his absence.
Team Suzuki will travel to Halle for the fourth round of
the Jumbo Dutch Championship next weekend - a series that
Ramon currently leads. They will then have the ninth round
of the world championship at Uddevalla for the Grand Prix
of Sweden the following week.
Steve Ramon:
"It was a good day. My start was not great in the first
moto but I pushed hard so that I could come through but I
had lost time to the first three. In the second race I was
strong again in the first laps and had a battle with Josh
for a little while there. He was quicker unfortunately and
I could not catch him so I concentrated on controlling the
gap over David. It was a good result for the championship
today although Josh got some more points on us and the title
is looking difficult. It is still possible of course and I
really want to win a Grand Prix before the end of the year."
MX1 Moto1: 1. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM),
39:53.521; 2. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), +0:09.925; 3.
Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:14.940; 4. Steve Ramon
(BEL, Suzuki), +0:19.054; 5. David Philippaerts (ITA, KTM),
+0:28.486; 6. Julien Bill (SUI, Honda), +0:34.539; 7. Mike
Brown (USA, Honda), +0:38.135; 8. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda),
+0:44.876; 9. Kornel Nemeth (HUN, Suzuki), +0:51.713; 10.
Julien Vanni (FRA, Honda), +1:06.047
MX1 Moto2: 1. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha),
40:21.572; 2. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), +0:09.056; 3. David
Philippaerts (ITA, KTM), +0:16.910; 4. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA,
Kawasaki), +0:26.226; 5. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), +0:31.909;
6. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), +0:35.325; 7. Julien Vanni
(FRA, Honda), +0:38.030; 8. Mike Brown (USA, Honda), +0:40.754;
9. Marc de Reuver (NED, Yamaha), +0:43.003; 10. Thomas Allier
(FRA, Kawasaki), +0:44.638
MX1 Overall result: 1. Joshua Coppins (NZL,
Yamaha), 47 points; 2. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), 41 p.;
3. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 40 p.; 4. Sebastien Pourcel
(FRA, Kawasaki), 38 p.; 5. David Philippaerts (ITA, KTM),
36 p.; 6. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), 28 p.; 7. Mike Brown
(USA, Honda), 27 p.; 8. Julien Vanni (FRA, Honda), 25 p.;
9. Marc de Reuver (NED, Yamaha), 21 p.; 10. Kornel Nemeth
(HUN, Suzuki), 21 p
MX1 World Championship Standings (after 8 of 15 rounds):
1. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), 368 points; 2. Steve Ramon
(BEL, Suzuki), 271 p.; 3. David Philippaerts (ITA, KTM), 222
p.; 4. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 222 p.; 5. Jonathan
Barragan (ESP, KTM), 214 p.; 6. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki),
211 p.; 7. Mike Brown (USA, Honda), 196 p.; 8. Tanel Leok
(EST, Kawasaki), 179 p.; 9. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), 178
p.; 10. Billy Mackenzie (GBR, Kawasaki), 154 p.
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