SUZUKI MX1 SET FOR VALKENSWAARD
Team Suzuki will start the 2007 FIM MX1 World Championship
with both of their riders, Kevin Strijbos and Steve Ramon
- who finished second and third in 2006 - among the favourites
for the title.
The first round of 15 in the series will take place at the
newly modified and reversed Eurocircuit at Valkenswaard in
the Netherlands for the Grand Prix of Benelux.
The team have been through a fairly decent pre-season period.
Strijbos gained podiums at Valence (France) and Hawkstone
Park (winning the overall in Great Britain) while Ramon suffered
with illness but swept all three motos at Mons for the opening
round of the Belgian Championship on Sunday.
"It wasn't too difficult actually,' said Ramon. 'My
start in the first moto was not so good and the track was
wet and quite tricky because of the ruts. It wasn't that easy
to pass and I had to wait until near the end before I could
overtake Priem and win. My riding got better and quicker during
the day and with two holeshots the next motos were pretty
straightforward. It was a decent win but with Kevin out and
De Dycker racing in Britain there were not that many GP riders
there."
Strijbos elected not to compete less than a week after undergoing
minor knee surgery. The Belgian - the first and only rider
so far to give the RM-Z450 a Grand Prix victory - is currently
nursing the joint and is optimistic of making the start gate
on Sunday even if he is unlikely to be 100% fit.
"The knee is not bad but then it is not that good,"
he said. "It was alright last week and I went cycling
on Friday with the doctor giving me the ok but it felt sore
afterwards and I knew I would not be able to race at Mons.
Normally I should be fine to race at Valkenswaard. I am hoping
to ride on Wednesday and then I will see how it feels; I'll
visit the doctor again on Thursday. I will be at the first
Grand Prix even if I have to have an injection or race trying
to ignore the pain. My goal will be to take a top five finish
if the knee is ok and as many points as I can. With these
circumstances I don't want to lose much ground for the Championship
and then get better and ready for Spain."
The Eurocircuit, just south of Eindhoven, last hosted a Grand
Prix event back in 2004, scene in fact of the RM-Z450's maiden
podium result - a third position overall taken by Joel Smets
- and has a long World Championship history, hosting it's
first event back 33 years ago back n 1974.
Valkenswaard also holds pleasant memories for the team as
Mickael Pichon owned the 250cc class with the all-conquering
RM250 for three consecutive seasons at the venue.
For 2007 and the circuit's return to the world stage the
facility has undergone a major facelift. The shallow sandy
course along with its trademark hill (quite an unusual feature
for Dutch tracks) has been reversed with a new start-straight
located on the other side of the site. The paddock has also
become more compact as the Eurocircuit bids to compete with
Lierop as the Netherlands' premier motocross location.
Steve Ramon has taken two victories at Valkenswaard in the
past while Strijbos was second in Timed Practice and fifth
overall in 2004.
"I went to the launch press conference last week but
it was raining a lot so I did not even get a chance to walk
around it," said Ramon. "From what I have seen on
paper the changes look interesting and the track still has
many good features. I liked the old Valkenswaard track and
won two 125 Grand Prixs there in the past. It is not a special
place for me but I am feeling fit and looking forward to the
race; the bike is working well and we are confident."
Said Strijbos: "I haven't seen the
track but it sounds like it could be fun to race it the other
way around. It is a good place for me; the sand is not that
deep but the jumps are cool. It is close to where I live so
there is always a lot of support for me."
The weather forecast for the weekend is good and predicts
cloudy conditions but with sunny intervals.
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