MANTOVA TOUGH FOR SUZUKI MEN
Team Suzuki's Kevin Strijbos could not make good on his pole
position today at a hot Mantova circuit for the Grand Prix
of Italy as the Belgian rode to fourth place overall in the
fourth round of 15 in the 2007 MX1 Motocross World Championship.
The Belgian was fast, consistent and comfortable on the rough
course on Saturday but could not repeat his form and speed
in the two motos. He gained third place in the opening race
but struggled with arm-pump and then crashed in the second
before finishing eighth and leaving the packed venue severely
disappointed.
Mantova provided a tough test for the MX1 protagonists as
the sand carved into a bumpy and demanding terrain but the
many jumps ensured plenty of air-time and kept the 29,000
crowd entertained. Temperatures in the high twenties meant
that the 35 minute and 2 lap motos were physically draining.
Strijbos, who took his second career pole position yesterday,
was part of the leading group that enacted an interesting
and lively first race. David Philippaerts and Marc de Reuver
crashed together, Ken de Dycker and Josh Coppins tangled for
the lead until the latter escaped, Tanel Leok cut through
to second and de Dycker suffered a DNF in the closing stages.
In the midst of the position-swapping, Strijbos remained steady
in third and his attempts to rise higher were only dented
by arm-pump that saw the Belgian maintain his own rhythm to
the flag.
Later in the afternoon he controversially clashed with Philippaerts
that put both riders on the ground and out of contention for
a top-five finish on the third lap. Strijbos remounted but
was unsatisfied with his riding for eighth.
"It has been a really bad day and I cannot explain it,"
he said. "I had arm-pump in the first moto. I could not
find my lines or a rhythm and it was terrible. Third place
was not a disaster of a result but I knew I could do much
better so I was disappointed. In the second race my start
was awful and then I crashed with Philippaerts. He was taking
the outside line and cut across and I was going too fast to
be able to brake in time. After that, the moto did not get
any better."
Ramon had another difficult day. The 27 year old started
poorly and took the first half of Moto1 to find his pace before
beginning to shift through the leaderboard. He moved up to
seventh by the end of proceedings. In the second moto he was
not completely happy with his set-up but nevertheless reeled
off a string of decent laps to find fifth place and the same
ranking overall
"The first moto was ruined by a bad start and again
I had to come from far behind," he offered. "I found
it difficult to pass and I was not riding well. My start was
better in the second race but it was hard to go full gas and
I think we need to make some more tests so we can get things
moving in the right direction."
The World Championship standings show that Strijbos has conceded
17 points to Josh Coppins at the top of the table and he now
needs to close a margin of 36 to head the series. He does
enjoy a 42 point gap, however, over Ramon in third.
The team will now head directly to the Talkessel circuit
in Teutschenthal for the Grand Prix of Germany this coming
weekend. A long journey to Sugo in Japan in three weeks time
then closes the month.
MX1 Moto1: 1. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha),
40:20.318; 2. Tanel Leok (EST, Kawasaki), +0:10.494; 3. Kevin
Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:16.085; 4. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA,
Kawasaki), +0:29.880; 5. James Noble (GBR, Honda), +0:34.911;
6. Billy Mackenzie (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:38.195; 7. Steve Ramon
(BEL, Suzuki), +0:42.294; 8. Gordon Crockard (IRL, Honda),
+0:46.664; 9. David Philippaerts (ITA, KTM), +0:49.336; 10.
Kornel Nemeth (HUN, Suzuki), +0:55.145.
MX1 Moto2: 1. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha),
40:56.507; 2. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), +0:05.757; 3. Marc
de Reuver (NED, Yamaha), +0:10.669; 4. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA,
Kawasaki), +0:13.407; 5. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), +0:15.793;
6. Tanel Leok (EST, Kawasaki), +0:19.242; 7. James Noble (GBR,
Honda), +0:28.599; 8. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:39.096;
9. Mike Brown (USA, Honda), +0:49.588; 10. Jonathan Barragan
(ESP, KTM), +0:59.306;
MX1 Overall: 1 COPPINS 50, 2 LEOK 37, 3
POURCEL 36, 4 STRIJBOS 33, 5 RAMON 30, 6 NOBLE 30, 7 DE DYCKER
22, 8 CROCKARD 22, 9 DE REUVER 20, 10 BROWN 19.
MX1 World Championship Standings (after 4 of 15 rounds):
1 COPPINS 194, 2 STRIJBOS 158, 3 RAMON 116, 4 DE DYCKER 106,
5 POURCEL 103, 6 BARRAGAN 100, 7 LEOK 98, 8 NOBLE 91, 9 BROWN
81, 10 DE REUVER 80.
|
