SUZUKI AIMS FOR SUGO PODIUM
 The
Grand Prix of Japan and the sixth round of the FIM MX1 Motocross
World Championship will take place for the third consecutive
year and the third time this century at the revered Sugo circuit
near to the city of Sendai this weekend.
Team Suzuki, after taking third and second positions in 2005
and 2006 respectively, hope to continue their upward trajectory
in the sole flyaway event on this season's schedule.
Belgian duo Kevin Strijbos and Steve Ramon currently stand
second and third in the series classification with a total
of one victory and four podiums (two each) from the five rounds
of 15 run so far.
"The season has seen some very good moments and also
some bad," reflected Team Principal Sylvain Geboers.
"The margin between the two has been so close and we
have missed consistency. We want more of the good moments
and we are looking for both Kevin and Steve to really show
their ability and potential because there are few riders who
are supported as well as we are in terms of backing from the
manufacturer."
The Sugo circuit is immensely popular among the World Championship
fraternity. The hilly track located adjacent to the road racing
facility has a soft, loamy surface that gets rough, bumpy
and more technical as the ruts emerge. The event is normally
well attended and for the factory-supported teams there is
obvious added kudos to performing well. "It would be
a really great thing if we can win in Sugo," confirms
Geboers, "I think that we can do very well and there
has been a group of six riders capable of winning heats and
Grand Prix this year and we are fortunate to have two of the
six in our team. It means that there are four riders on the
same level though and this has made the racing so exciting
this season. I only ask of our riders now that they can make
a small step forward and try to break free from this group
but, of course, it is not easy."
Ramon finished second at Sugo 12 months ago while Joel Smets
was third overall on the RM-Z450 in 2005.
The Japanese Grand Prix traditionally brings to light some
of the latest technical developments that the manufacturers
are currently working on, with numerous local riders using
the event for testing as well as racing. 2006 witnessed Suzuki's
experimentation with fuel injection on the RM-Z450 although
this is still a little way off entering the hands of the factory
team. "We are bound to see some technical modifications
on the bikes of the Japanese Suzuki-supported riders but I
think it is very doubtful that any of these - like the fuel
injection - come into our team before the end of the season,"
commented Geboers.
Last weekend Ramon finished second in the fourth round of
the United Telecom Belgian Championship at Kester. The former
World Champion leads the series by 48 points. Only a few days
beforehand Strijbos - who could not figure among the leading
positions in Kester - won the second round of the Dutch Championship
at Rhenen in front of his team-mate.
Early weather conditions indicated a cloudy but bright forecast
with the chance of rain for the weekend.
MX1 World Championship Standings (after 5 of 15 rounds):
1 Joshua COPPINS (NZL) 234, 2 Kevin STRIJBOS (BEL) 191, 3
Steve RAMON (BEL) 156, 4 Ken DE DYCKER (BEL) 131, 5 Sebastien
POURCEL (FRA) 130, 6 Jonathan BARRAGAN (ESP) 121, 7 David
PHILIPPAERTS (ITA) 115, 8 Marc DE REUVER (NED) 115, 9 Tanel
LEOK (EST) 112, 10 James NOBLE (GBR) 104.
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