TOUGH TIME FOR TEKA SUZUKI IN PORTUGAL
 The
Team Teka Suzuki WMX1 win streak in the 2008 FIM MX1 Motocross
World Championship was finally broken at Agueda in Portugal
as neither reigning MX1 World Champion Steve Ramon or series
leader Ken De Dycker could finish on the podium on what proved
to be a very tough day for the Teka team.
In hot and sunny conditions - completely different to those
experienced in Spain just one week earlier - Ramon was able
keep a hold of his second place in the series with 6-4 finishes
while De Dycker turned a six point lead into a 25-point deficit
after suffering all weekend long with blistered hands which
caused him to struggle to get to grips with the Agueda circuit.
Moto one saw both riders get average starts with Ramon in
ninth at the end of lap one and De Dycker 11th but while Ramon
was able to charge to sixth place by lap six Ken hit trouble
on lap three. "The first race I had a crash," explained
De Dycker. "The front slipped away and I crashed into
a marshal and then got stuck in the green fence. By the time
I'd got out of that and got going again I was over half a
lap behind and then it was really hard to come back - it was
very hot and I wasn't riding so well."
Ramon meanwhile was charging hard to catch Josh Coppins.
"I really had to push hard in the beginning to close
the gap to Josh but it was not possible to pass him,"
said Ramon. "Then I had to back off because I was getting
a little bit tired in my legs and in the end I finished in
sixth."
De Dycker was only able to claw back to 14th position by
the finish and surrendered his series lead to Italian rider
David Philippaerts. And things got worse for De Dycker during
the second race. "I didn't get such a good start in the
second moto either but I felt I was riding better. I was in
a lot of pain from my blisters as early as the first lap and
I crashed a couple of times because I couldn't hold onto the
bike very well. After that it wasn't worth me carrying on.
"I'm disappointed to lose the championship lead and
also about having a bad day. It was my own fault and maybe
I wasn't well enough prepared and I maybe I needed to do more
riding on hard tracks - it's been more or less impossible
this year because the weather has been so bad - because even
in Spain things weren't so good for me and I didn't have such
good times."
Ramon's second moto started much better than his team mate's,
taking a monster holeshot on his electronically fuel injected
RM-Z450. "The second moto I holeshot easily and I was
riding well. Billy MacKenzie passed me but I was able to follow
him comfortably. Pourcel came by and then Billy crashed so
I was still second but then I made some small mistakes and
started getting some cramp in my legs. From there it was difficult
for me to ride well and it was possible for Josh to pass me
in the last corner - I planned to go inside but I jumped in
a little bit too fast and I went too far outside and he came
by.
"I'm not so happy, my goal was to be on the podium and
I did not make that goal. Being second in the series is still
good but I wanted to do better today so now I must look toward
the next race and I try again."
The FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship now takes a one-week
break and continues on May 11 with round four at Sevlievo
in Bulgaria.
MX1 Moto 1: 1 David Philippaerts (Yamaha
- ITA) 38:56:063, 2 Sebastien Pourcel (Kawasaki - FRA) +0:04:287,
3 Jon Barragan (KTM - ESP) +0:12:368, 4 Billy MacKenzie (Honda
- GBR)+0:16:139, 5 4 Josh Coppins (Yamaha - NZL) +0:17:169:141,
6 Steve Ramon (Suzuki - BEL) 0:34:548, 7 Marc De Reuver (Honda
- NED) +0:40:307, 8 Tanel Leok (Kawasaki - EST) +0:41:921,
9 Mike Brown (Honda - USA) +0:44:229, 10 Clement Desalle (Suzuki
- BEL) +0:46:637. 14 Ken De Dycker (Suzuki - BEL) +1:11:582.
MX1 Moto 2: 1 Sebastien Pourcel (Kawasaki
- FRA) 39:42:975, 2 David Philippaerts (Yamaha - ITA) +0:08:473,
3 Josh Coppins (Yamaha - NZL) +0:11:360, 4 Steve Ramon (Suzuki
- BEL) 0:11:774, 5 Mike Brown (Honda - USA) +0:16:237, 6 Billy
MacKenzie (Honda - GBR)+0:22:697, 7 Jon Barragan (KTM - ESP)
+0:29:193, 8 Marc De Reuver (Honda - NED) +0:35:176, 9 Kornel
Nemeth (KTM - HUN) +0:39:940, 10 Tanel Leok (Kawasaki - EST)
+0:48:334.
World Championship standings (after 3 of 15 rounds):1
David Philippaerts (Yamaha - ITA) 102 points, 2 Steve Ramon
(Suzuki - BEL) 96, 3 Josh Coppins (Yamaha - NZL) 83, 4 Billy
MacKenzie (Honda - GBR) 79, 5 Ken De Dycker (Suzuki - BEL)
77, 6 Max Nagl (KTM - GER) 58, 7 Jon Barragan 54, 8 Sebastien
Pourcel 52, 9 Tanel Leok (Kawasaki - EST) 50, 10 Kornel Nemeth
(KTM - HUN) 48.
Manufacturer World Championship standings (after
3 of 15 rounds): 1 Suzuki 108 points, 2 Yamaha 102,
3 Kawasaki 92, 4 KTM 85, 5 Honda 82, 6 TM 13.
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