TEKA SUZUKI ONE-TWO IN WORLD MX1
 The
Team Teka Suzuki WMX1 win-streak continues in the 2008 FIM
MX1 Motocross World Championship with reigning World Champion
Steve Ramon taking overall victory in deep, difficult and
some might say dangerous conditions at Bellpuig in Spain on
his factory RM-Z450 while Ken De Dycker finished third to
stay on top of the series standings.
With Team Teka Suzuki WMX1's owner Sylvain Geboers claiming
the conditions were the worst he's ever seen at a motocross
race, getting a good start was vital and Ramon delivered the
goods by getting out of the gate and around turn one in third
position in the opening - and as it turned out, only - moto.
After making easy work of Marc De Reuver, Ramon stalked early
leader Jonathan Barragan for the first three laps before passing
the Spanish star and then pulling away to a seemingly easy
victory in the difficult conditions.
"I had a good start in third place and moved past De
Reuver in the second turn and then took things easy,"
said Ramon. "I was running second when Barragan made
a mistake in front of me and I took the lead. It was really
difficult to ride the track and you had to concentrate hard
because there were some really deep bumps and ruts, which
you couldn't see because of the deep water.
"My riding was good and the bike was good and I won
the moto which was good also of course. With the organisers
cancelling the second moto it means I have won the overall,
which is the first MX1 Grand Prix I have ever won and also
the first GP win I have had in a very long time. I am really
happy."
While Ramon did things the easy way, De Dycker had to battle
hard through the pack after crashing a couple of times on
the opening lap. Using plenty of brute strength and aggression,
he soon worked his way up to third behind his team-mate Ramon
and David Philippaerts who finished second.
"There was one heat only today and I managed to get
third after two crashes in the first lap," he claimed.
"It was very difficult and on every lap, on every obstacle,
you had to concentrate hard because the track was always changing
and the mud and water was hiding the bumps and ruts.
"I'm still leading the championship by seven points
which I am very happy about. I've never led the series before
and to be leading for two rounds in a row is really good for
me."
The second of the day's MX1 motos was cancelled after riders'
meeting minutes before the race was due to begin meaning the
overall result stood after just one race. The rider's collectively
decided the conditions were way too dangerous to race on as
an abundance of standing water and mud made it almost impossible
to predict what lay beneath the sloppy surface of the Bellpuig
circuit.
The FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship continues next weekend
- April 27 - with round three at Agueda in Portugal.
MX1 Moto 1 Result: 1 Steve Ramon (Suzuki
- BEL) 40:49:290, 2 David Philippaerts (Yamaha - ITA) +0:35:461,
3 Ken De Dycker (Suzuki - BEL) +0:49:535, 4 Josh Coppins (Yamaha
- NZL) +1:22:141, 5 Tanel Leok (Kawasaki - EST) 2:03:530,
6 Kevin Strijbos (Kawasaki - BEL) +2:25:114, 7 Tom Church
(Kawasaki - GBR) +2:28:305, 8 Billy MacKenzie (Honda - GBR)+2:40:776,
9 Clement Desalle (Suzuki - Belgium) +1 lap, 10 Lauris Freibergs
(Yamaha - LAT) +1 lap.
World Championship standings (after 2 of 15 rounds):
1 Ken De Dycker (Suzuki - BEL) 70 points, 2 Steve Ramon (Suzuki
- BEL) 63, 3 David Philippaerts (Yamaha - ITA) 55, 4 Josh
Coppins (Yamaha - NZL) 47, 5 Billy MacKenzie (Honda - GBR)
46, 6 Max Nagl (KTM - GER) 40, 7 Kevin Strijbos (Kawasaki
- BEL) 36, 8 Manuel Priem (Kawasaki - BEL) 35, 9 Kornel Nemeth
(KTM - HUN) 33, 10 Tanel Leok (Kawasaki - EST) 26.
Manufacturer World Championship standings: 1
Suzuki 75 points, 2 Yamaha 55, 3 KTM 42, 4 Honda 51, 5 Kawasaki
45, 6 TM 11.
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