RAMON CLOSES ON MX1 SERIES LEAD
Team Teka Suzuki WMX1 rider Steve Ramon finished second at
a slippery and one-lined Uddevalla circuit in Sweden for the
ninth round of the FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship and
reduced the points lead between himself and the championship
leader David Philippaerts while team-mate Ken De Dycker overcame
goggle problems and crashes to end the day seventh overall
on his factory RM-Z450.
After dominating the previous day's qualifying session, the
team-mates were looking to score well in race-day's two points-paying
motos.
Starting fifth in moto one reigning MX1 World Champion Steve
Ramon worked his way up to third five laps from the end of
the 35-minute plus two lap moto. Unable to catch De Reuver
ahead of him, Ramon instead concentrated on riding error-free
to stay ahead of Philippaerts and shorten the Italian's lead
in the series.
Finishing third once more in moto two - after once more battling
through from fifth - Ramon again beat the Yamaha rider by
one place to claw back four vital points from Philippaerts
on the day. Happy with his work, Ramon acknowledged just how
tough an event it was.
"The track was difficult today," he said. "There
were not so many lines and it was just so hard and slippery.
You had to concentrate really hard to not make mistakes and
that was tough.
"In the first race, my start was okay but it was hard
to pass because the track was really wet and slippery. I was
riding well but I made some small mistakes and De Reuver passed
me and Philippaerts caught me and tried to come by but I rode
defensively and held him back. I finished third and I was
quite happy with that - as long as I finish in front of Philippaerts
and Coppins then that's okay.
"I had a good drop from the gate in moto two but I went
a little bit too wide in turn one and some riders were able
to get by on the inside. The track was a little better and
I was able to pass easier in this race. I saw Nagl was really
fast and he was pulling away and also Barragan was pushing
really hard but I was chasing him as hard as I could because
I needed to be ahead of him to go for the overall victory.
I started making a couple of mistakes so I decided to take
it a little bit slower and settle for third place.
"Today has been good for me in the championship. I beat
both Coppins and Philippaerts and that's something I need
to keep on doing if I'm going to regain the World Championship
title."
De Dycker was desperately looking to regain lost ground in
the championship at this event but it just wasn't to be. Dominating
the factory RM-Z450 as well as the race track in moto one,
De Dycker reached as high as third from his sixth place start
before his goggles broke and he was forced to pit for fresh
goggles as the roost from his competitors' rear wheels was
too heavy for him to continue. Dropping to 11th place, he
was only able to regain three places before the end of the
race and finally finished eighth.
Moto two wasn't much better for De Dycker and after getting
tangled with Clement Desalle and De Reuver on lap two, he
crashed over the handlebars all by himself to eventually finish
eighth in the race and seventh overall on the day.
"I got a quite okay start in the first race but after
a few laps my goggles were broken and I had to throw them
off," explained De Dycker. "I stopped for a fresh
pair in the pits and lost some places. I was riding well but
there was only one line and it was tough to come back from
12th to eighth.
"In moto two the track was very slippery again and it
was also tough to pass. I stopped once in the sand with De
Reuver and Desalle and I was coming back okay then I crashed
on my own when I over jumped a tabletop and landed heavily
in a rut. It was really deep and it must have knocked the
bike into neutral and I went over the handlebars - it was
quite a big crash.
"It wasn't the best day for me and I hoped for better
results but with the crash and the goggle problems I couldn't
do much about it - but that's racing and next time I hope
to do better."
After a one week break the FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship
will continue on July 20 at a brand-new venue for GP motocross
- Nelspruit in South Africa.
MX1 Moto 1: 1 Jonathan Barragan (KTM - ESP)
39:23:245, 2 Marc De Reuver (Honda - NED) +0:05:231, 3 Steve
Ramon (Suzuki - BEL) +0:07:373, 4 David Philippaerts (Yamaha
- ITA) +0:09:689, 5 Clement Desalle (Suzuki - BEL) +0:16:662,
6 Steve Boniface (Honda - FRA) +0:22:169, 7 Billy MacKenzie
(Honda - GB) +0:28:068, 8 Ken De Dycker (Suzuki - BEL) +0:29:184,
9 Tanel Leok (Kawasaki - EST) +0:30:064, 10 Julien Bill (Honda
- SUI) +0:36:017.
MX1 Moto 2: 1 Max Nagl (KTM - GER) 40:23:192,
2 Jonathan Barragan (KTM - ESP) +0:16:793, 3 Steve Ramon (Suzuki
- BEL) +0:26:090, 4 David Philippaerts (Yamaha - ITA) +0:34:407,
5 Josh Coppins (Yamaha - NZL) +0:38:064, 6 Billy MacKenzie
(Honda - GB) +0:40:896, 7 Julien Bill (Honda - SUI) +0:52:771,
8 Ken De Dycker (Suzuki - BEL) +1:01:706, 9 Clement Desalle
(Suzuki - BEL) +1:04:476, 10 Tanel Leok (Kawasaki - EST) +1:05:532.
World Championship standings (after 9 of 15 rounds):
1 David Philippaerts (Yamaha - ITA) 302 points, 2 Steve Ramon
(Suzuki - BEL) 290, 3 Josh Coppins (Yamaha - NZL) 286, 4 Ken
De Dycker (Suzuki - BEL) 266, 5 Sebastien Pourcel (Kawasaki
- FRA) 241, 6 Jonathan Barragan (KTM - ESP) 239, 7 Max Nagl
(KTM - GER) 213, 8 Tanel Leok (Kawasaki - EST) 209, 9 Billy
MacKenzie (Honda - GB) 205, 10 Marc De Reuver (Honda - NED)
178.
Manufacturer World Championship standings (after
9 of 15 rounds): 1 Yamaha 355 points, 2 Suzuki 340,
3 KTM 319, 4 Kawasaki 315, 5 Honda 284, 6 TM 31, 7 Aprilia
5.
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