TEKA SUZUKI MEN PODIUM IN GERMAN MX1
 Hot
weather and a rough, technical track at Teutschental in Germany
made for an exciting weekend of racing action for the Team
Teka Suzuki WMX1 squad at the eighth round of the FIM MX1
World Motocross Championship.
Despite the difficult conditions that both team riders always
relish, Ken De Dycker ended the day in second place overall
on his factory RM-Z450 with a hard-fought-for 4-2 scorecard.
Battling back through the pack from poor starts in both races
he was one of the few riders able to move forward through
the pack on the narrow Teutschental circuit.
"I didn't get the best starts this weekend but I rode
well in both races," said De Dycker. "The heat made
things tough today and the track was rough also but that made
it fun to ride for me. I finished second overall today which
is good for the championship as only Josh Coppins scored more
points than me so I'm really happy.
"The team and I are always working and I think we're
getting better every weekend. I was happy with my riding,
I think I'm the only rider today who could come through the
pack and then stay there. I didn't want to push too hard today
because it was very easy to make a mistake on this track and
also it was hot which made things very tough."
Reigning MX1 World Champion Steve Ramon was also in fine
form at today's Grand Prix but didn't get the end result he
perhaps deserved. Battling through the pack from eighth to
second in moto one, Ramon was only beaten by an on-form Josh
Coppins who'd enjoyed a much better start. Closing to within
four points of the championship leader David Philippaerts,
Ramon was more than ready to take control of the series in
moto two.
However things didn't quite turn out as Ramon planned. After
gating fifth, Ramon slipped off on a foolishly freshly watered
jump face and crashed midway around lap one. Several riders
hit the fallen factory Suzuki damaging it badly enough to
ensure Steve had to make a trip to the pits to get the damage
quickly fixed.
Unable to straighten the bike sufficiently for Ramon to ride
it at full race speed, the champ was forced to return to the
track in an attempt to score some points. Starting over one
minute behind his closest competitor, Steve rode like the
champion he is, battered bike and all, to finish 18th and
score three precious championship points.
"The first race was okay," he said. "I got
a bad start but the track was slippery and I was able to pass
some riders in the beginning, I had a good pace going and
I could see Josh just ahead of me but I was happy with second
and I'd already pushed hard early in the race and I was getting
a little bit tired.
"In the second moto I got a much better start in around
fifth place I think but on the first lap I crashed on one
of the jumps. It was wet and slippery and I took the wrong
rut and went sideways over the jump and I crashed. It wasn't
really a big crash but some riders were coming behind me and
they jumped on my bike and it was completely damaged. I had
to stop in the pits to try and straighten it out.
"From that point my riding was not so good because everything
was bent. I tried to take as many points as possible but they
just weren't enough. It's always important to score points
and those three points at the end of the year might just make
al the difference. Today hasn't been good for the championship
but there are still plenty of rounds to go so I'll just keep
on working hard like always and see where I end."
The MX1 World Championship series continues next weekend
- July 6 - with the Grand Prix of Sweden held at the excellent
Uddevalla circuit.
MX1 Moto 1: 1 Josh Coppins (Yamaha - NZL) 39:32:337, 2 Steve
Ramon (Suzuki - BEL) +0:03:070, 3 David Philippaerts (Yamaha
- ITA) +0:06:896, 4 Ken De Dycker (Suzuki - BEL) +0:11:101,
5 Julien Bill (Honda - SUI) +0:14:773, 6 Tanel Leok (Kawasaki
- EST) +0:25:707, 7 Sebastien Pourcel (Kawasaki - FRA) +0:41:215,
8 Manuel Priem (Kawasaki - BEL) +0:43:714, 9 Aigar Leok (Yamaha
- EST) +0:47:859, 10 Clement Desalle (Suzuki - BEL) +0:53:196.
MX1 Moto 2: 1 Josh Coppins (Yamaha - NZL) 40:27:188, 2 Ken
De Dycker (Suzuki - BEL) +0:07:806, 3 Tanel Leok (Kawasaki
- EST) +0:10:916, 4 Max Nagl (KTM - GER) +0:18:247, 5 Sebastien
Pourcel (Kawasaki - FRA) +0:28:423, 6 David Philippaerts (Yamaha
- ITA) +0:31:971, 7 Julien Bill (Honda - SUI) +0:37:039, 8
Aigar Leok (Yamaha - EST) +0:44:990, 9 Manuel Priem (Kawasaki
- BEL) +0:51:781, 10 Billy MacKenzie (Honda - GB) +1:01:592.
18 Steve Ramon (Suzuki - BEL) +1:46:550.
World Championship standings (after 8 of 15 rounds): 1 David
Philippaerts (Yamaha - ITA) 266 points, 2 Josh Coppins (Yamaha
- NZL) 262, 3 Steve Ramon (Suzuki - BEL) 250, 4 Ken De Dycker
(Suzuki - BEL) 240, 5 Sebastien Pourcel (Kawasaki - FRA) 231,
6 Jonathan Barragan (KTM - ESP) 192, 7 Tanel Leok (Kawasaki
- EST) 186, 8 Max Nagl (KTM - GER) 179, 9 Billy MacKenzie
(Honda - GB) 176, 10 Marc De Reuver (Honda - NED) 156.
Manufacturer World Championship standings (after 8 of 15
rounds): 1 Yamaha 319 points, 2 Suzuki 256, 3 Kawasaki 292,
4 KTM 269, 5 Honda 247, 6 TM 31, 7 Aprilia 5.
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