TEKA SUZUKI PODIUMS AT MALLORY MX1
Team Teka Suzuki WMX1 riders Ken De Dycker and Steve Ramon
dominated the opening moto of the British Motocross Grand
Prix at Mallory Park to finish first and second on their factory
RM-Z450s.
Backing their opening display of dominance up with solid
rides in moto two the pair of Belgian racers were able to
finish second and fourth overall with De Dycker being the
podium visitor.
The Mallory Park circuit was in prime condition for today's
races and when the gate dropped for moto one of the sixth
round of the FIM World Motocross Championship, both Ramon
and De Dycker were away in the top six. But the great start
did De Dycker no good as he got tangled in a turn two pile
up with Marc De Reuver and David Philippaerts and started
dead last while Ramon ran a steady third.
While De Dycker rampaged through the field from, Ramon moved
forward and dogged early leader Jon Barragan at the front
and finally moved into the lead on lap 11 - a position he'd
hold until the very last lap.
Amazingly De Dycker not only caught his team-mate but made
an outside move on the very last lap of the race while Ramon
guarded the inside line to steal the win from the defending
MX1 World Champion making it a Suzuki 1-2 in front of 41,000
excited race fans.
De Dycker didn't get such a good start in moto two and once
more had to fight through the pack after getting tangled with
Clement Desalle, who crashed in front of the moto one winner
on lap two. Ramon meanwhile was fourth and on a mission to
the front of the pack, moving to second when Julien Bill crashed
out of the runner-up spot on lap six.
After holding that position for six laps Ramon started to
slow as muscle cramps made it difficult for the champ to push
the pace on the difficult and now very rough Mallory Park
circuit. Dropping to sixth at the 30-minute mark, Ramon would
again lose a place to his team-mate De Dycker in the closing
stages of the race to finally finish seventh.
Although De Dycker's progress through the pack was nowhere
near as impressive as in moto one, his sixth place in moto
two was enough to place the Belgian star second overall on
the day and improve his championship position to third - 20
points behind Ramon who stays second in the series.
"I'm really happy to finish second overall," said
De Dycker. "It feels really good. Everything went well
for me this weekend and it's made all the hard work myself
and the team have been putting in to get back to the front
of the pack worthwhile.
"I got a good start in moto one but De Reuver and Philippaerts
came together right in front of me and I couldn't avoid De
Reuver's bike and I crashed with them. I got going with Philippaerts
and we both made good progress through the pack. We were second
and third and closing down on Ramon and then he crashed and
I was able to catch Ramon on the last lap. I knew there was
one corner where I'd be able to pass him and I lined him up
and passed him around the outside.
"I didn't get such a good start in moto two and I found
it difficult to find good lines to pass people early on. Desalle
crashed in front of me and I got tangled with him so I lost
some time there too. I wasn't riding as well in the second
moto - I think I was a little tense because I wanted to do
good again - but I was able to come through to sixth."
Ramon was very unfortunate not to join his team-mate on the
podium as although he tied on points with Philippaerts - who
took the third and final podium position - he lost out on
the better-second-moto tie-breaker rule. Disappointed not
to pull back Philippaerts' points lead, Ramon realises that
he did the best he could on the day under the circumstances
and has to be satisfied with that.
"I should have taken points back on Philippaerts today
but it was just not possible," said Ramon. "In moto
one I started second but in the third turn Billy MacKenzie
made a move and blocked me a little bit so I was third in
the early laps but riding was going good for me, the track
was rough and I was able to use some good lines to get to
the front of the pack.
"Ken caught me on the last lap and I had to defend myself
and take the inside lines but Ken was able to go wide and
carry more speed to pass me. It was a no win situation because
I know that if I'd gone wide he'd have passed me on the inside.
It's always frustrating when someone passes you on the last
lap but I was still satisfied with second place.
"In the second race I started well and I was running
a good pace behind Barragan but after 15 minutes I was getting
tired and I started getting cramps all through my body and
it was just not possible to ride at 100 per cent. It was frustrating
to have those riders pass me but it's also important not to
push too hard and crash so I know I did the right thing."
The team's riders results on the day also helped Suzuki close
within four points of the series' leader in the Manufacturer's
World Championship with nine rounds remaining. There's now
a one-week gap in the MX1 series schedule and the next round
of the World Championship will be held at Saint Jean D'Angely
in France on June 15.
MX1 Moto 1: 1 Ken De Dycker (Suzuki - BEL)
39:43:553, 2 Steve Ramon (Suzuki - BEL) +0:01:776, 3 Jonathan
Barragan (KTM - ESP) +0:06:692, 4 Max Nagl (KTM - GER) +0:28:122,
5 David Philippaerts (Yamaha - ITA) + 0:35:274, 6 Tanel Leok
(Kawasaki - EST) +0:36:634, 7 Clement Desalle (Suzuki - BEL)
+0:44:071, 8 Aigar Leok (Yamaha - EST) +0:45:624, 9 Marc De
Reuver (Honda - NED) +0:45:624, 10 Billy MacKenzie (Honda
- GBR) +0:46:513.
MX1 Moto 2: 1 Jonathan Barragan (KTM - ESP)
40:29:703, 2 Sebastien Pourcel (Kawasaki - FRA) +0:05:567,
3 David Philippaerts (Yamaha - ITA) +0:06:502, 4 Billy MacKenzie
(Honda - GBR) +0:07:528, 5 Tanel Leok (Kawasaki - EST) +0:08:843,
6 Ken De Dycker (Suzuki - BEL) +0:34:239, 7 Steve Ramon (Suzuki
- BEL) +0:40:069, 8 Julien Bill (Honda - SUI) +0:43:855, 9
Mike Brown (Honda - USA) +0:47:748, 10 James Noble (KTM -
GBR) +0:54:614.
World Championship Standings (after 6 of 15 rounds):
1 David Philippaerts (Yamaha - ITA) 223 points, 2 Steve Ramon
(Suzuki - BEL) 195, 3 Ken De Dycker (Suzuki - BEL) 175, 4
Josh Coppins (Yamaha - NZL) 168, 5 Billy MacKenzie (Honda
- GBR) 159, 6 Sebastien Pourcel (Kawasaki - FRA) 151, 7 Jonathan
Barragan (KTM - ESP) 150, 8 Marc De Reuver (Honda - NED) 138,
9 Max Nagl (KTM - GER) 132, 10 Tanel Leok (Kawasaki - EST)
129.
Manufacturer World Championship Standings (after
6 of 15 rounds):1 Yamaha 225, 2 Suzuki 221 points,
3 Kawasaki 207, 4 KTM 206, 5 Honda 188, 6 TM 27, 7 Aprilia
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