RAMON JUST MISSES BULGARIAN PODIUM
 Team
Teka Suzuki WMX1 rider Steve Ramon narrowly missed out on
a podium position at the latest round of the 2008 FIM MX1
Motocross World Championship held at Sevlievo in Bulgaria
as he finished in fourth place overall on his factory RM-Z450.
Ramon's team-mate Ken De Dycker had a disappointing day meanwhile
and could only muster a 10th place overall finish.
Conditions at the Sevlievo circuit were perfect for moto
one and the jump-filled hillside racetrack that's boasted
by the race's organisers to be 'The Greatest Motocross Track
in the World' provided some of the best racing seen in the
2008 championship season so far.
Moto one saw both Team Teka riders mired in the mid-pack
from the start as Ramon got closed off in turn one by the
riders on either side of him and De Dycker was unable to get
off the line as well as he'd have liked. With Ramon 11th and
De Dycker 20th both riders had to battle hard for their eventual
positions of fifth and 10th.
After heavy rain dampened the circuit between motos, Ramon
and De Dycker both got slightly better starts than in the
opener on the now much more slippery Sevlievo circuit. This
time reigning World Champion Ramon pushed from seventh to
fourth passing and heading eventual race winner Sebastien
Pourcel for a few laps mid-race before losing a position to
the Frenchman but being gifted third by Barragan on the last
lap when the Spaniard, who was leading, crashed.
With a 5-3 scorecard, Ramon missed out on third overall by
a measly two points but was still satisfied with his speed,
fitness and fuel-injected factory 450.
"My biggest problem today was my starts," explained
Ramon. "I got a bad start in moto one - I aimed for the
inside but it was a little bit slippery and the rider in front
of me got a bit sideways and left me with nowhere to go. I
had a difficult first lap and had to push hard to try and
get to the front and I moved from 11th to fifth but I couldn't
get by Coppins - there was only one good line and he was on
it also.
"Again in the second moto I didn't get a good start
but I moved forward and Pourcel only passed me after I clashed
with Lauris Freibergs who I was lapping. I was riding well
and we were easily catching the leaders - Barragan and Philippaerts
- but it's a pity that I wasn't closer at the start because
I'd have been challenging for the win or maybe even the podium.
"Overall I was very happy with my riding today and my
speed was good and I'm still second in the championship even
though I lost a few points to Philippaerts but there's still
a very long way to go."
De Dycker was only able to charge to 11th in moto two as
he was finding it difficult to make up time on the ultra-fast
Sevlievo circuit. After finishing 10th overall on the day,
the former championship leader knows what he has to do if
he's to return to full race winning form.
"For sure I need to work on my starts because I didn't
have such good ones today - I just wasn't getting the jump,"
said De Dycker. "I was able to come through a little
bit but it was so hard because the track's not very technical
here, it's very fast and that makes it very difficult to pass.
My speed was okay though and I was always moving forward -
I think all day only one rider passed me."
As well as Ramon's podium near miss in MX1, Team Suzuki Inotec
rider Xavier Boog also took his full-factory RM-Z250 to fourth
overall after tying on points but losing out on the better-second-moto-tie-breaker
rule with Shaun Simpson. Boog, who's been constantly improving
on the factory bike this season put in 7-4 finishes to give
Suzuki their strongest showing in MX2 for some time.
"Fourth overall is my best ever result and I'm very
happy," said Boog. "I'm very happy with my riding
today and the bike just keeps on getting better and better
and I feel very good on it. I hope I can keep on improving
each week and maybe reach the podium soon."
The FIM MX1 and MX2 Motocross World Championships continue
next weekend with round five at Mantova in Italy on May 18.
MX1 Moto 1: 1 David Philippaerts (Yamaha
- ITA) 40:07:606, 2 Jonathan Barragan (KTM - ESP) +0:05:616,
3 Marc De Reuver (Honda - NED) +0:06:650, 4 Josh Coppins (Yamaha
- NZL) +0:08:084, 5 Steve Ramon (Suzuki - BEL) 0:14:351, 6
Julien Bill +0:29.896, 7 Tanel Leok (Kawasaki - EST) +0:31:501,
8 Sebastien Pourcel (Kawasaki - FRA) +0:36:148, 9 Clement
Desalle (Suzuki - BEL) +0:39.608, 10 Ken De Dycker (Suzuki
- BEL) +0:43:629.
MX1 Moto 2: 1 Sebastien Pourcel (Kawasaki
- FRA) 39:28:719, 2 David Philippaerts (Yamaha - ITA) +0:06:913,
3 Steve Ramon (Suzuki - BEL) 0:08:068, 4 Jonathan Barragan
(KTM - ESP) +0:21:486, 5 Marc De Reuver (Honda - NED) +0:27:233,
6 Billy MacKenzie (Honda - GBR)+0:34:377, 7 Josh Coppins (Yamaha
- NZL) +0:43:440, 8 Julien Bill +0:44.277, 9 Max Nagl (KTM
- GER) +0:44:830, 10 Mike Brown (Honda - USA) +0:48:434, 11
Ken De Dycker (Suzuki - BEL) +0:53:504.
World Championship standings (after 4 of 15 rounds):
1 David Philippaerts (Yamaha - ITA) 149 points, 2 Steve Ramon
(Suzuki - BEL) 132, 3 Josh Coppins (Yamaha - NZL) 115, 4 Billy
MacKenzie (Honda - GBR) 100, 5 Ken De Dycker (Suzuki - BEL)
98, 6 Jonathan Barragan 94, 7 Sebastien Pourcel 90, 8 Max
Nagl (KTM - GER) 80, 9 Marc De Reuver (Honda - NED) 76, 10
Tanel Leok (Kawasaki - EST) 71.
Manufacturer World Championship standings (after
4 of 15 rounds): 1 Yamaha 149, 2 Suzuki 144 points,
3 Kawasaki 131, 4 KTM 125, 5 Honda 118, 6 TM 19.
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