RAMON 3RD ON ITALIAN MX1 GATE
 Reigning
MX1 World Champion Steve Ramon set the third fastest time
on his factory Team Teka Suzuki WMX1 RM-Z450 during qualification
for the Italian Grand Prix at Mantova this afternoon while
his team mate Ken De Dycker steered his machine to sixth in
the 30-minute timed session.
Constant rain made conditions difficult for the qualifying
session as the Supercross-style sand-based Mantova circuit
became very slippery and rutted which seemed to suit Dutchman
Marc De Reuver who set fastest time and will sit on pole for
tomorrow's points-paying races.
Ramon managed to set his best time on his fourth lap of the
session despite not feeling too at home on the slippery surface.
"I found it difficult to ride smooth today and I didn't
feel comfortable on the track - the surface is very hard underneath
and it's very slippery," said Steve. "If it continues
to rain, the track conditions may change but regardless it
will be very important to get a good start and qualifying
in third will give me a good pick for the start tomorrow so
I'm happy."
After waking up with a sore throat De Dycker didn't feel
too great during the timed session but was happy to post his
best qualification result since round two of the 15-round
World Championship series.
"The session went okay even though I didn't feel like
I put a great lap in and so I'm quite satisfied with sixth
place," said De Dycker. "The races are going to
be very different tomorrow though especially if it keeps on
raining - the track is already slippery everywhere and it's
only going to get worse. I need to concentrate on getting
a good start and then riding hard all race long so I can get
some good results."
The weather forecast for tomorrow's races is for constant
rain while the ambient air temperature should be in the region
of 22 degrees Celsius.
MX1 Timed Practice: 1 Marc De Reuver (Honda
- NED) 1:54:015, 2 David Philippaerts (Yamaha - ITA) 1:54:617,
3 Steve Ramon (Suzuki - BEL) 1:55:269, 4 Clement Desalle (Suzuki
- BEL) 1:56:503, 5 Tanel Leok (Kawasaki - EST) 1:56:592, 6
Ken De Dycker (Suzuki - BEL) 1:56:828, 7 Sebastien Pourcel
(Kawasaki - France) 1:56:979, 8 Kornel Nemeth (KTM - HUN)
1:57:186, 9 Max Nagl (KTM - GER) 1:57:223, 10 Jonathan Barragan
(KTM - ESP) 1:57:302.
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