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RAMON TAKES WORLD MX1 LEAD
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RAMON TAKES WORLD MX1 LEAD
August 26, 2007
Team Suzuki Press Office - August 26, 2007.
Steve Ramon finished fourth overall at the British Grand Prix on the
RM-Z450 and as
a result Suzuki now lead the Rider's and Manufacturer's standings of the
FIM
Motocross World Championship.
And the team even had presence on the British podium at Donington Park
as Kevin
Strijbos took second position in front of 28,000 spectators in bright
weather
conditions.
The newly-created course at Donington Park involved many jumps and
technical
sections around the narrow layout. Ramon, struggling with a partially
broken
scaphoid, felt pain throughout the weekend in his wrists but was able to
take 6th
and 4th positions to move ahead of Josh Coppins (14th and a DNF) by 14
points with
just 50 left to win this season. Again the 27 year old Belgian had to
work for his
spoils as a poor getaway in the first outing left him outside the top 10
on the
opening circulation.
"Today was great for the championship but I still really want to win,"
he said.
"With my wrist it is not easy to get on the podium and I have to ride
carefully. It
has been tough the last few weeks. I know Josh has had problems but I
have also not
been fit. I have the red plate today though, which was the goal but
there is still
one GP to go and we are not there yet."
Strijbos, who was denied his third pole position of the season yesterday
by half a
second, rode strongly to win the first moto and then secured second
place to Antonio
Cairoli - making his debut in MX1 - after a dodgy start and lowly first
lap placing
to walk the rostrum for the third time in four races.
"I had problems with my starts today, especially in the second moto,"
the 22 year
old remarked. "I was eighth or something on the first lap and Tony was
already in
the lead. I could not find the lines I wanted. I pushed hard but when I
got to
second the gap was already too big. Tony did a good job. I want to win
in Lierop
now. Steve has the lead in the championship and I want to help him
there. I have
proved in the last few races that I have come back to a good level and I
think
second is even possible in the final standings."
As Ramon also scaled the podium to collect the red plate to signify his
status as
the new championship leader, the standings made very positive reading
for the team
and manufacturer. Ramon has his 14 point lead and does not need to even
finish
second twice behind Coppins next week to make sure of his first MX1
crown, while
Suzuki head the manufacturer's table by 29 points. Strijbos has moved up
to third in
the championship and is 24 points behind Coppins so the team can still
aim for a
one-two finish this year.
Team Suzuki head closer to home for the final Grand Prix of the season
next week as
the Dutch round of the world championship at Lierop closes the 15 race,
six month
calendar.
MX1 Moto1: 1. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 39:51.315; ; 2. Antonio
Cairoli (ITA,
Yamaha), +0:09.194; 3. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), +0:16.306; 4. Mike
Brown (USA,
Honda), +0:18.954; 5. Tanel Leok (EST, Kawasaki), +0:33.673; 6. Steve
Ramon (BEL,
Suzuki), +0:37.393; 7. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:46.607; 8.
Billy
Mackenzie (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:48.012; 9. Julien Bill (SUI, Honda),
+0:48.911; 10.
Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), +0:55.727
MX1 Moto2: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha), 40:10.950; ; 2. Kevin
Strijbos (BEL,
Suzuki), +0:02.484; 3. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), +0:23.197; 4. Steve
Ramon (BEL,
Suzuki), +0:26.293; 5. Tanel Leok (EST, Kawasaki), +0:29.593; 6. Mike
Brown (USA,
Honda), +0:32.917; 7. David Philippaerts (ITA, KTM), +0:39.324; 8.
Sebastien Pourcel
(FRA, Kawasaki), +0:43.471; 9. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), +0:45.977;
10. Julien
Bill (SUI, Honda), +0:47.839
MX1 World Championship Standings(after 14 of 15 rounds): 1 RAMON 466, 2
COPPINS 452,
3 STRIJBOS 428, 4 POURCEL 427, 5 PHILIPPAERTS, 6 DE DYCKER 385, 7
BARRAGAN 347, 8
BROWN 344, 9 LEOK 341, 10 MACKENZIE 319.
Manufacturer Standings:1. SUZUKI 571, 2. YAMAHA 542, 3. KAWASAKI 525, 4.
KTM 514, 5.
HONDA 503.
For more stories about Steve Ramon, click here.For photos, click here
For more stories about Kevin Strijbos, click here.For photos, click here
Steve Ramon finished fourth overall at the British Grand Prix on the
RM-Z450 and as
a result Suzuki now lead the Rider's and Manufacturer's standings of the
FIM
Motocross World Championship.
Team Suzuki filled two positions in the top five of Timed Practice for
the British
Grand Prix and the penultimate round of the FIM MX1 Motocross World
Championship
today.
Steve Ramon enters the British Grand Prix at Donington Park and the
penultimate
round of the 2007 FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship with a real
chance of taking
the lead in the series for the first time.
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