Kevin Strijbos and Steve Ramon gave the RM-Z450 its first 2006 moto victory and overall podium respectively this afternoon under hot sunshine at Bellpuig in Catalunya for the Grand Prix of Spain. The second round of the ‘06 FIM MX1 World Championship took place in perfect conditions as a slight breeze cooled the 26,200 attendance at the fast and hard circuit an hour west of the city of Barcelona.
After qualifying in the top five, both riders took to the line optimistic of obtaining good starts in the first of the two 35 minute and two-lap motos. Strijbos fared better than Ramon and quickly moved into third position whereby he closed-up to leaders Stefan Everts and Tanel Leok. Everts crashed at the same spot where he tasted Spanish dirt in 2005 and let his younger peers through to the front on lap eight of 21. One circulation later, Leok made a mistake allowing Strijbos to seize the race by the scruff of the neck. The 20 year old rattled off a set of consistent laps to maintain a comfortable distance over Leok for the last quarter of the moto and collected the fourth heat win of his career.
Ramon endured a tough race on a terrain that punished the smallest of mistakes and saw little difference in the fastest laps reeled off by the leading pack. The former World Champion was denied fifth place just before the flag by Ken de Dycker.
In the second sprint, Strijbos suffered something of a nightmare: A poor first corner effectively saw all chances of notching the first ‘double’ of his career disappear. He then ran wide and crashed while seventh which necessitated a trawl through the field. A further incident meant that he was only able to bag two points for 19th and eighth overall on combined scores. Ramon meanwhile was able to chase and pass Cedric Melotte for third position which led to the same overall standing and his first silverware as a Team Suzuki rider.
Ramon is currently fourth in the World Championship standings, 23 points behind Stefan Everts who took his 89th career victory. Strijbos is sixth.
The Belgian crew now only have to wait five days before the third race on the calendar. Ramon and Strijbos will remain in Spain tonight before slowly making their way across the Iberian Peninsula to the town of Agueda for the Grand Prix of Portugal next weekend.
Steve Ramon“My start was pretty bad in the first moto and it was difficult out there because they had watered the track quite a lot. There were not too many lines to pass people and the dry line was the fastest route. I made my way through at the beginning but once I got behind Stefan there was no chance of being able to get near enough to overtake. Towards the end I made a mistake and de Dycker got fifth. I kept positive but again the start was not good enough in the second heat and we must work on this. My riding was much better though and I felt comfortable on the bike. I could keep my speed the same more or less every lap and it felt great to take my first podium for Suzuki. I hope I can keep this pace into Agueda next week.”
Kevin Strijbos“Talk about two different races! The first one was good. I could follow in third easily and was not making any mistakes. Everts and then Leok crashed and I had the lead. I had to push a little bit towards the end but I felt good. My start was not that bad in the second moto and I made a few positions on the first few corners and was around seventh. I went into a turn and somebody was on the inside and I was forced to go over the ruts. The bike slipped and I went down. The handlebars were slightly bent and the clutch lever was wrapped under the bar; I knew then that the overall win had gone. I restarted dead-last and after that my riding was ok until I made a mistake on the same corner and hit someone. The handlebars were stuck in the hay bale by the side of the track and by the time I got the bike free, all my work had been wasted and I had to go again. It was difficult then because I was getting tired and had lost my rhythm. I was just trying to survive. Overall I am disappointed with today because that second moto cost me a lot of points, but I’m sure the others will also have some bad times.”
Eric Geboers“Kevin had some bad luck in the second heat but overall we can be very pleased with what has happened this weekend compared to Zolder. At the last GP we lost about four seconds each lap so now we are very happy that we can compete with the leaders. Realistically what we have seen today can give us a lot of hope for the next few rounds.”
Moto 1: 1 Kevin Strijbos, BEL (Suzuki,
2 Tanel Leok, EST (Kawasaki),
3 Stefan Everts, BEL (Yamaha),
4 Jonathan Barragan, SPA (KTM),
5 Ken de Dycker, BEL (Honda),
6 Steve Ramon, BEL (Suzuki),
7 Sebastien Tortelli, FRA (KTM),
8 Julien Bill, SUI (Yamaha),
9 James Noble, GBR (Honda),
10 Cedric Melotte, BEL (Yamaha).
Moto 2: 1 Everts, BEL (Yamaha),
2 Leok, EST (Kawasaki),
3 Ramon, BEL (Suzuki),
4 Melotte, BEL (Yamaha)
5 Tortelli, FRA (KTM),
6 de Dycker, BEL (Honda),
7 Barragan, SPA (KTM),
8 Manuel Priem, BEL (Yamaha),
9 Pascal Leuret, FRA (Honda),
10 Brian Jorgensen, DEN (Honda).
Overall: 1 Everts 45,
2 Leok 44,
3 Ramon 35,
4 Barragan 32,
5 de Dycker 31,
6 Tortelli 30,
7 Melotte 29,
8 Strijbos 27,
9 Leuret 22,
10 Bill 22.
Championship Points (after 2 rounds): 1 Everts 92,
2 Leok 92,
3 Tortelli 77,
4 Ramon 69,
5 de Dycker 61,
6 Strijbos 60,
7 Barragan 59,
8 Melotte 54,
9 Leuret 47,
10 Priem 30.
Manufacturer Points: 1 Yamaha 92,
2 Suzuki 83,
3 Kawasaki 82,
4 KTM 81,
5 Honda 61,
6 TM 28.
Related Linkswww.suzuki-racing.com
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