Team Suzuki’s Steve Ramon claimed third position during Timed Practice for tomorrow’s Grand Prix of Spain at Bellpuig, Catalunya, the second round of 15 in the 2006 FIM MX1 World Championship. The Belgian was three places ahead of team-mate and fellow countryman Kevin Strijbos with only one second splitting the first nine riders.
The first day of activity on Easter weekend began with unfamiliar showers and low temperatures but soon changed completely as blue skies delivered hot sunshine.
The fast and hilly Bellpuig course can be excessively muddy in the wet and dusty in the dry. The sun-kissed Catalan countryside meant a rough and difficult course but the lap-times were even quicker compared to previous years due to the removal of the technical, Supercross-style whoops in accordance with new FIM regulations.
Strijbos benefited from the extra practice made after Zolder and a ‘new approach’ to the Timed Practice. Ramon stuck with the same settings on the works RM-Z450 after the third round of the Belgian Championship and felt comfortable on the Spanish soil. Both riders were within the top eight fastest in the two Free Practice sessions.
Kevin Strijbos“Today was pretty good. We had a meeting after Zolder and we decided that we have to do more fast laps during the free practice sessions and find a bit of extra speed into qualifying. It worked well today. Timed Practice was ok and the time difference to pole position is very small. The track is quite rough but I feel good out there.”
Steve Ramon“I am happy with today because in each free practice I had a good time. I feel good on the bike and we did not make any changes to it from the third moto in Neeroeteren last week. I’m riding smoother and it showed. I was on pole for a while in Timed Practice and ended up third and that is ok. It was possible to do one more fast lap but we are all so close that there is little difference.”
MX1 Timed Practice:1 Tanel LEOK EST (Kawasaki) 1:42.449,
2 Stefan EVERTS BEL (Yamaha) 1:42.577,
3 Steve RAMON BEL (Suzuki) 1:42.669,
4 Sebastien TORTELLI FRA (KTM) 1:42.679,
5 Ken DE DYCKER BEL (Honda) 1:43.106,
6 Kevin STRIJBOS BEL (Suzuki) 1:43.115,
7 Julien BILL SUI (Yamaha) 1:43.175,
8 Brian JORGENSSEN DEN (Honda) 1:43.380,
9 Stephen SWORD GBR (Kawasaki)1:43.445,
10 Pascal LEURET FRA (Honda) 1:43.629.
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