Ramon 8th In Faenza Heat - Team Suzuki
Published by Gary Gas
17 July 2007, 22:20
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Steve Ramon was Team Suzuki's best performer with eighth position under blue skies and scorching 35 degree-plus temperatures at the Monte Coralli circuit in Faenza today for the 10th round of the FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship.
Ramon, who came through Timed Practice on an equally-hot Saturday with the third quickest time on his RM-Z450, took two eight positions in the motos as 29,000 spectators crowded the steep hillside setting 15km east of Imola.
The Belgian started poorly in the first moto on a circuit that was very hard, dusty and fairly simple in the technical challenge it offered to the riders. The lap-times were similar within the top ten and Ramon could make little difference in the searing heat, eventually moving up just three positions to eighth. He was more of a protagonist in the second race and hassled Billy Mackenzie for fourth position at one stage but then his motorcycle suffered a mysterious heating problem that caused the machine to lose performance. He lost drive up the hill sections and dropped back to eighth.
Kevin Strijbos was also lagging mid-pack at the start of Moto1 and although he managed to close some ground on Mackenzie for ninth at the end of the race, he could not pass the Scot and collected tenth. The 21-year-old Belgian was again struggling with the same engine gremlins that troubled his Saturday programme. The team switched engines for the second race but the high temperatures again played havoc and he experienced difficulties akin to Ramon, eventually finishing 17th and 14th overall.
"We have a problem when the weather is hot like this and we can't ignore it," said Team Principal Sylvain Geboers. "We will now be looking into this although it is hard to recreate this heat in Belgium. We know it is not an issue with carburetion. This is the first time we have had a set-back like this and we will be working now to find out why."
"I had a bad start in the first moto and did not feel so good, the heat made things hard," said Ramon. "Finishing eighth was not great and I hoped for better in the second race, although I had a better start we had some bike problems. Pourcel won and got closer to me in the points so it was a bad day and I'm disappointed."
"It was the same as yesterday and when the bike got hot it would not rev out," said Strijbos. "The team did everything to fix it between the races. We used a different engine but the second moto wasn't any better."
Ramon has lost a little ground in the world championship standings and the gap to leader Coppins now rests at 107 with five rounds and 250 points still to be won. Strijbos has slipped to eighth but is six points from sixth.
Team Suzuki now have a free weekend before travelling east across Europe to the Loket circuit for the Grand Prix of Czech Republic. MX1 Moto 1 - Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 38:56.573
- Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), +0:03.639
- Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), +0:07.226
- Mike Brown (USA, Honda), +0:09.356
- Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), +0:14.101
- David Philippaerts (ITA, KTM), +0:16.277
- Julien Bill (SUI, Honda), +0:19.546
- Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), +0:35.468
- Billy Mackenzie (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:38.093
- Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:39.626
MX1 Moto2
- Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 39:38.053
- Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), +0:04.413
- Billy Mackenzie (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:06.376
- Mike Brown (USA, Honda), +0:07.476
- Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), +0:09.288
- Julien Bill (SUI, Honda), +0:10.745
- Tanel Leok (EST, Kawasaki), +0:25.927
- Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), +0:29.295
- Marvin van Daele (BEL, Honda), +0:35.660
- Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), +0:42.629
MX1 Overall Result
- Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 50 p.
- Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), 44 p.
- Mike Brown (USA, Honda), 36 p.
- Billy Mackenzie (GBR, Kawasaki), 32 p.
- Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), 32 p.
- Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), 31 p.
- Julien Bill (SUI, Honda), 29 p.
- Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 26 p.
- Tanel Leok (EST, Kawasaki), 23 p.
- David Philippaerts (ITA, KTM), 21 p.
- James Noble (GBR, Honda), 20 p.
- Marvin van Daele (BEL, Honda), 16 p.
- Manuel Priem (BEL, TM), 16 p.
- Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 15 p.
MX1 World Championship Standings (after 10 of 15 rounds)
- Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), 445 p.
- Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 338 p.
- Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 285 p.
- David Philippaerts (ITA, KTM), 278 p.
- Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), 272 p.
- Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), 256 p.
- Mike Brown (USA, Honda), 255 p.
- Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 250 p.
- Tanel Leok (EST, Kawasaki), 240 p.
- Billy Mackenzie (GBR, Kawasaki), 218 p.
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