Team Suzuki’s Kevin Strijbos successfully guided his works RM-Z450 to the second fastest time under hot and sunny skies at the Montevarchi circuit for the UFO Italian Grand Prix.
The 20 year old switched a sprocket and experimented with different Pirelli tyres to cope with the hard-pack terrain that was rocky and flat for the majority of the Saturday programme. The course is fast in places but also incredibly twisty and narrow. The low speed sections force lap-times of almost two minutes on what is otherwise a very condensed race track. Typically Italian, with the hard dirt veering between one line and several, grip was also at a premium.
As in Bulgaria last week, Strijbos set the pace in practice: The Belgian was quickest in both periods and was holding pole position in the Timed Practice session before World Championship leader and reigning number one Stefan Everts dipped into the 1’49 bracket for the first time. His effort was good enough for his second pole.
Steve Ramon was sixth: The former World Champion, who finished second in the 2003 125 Italian Grand Prix at the same venue, was denied the chance to improve his ranking on the gate after a rider crashed and blocked his line in the final minutes of the chrono.
Kevin Strijbos:“I was fastest in the two practice sessions like last week but again Everts pops up at the end! This time he went three tenths-of-a-second faster. I tried for another fast lap but could only get a few tenths closer. The track was getting drier and quicker and I felt good all day. I had some good lines from the beginning and hardly made any changes to the bike; just a different sprocket and tyres on the front and rear.”
Steve Ramon:“The track was being watered all the time which made it slippery. I am sixth in the gate which is ok but I would have preferred top three. The start is uphill but I feel good with my starts on the bike here and I hope to get away well because the course is one-line in places and if you can’t be with the leaders straightaway they will be hard to catch.”
MX1 Timed Practice Classification:1 Stefan Everts, BEL (Yamaha) 1:49.081,
2 Kevin Strijbos, BEL (Suzuki) 1:50.353,
3 Tanel Leok, EST (Kawasaki) 1:50.637,
4 Ken De Dycker, BEL (Honda) 1:51.493,
5 James Noble, GBR (Honda) 1:51.987,
6 Steve Ramon, BEL (Suzuki) 1:52.203,
7 Claudio Federici, ITA (Kawasaki) 1:52.419,
8 Jonathan Barragan, SPA (KTM) 1:52.762,
9 Javier Garcia Vico, SPA (Honda) 1:52.768,
10 Alex Salvini, ITA (Suzuki) 1:52.875.
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