The Grand Prix of Bulgaria at the fast and undulating Sevlievo circuit has seen another podium celebration at the eighth round of 15 in the FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship for Team Suzuki.
Lone representative Steve Ramon finished as runner-up for the second time in a week with race results of fourth and second.
Under sweltering weather conditions and watched by 26,000 spectators, the hillside, hard-packed course offered an sapping set of 35 minute and 2 lap motos. The track was affected by hot sun and was a hard-pack, fast and at times slippery surface, quite unlike the deluge of rain that plummeted from the skies 12 months ago to create an ocean of standing water and one of the few wet races of the 2006 campaign.
Ramon gained second position in Timed Practice yesterday and used his high gate pick to place himself on the far inside of the first corner. The former World Champion was happy with the set-up of his machine from Saturday and feeling confident after recent good form.
In the first moto, the 27 year old exited the sharp opening corner in the mid top 10 but was too far adrift of Jonathan Barragan, Josh Coppins and Sebastien Pourcel to have any designs on the top three. The fast track permitted lap-times that were very close therefore the Belgian was frustrated in his attempts for further promotion. In the next moto he bustled for second place with Coppins before the duo both overtook Mike Brown within the first five laps. Coppins was able to edge away and Ramon soon found himself holding a steady pace behind the New Zealander and comfortably ahead of Italian David Philippaerts.
Ramon, who rose to second position in the championship standings after his moto victory and podium last week in France, is now facing a 97-point gap to leader Coppins who claimed overall success. He is 49 ahead of Philippaerts.
Kevin Strijbos expects to have some news on his troublesome left knee tomorrow (Monday). If the internal bleeding has stopped then the Belgian will be able to resume light training and hopefully be in sufficiently decent shape to return for the next Grand Prix. If the joint is still proving unstable then he may need a third operation in six months. The 21 year old has slipped to sixth in the standings because of his absence.
Team Suzuki will travel to Halle for the fourth round of the Jumbo Dutch Championship next weekend - a series that Ramon currently leads. They will then have the ninth round of the world championship at Uddevalla for the Grand Prix of Sweden the following week.
Steve Ramon:"It was a good day. My start was not great in the first moto but I pushed hard so that I could come through but I had lost time to the first three. In the second race I was strong again in the first laps and had a battle with Josh for a little while there. He was quicker unfortunately and I could not catch him so I concentrated on controlling the gap over David. It was a good result for the championship today although Josh got some more points on us and the title is looking difficult. It is still possible of course and I really want to win a Grand Prix before the end of the year."
MX1 Moto 1: 1. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), 39:53.521
2. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), +0:09.925
3. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:14.940
4. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), +0:19.054
5. David Philippaerts (ITA, KTM), +0:28.486
6. Julien Bill (SUI, Honda), +0:34.539
7. Mike Brown (USA, Honda), +0:38.135
8. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), +0:44.876
9. Kornel Nemeth (HUN, Suzuki), +0:51.713
10. Julien Vanni (FRA, Honda), +1:06.047
MX1 Moto 2: 1. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), 40:21.572
2. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), +0:09.056
3. David Philippaerts (ITA, KTM), +0:16.910
4. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:26.226
5. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), +0:31.909
6. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), +0:35.325
7. Julien Vanni (FRA, Honda), +0:38.030
8. Mike Brown (USA, Honda), +0:40.754
9. Marc de Reuver (NED, Yamaha), +0:43.003
10. Thomas Allier (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:44.638
MX1 Overall result: 1. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), 47 points
2. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), 41 p.
3. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 40 p.
4. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 38 p.
5. David Philippaerts (ITA, KTM), 36 p.
6. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), 28 p.
7. Mike Brown (USA, Honda), 27 p.
8. Julien Vanni (FRA, Honda), 25 p.
9. Marc de Reuver (NED, Yamaha), 21 p.
10. Kornel Nemeth (HUN, Suzuki), 21 p
MX1 World Championship Standings (after 8 of 15 rounds): 1. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), 368 points
2. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 271 p.
3. David Philippaerts (ITA, KTM), 222 p.
4. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 222 p.
5. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), 214 p.
6. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 211 p.
7. Mike Brown (USA, Honda), 196 p.
8. Tanel Leok (EST, Kawasaki), 179 p.
9. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), 178 p.
10. Billy Mackenzie (GBR, Kawasaki), 154 p.
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