Team Suzuki’s Kevin Strijbos claimed his debut pole position on a new, development RM-Z450 today at a stuffy Loket circuit for the MX1 Grand Prix of Czech Republic. The Belgian was a mere 200ths-of-a-second quicker than World Champion Stefan Everts after the 30-minute Timed Practice session that saw the first six riders split by less than a second.
Cloudy but extremely humid conditions have graced the first day of action in the 11th round of 15 in the MX1 Motocross World Championships: A generous smattering of rain over the steep hillside venue located more than 100km west of Prague created a terrain that was loose, stony and slippery in places. Alterations for 2006 have been mainly confined to a new and better location of the pit-lane.
Both Strijbos and Ramon were, as usual, among the main protagonists during the free practice sessions and Strijbos in particular was happy racing the RM-Z with a revised engine configuration, enabling slightly smoother power delivery. Ramon reeled off some good laps to place fifth and just over half-a-second away from his team mate.
Kevin Strijbos:“My first pole ever so I am happy with that. I have pushed hard over the last few years so it is overdue! I made some mistakes on the laps before so it was nice to finally get it near the end. I am using the different engine and I am finding it a little easier with the power. It comes on smoother at the bottom end and is not so tiring. Last year we had a wet race here but it was dry today and I don’t mind either condition. The track is difficult though because of the small stones. I can push very hard though with this altered bike and I hope we will see the difference over forty minutes.”
Steve Ramon:“From the first practice you could see that the times are really close here. I was around the top four in both sessions and riding well in the Timed Practice but it was difficult to make the perfect lap because the track is tight and there isn’t much traction in the corners so the bike is sliding. I am still in the same second as the guys in front and that is OK for tomorrow.”
MX1 Timed Practice:1 Kevin Strijbos (Bel) Suzuki 1:48.153,
2 Stefan Everts (Bel) Yamaha 1:48.175,
3 Ken De Dycker (Bel) Honda 1:48.176,
4 Tanel Leok (Est) Kawasaki 1:48.720,
5 Steve Ramon (Bel) Suzuki 1:48.838,
6 Joshua Coppins (Nzl) Honda 1:48.995,
7 Cedric Melotte (Bel) Yamaha 1:50.321,
8 Jonathan Barragan (Spa) Ktm 1:50.396,
9 Marko Kovalainen (Fin) Honda 1:50.435,
10 Brian Jorgensen (Den) Honda 1:50.593.
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