The Team Teka Suzuki WMX1 win-streak continues in the 2008 FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship with reigning World Champion Steve Ramon taking overall victory in deep, difficult and some might say dangerous conditions at Bellpuig in Spain on his factory RM-Z450 while Ken De Dycker finished third to stay on top of the series standings.
With Team Teka Suzuki WMX1's owner Sylvain Geboers claiming the conditions were the worst he's ever seen at a motocross race, getting a good start was vital and Ramon delivered the goods by getting out of the gate and around turn one in third position in the opening - and as it turned out, only - moto.
After making easy work of Marc De Reuver, Ramon stalked early leader Jonathan Barragan for the first three laps before passing the Spanish star and then pulling away to a seemingly easy victory in the difficult conditions.
"I had a good start in third place and moved past De Reuver in the second turn and then took things easy," said Ramon. "I was running second when Barragan made a mistake in front of me and I took the lead. It was really difficult to ride the track and you had to concentrate hard because there were some really deep bumps and ruts, which you couldn't see because of the deep water.
"My riding was good and the bike was good and I won the moto which was good also of course. With the organisers cancelling the second moto it means I have won the overall, which is the first MX1 Grand Prix I have ever won and also the first GP win I have had in a very long time. I am really happy."
While Ramon did things the easy way, De Dycker had to battle hard through the pack after crashing a couple of times on the opening lap. Using plenty of brute strength and aggression, he soon worked his way up to third behind his team-mate Ramon and David Philippaerts who finished second.
"There was one heat only today and I managed to get third after two crashes in the first lap," he claimed. "It was very difficult and on every lap, on every obstacle, you had to concentrate hard because the track was always changing and the mud and water was hiding the bumps and ruts.
"I'm still leading the championship by seven points which I am very happy about. I've never led the series before and to be leading for two rounds in a row is really good for me."
The second of the day's MX1 motos was cancelled after riders' meeting minutes before the race was due to begin meaning the overall result stood after just one race. The rider's collectively decided the conditions were way too dangerous to race on as an abundance of standing water and mud made it almost impossible to predict what lay beneath the sloppy surface of the Bellpuig circuit.
The FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship continues next weekend - April 27 - with round three at Agueda in Portugal.
