After claiming another pole position on Saturday at the last Grand Prix of the season in Faenza Sébastien Pourcel unfortunately posted his worst race results of the campaign with a double DNF in Italy. Winning his first ever MX1 GP on this track last year, Grand Prix Kawasaki Racing’s Sébastien Pourcel was confident coming into Faenza. The hard soil looks like the tracks found in the South of France when it’s dry and on Saturday Seb was always among the fastest riders. He entered the qualifying session feeling optimistic and claimed another pole position – the first one aboard the fuel injection model and his fifth in 2008.
With just one round remaining in the 2008 FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship only three riders are still in with a shot of lifting the title - reigning MX1 World Champion Steve Ramon, his Teka Suzuki WMX1 team mate Ken de Dycker and current series points leader David Philippaerts.
Wearing the series leader's red plate for the first time this season, Team Teka Suzuki WMX1 rider Steve Ramon enters round 12 of the FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship at Loket in the Czech Republic looking to extend his points lead while his on-form team-mate Ken De Dycker is expecting to stand on the podium for the second week in a row after his stunning second place overall at the Grand Prix of Belgium. For the reigning MX1 World Champion the Grand Prix of Czech Republic has not been a happy hunting ground in the past but with his confidence riding high he's more than ready to make amends for past results and is hoping to win - or at the very least podium - in Loket on his factory RM-Z450.
The 2006 FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship commences this weekend with the first round of fifteen in a six month, three continent trek. The Karcher Grand Prix of Flanders will be entertained by the Zolder circuit in Belgian for the third consecutive year. The season will involve participation from six manufacturers in the 15 GP, 30 race contest. Team Suzuki, with the works RM-Z450s this season running the traditional Suzuki ‘yellow’ livery, field an all-Belgian line-up for the third consecutive year with Kevin Strijbos and Steve Ramon pushing the manufacturer’s cause at the highest level.