Season Countdown for Team suzuki
Strijbos and Steve Ramon face one of their last competitive outings on the RM-Z450s this season
The rough and fine soil of Desertmartin provided ample preparation for the deepest sand track on the calendar a few days ago and now Kevin Strijbos and Steve Ramon face one of their last competitive outings on the RM-Z450s this season. The Grand Prix of France will take place in three weeks time and then the schedule will be closed by the 60th Motocross of Nations in which both Suzuki representatives have been selected for the Belgian team. Despite some bruising and pain Steve Ramon was assured by a medical check-up on Monday that nothing was broken after his large second moto crash in “I still have a head ache and some pain in my hip,” the former World Champion commented. “Monday was the worst day and I went to the hospital but they said nothing was broken. I have not been able to train for two days but I will try to do some riding tomorrow. This is not the best time to be going to Lierop! It is a track where you need to be 100% because it is a heavy place. It will be a tough weekend for me and it is looking difficult to catch Kevin now in the Championship. The goal is make sure of third and for that I have to be watching De Dycker.” Strijbos is getting closer to be 100% fit after coming through the Grand Prix of Northern Ireland despite a groin injury picked up at “Lierop is the deepest sand track on the calendar and while it is difficult and hard physically I enjoy riding there,” he said. “The sand gets pretty rough and this makes it technical. Desertmartin was not an easy weekend but with Steve’s crash I managed to take some good points. If I can just finish in front of him again this weekend then that should be ok to end the Championship. Getting two good starts will be important.” Lierop holds good memories for the pair after their win as part of the Belgian team at the 2004 Motocross of Nations. Ramon also finished second at the GP in 2005 while Strijbos was sixth. The flat and wide circuit near the German border is quite fast with long straight sections cutting through the woodlands but the rough sand cuts the lap-times down and gives a distinct advantage to those riders schooled in the Sadly a rainy and windy weekend of weather is forecast. MX1 World Championship Standings (after 13 of 15 rounds): 1 Stefan EVERTS (BEL), 639, 2 Kevin STRIJBOS (BEL), 458, 3 Steve RAMON (BEL), 418, 4 Ken DE DYCKER (BEL), 409, 5 Tanel LEOK (EST), 387, 6 J.BARRAGAN (SPA), 306, 7 Joshua COPPINS (NZL), 249, 8 Pascal LEURET (FRA), 242, 9 Manuel PRIEM (BEL), 239, 10 Cedric MELOTTE (BEL), 224. |
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