Steve Ramon secured his second moto victory on the RM-Z450 this season and his third podium in a row with second position overall this afternoon at a cloudy Uddevalla circuit for the Grand Prix of Sweden and the ninth round of 15 in the 2007 FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship.

Ramon, who was also runner-up 12 months ago, rode to fifth and first positions in front of 28,900 fans for his overall ranking and also took 10 points away from Josh Coppins' series lead as the New Zealander could only place fifth.

On a difficult track that was rough and bumpy and far more technical than the courses recently encountered by the world championship in France and Bulgaria, Kevin Strijbos took an excellent third position in the opening race but lacked energy for the second and circulated at his own speed for 17th.

Strijbos, who qualified on pole position yesterday, joined Ramon inside the leading group of the first four riders in the opening moto. The 21 year old was pleased to fight off late attention from Josh Coppins to take third although he was powerless to prevent an aggressive Tanel Leok from moving through to second spot. Ramon slipped back to fifth in the last stages as Coppins found extra reserves.

In the second race Ramon was able to gel quicker with the surface and refused to let runaway Moto1 victor Ken de Dycker escape again. On lap 12, the 27 year old seized the lead without resistance and eased to his second moto win from the last three Grand Prix. Strijbos was powerless - quite literally - to run at a similar pace due to his first moto exertions and was content to complete the distance.

"My riding was good today but obviously better in the second moto," said Ramon. "I was stiff in that first race and it must go down as a bad result for me but I knew I could do better and with a good start in the second moto I could close the gap to Ken and pass him. The track was really rough with a lot of sharp bumps so you had to concentrate a lot but I had better lines in that second race and could control it once I was in the lead. It was a pity that I could not win the GP because of that first moto but there are a few more chances left yet."

"The first race was good, I had a decent start and I pushed the first few laps with Ken," commented Strijbos. "We could make a gap but I had a dip after about 20 minutes and felt very tired at the end. In the second moto I had nothing to give and rode around as best as I could. I felt completely empty and had pain in my stomach. This is all part of the road back though and that third place was more than I hoped for."

In the series standings Ramon maintains second position and now lies 89 points away from Coppins but is 55 ahead of David Philippaerts in third. Strijbos has moved up from sixth to fifth.

Team Suzuki will be in action next weekend for the fifth round of eight in the Belgian Championship that will take place at the Nismes circuit. The following week sees the t10th round of the FIM World Championship occur at Faenza for the Grand Prix Citta di Faenza in Italy.

MX1 Moto1: 1. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), 38:46.205; ; 2. Tanel Leok (EST, Kawasaki), +0:06.373; 3. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:08.022; 4. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), +0:10.482; 5. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), +0:11.402; 6. David Philippaerts (ITA, KTM), +0:32.766; 7. Billy Mackenzie (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:42.135; 8. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:43.561; 9. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), +0:44.659; 10. James Noble (GBR, Honda), +0:58.917

MX1 Moto2: 1. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 39:17.093; ; 2. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), +0:05.236; 3. David Philippaerts (ITA, KTM), +0:07.610; 4. Billy Mackenzie (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:11.930; 5. Tanel Leok (EST, Kawasaki), +0:12.878; 6. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), +0:26.942; 7. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), +0:35.137; 8. Mike Brown (USA, Honda), +0:41.722; 9. Kornel Nemeth (HUN, Suzuki), +0:44.900; 10. James Noble (GBR, Honda), +0:59.937; 17. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), -1 lap(s).

MX1 Overall result: 1. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), 47 points; 2. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 41 p.; 3. Tanel Leok (EST, Kawasaki), 38 p.; 4. David Philippaerts (ITA, KTM), 35 p.; 5. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), 33 p.; 6. Billy Mackenzie (GBR, Kawasaki), 32 p.; 7. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), 26 p.; 8. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 24 p.; 9. Mike Brown (USA, Honda), 23 p.; 10. James Noble (GBR, Honda), 22 p

MX1 World Championship Standings (after 9 of 15 rounds): 1. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), 401 points; 2. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 312 p.; 3. David Philippaerts (ITA, KTM), 257 p.; 4. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), 240 p.; 5. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 235 p.; 6. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 235 p.; 7. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), 225 p.; 8. Mike Brown (USA, Honda), 219 p.; 9. Tanel Leok (EST, Kawasaki), 217 p.; 10. Billy Mackenzie (GBR, Kawasaki), 186 p.