Team Suzuki's Kevin Strijbos proved that he is coming back to full speed and fitness just in time for the 10th round the 2007 FIM Motocross World Championship at Faenza this weekend by winning all three motos at the fifth test of the 2CMX Belgian Championship last Sunday.

The 21 year old collected a triple set at Nismes beating team-mate and fellow works RM-Z450 rider Steve Ramon (third) at the former Grand Prix circuit. "It was good to win at Nismes and I found it a little easier than I expected," said Strijbos who has moved up to third in the domestic series and holds fifth in the world championship standings. "I was still a bit wary of how much I was able to push with my knee but overall I was happy with my speed and race fitness.

"The Grand Prix this weekend will be tougher but I have some confidence now and I hope to be able to get two good motos together because in Sweden I could manage to only really go with the leaders in the first race," added the Portuguese Grand Prix winner.

Ramon managed to extend his lead in the Belgian competition despite taking the lower step of the rostrum and carries a 58 point advantage with three rounds remaining. The 27 year old will be looking to shrink further the deficit he faces to Coppins in the world championship this Sunday that currently lies at 89.

"My riding is now at a good level and that is obvious in the results," the former world champion said ahead of the GP series' second visit to Italy this year. "I went testing at Faenze earlier this season, although I know the track has been changed for the Grand Prix so it will be interesting to see what we will find. It is a fun course track with some hard-pack dirt. They say it will be hot for the weekend so it will be a physical race. I managed to take a few points away from Josh in Sweden and all we can do is try to repeat that at each round. The championship will be very hard to win but my main aim is still to take an overall GP victory for Suzuki."

As for the future plans of the team there have been many rumours and speculation in recent weeks with regards to the personnel and line-up. "We are in negotiations at the moment but we are not in a position to announce or confirm anything just yet," said Team Principal Sylvain Geboers. "As soon as Suzuki would like us declare the plans for 2008 then we will make them known right away."

Faenza is new to the world championship calendar but the circuit itself is familiar to a sizeable element of the riding fraternity as one of the preferred testing locations within the country. Situated in the Ravenna province and close to the cities of Bologna and Rimini the steep hillside hard-pack venue has already been shortened from its original 1900m length to meet FIM requirements and has also undergone modifications to make the track more spectacular and television friendly. The infrastructure itself - already a source of scepticism for many due to its small size - has also been the subject of alterations to cope with the scale and level of a 2007 Grand Prix standard paddock and to cater for an attendance believed to crest at least 15,000.

The weather forecast for the weekend is unsurprisingly good with sunshine and temperatures climbing above 35 degrees.

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.