MX1: Kevin Strijbos wins in Portugal

Offroad

pubblicato il 23 aprile 2007

The Grand Prix of Portugal at a warm and bright Agueda circuit has been a memorable one for Kevin Strijbos and Team Suzuki as the Belgian left the third round of 15 in the 2007 FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship with his second career victory and the second triumph for the RM-Z450.

The 21 year old fought with Josh Coppins in both motos under hot and sunny conditions and watched by a crowd of 18,000 spectators. The Agueda circuit was dry, rough and fast offering a decent racing surface by virtue of the lines available.

Strijbos led the first half of Moto1 before being overhauled by a charging Coppins but would have his revenge later in the afternoon. He passed early front-runner Sebastien Pourcel and again set the pace. Coppins came close and even seized the lead around mid-distance but Strijbos retaliated immediately and then initiated a flurry of laps to pull away and notch his first moto success of the year.

The team celebrated their second overall victory with the four-stroke factory machine after the maiden garland was collected - again by Strijbos - back at the Loket circuit and the Czech Republic Grand Prix in 2005.

"This feels good, for sure," the winner said. "The first moto was hard. Josh was faster and I couldn't follow, but in the last race I had good speed and put my head down; I went full gas for the whole moto and really wanted that win. It was important that I passed Josh back in the same lap; I was happy with that. I have been training a lot on the bike since the GPs have started and now my fitness is right there. The team is working very hard, and has been right through the winter, so it was great to do this today."

Steve Ramon had another Portuguese round to forget. The Belgian crashed heavily last year and suffered a concussion. This time he was a victim of two first lap accidents that saw him having to work diligently to come back through the pack. The former World Champion managed to reach 11th in Moto1 and then a creditable eighth in Moto2 for eighth overall.

"I went down twice and this was the story of my results today," he offered. "In the first moto I had a good start but going over the first jump, Philippaerts hit a straw bale and I was in between the bale and him so I lost some places and crashed. My riding after that was pretty good but I had to push hard to come back and pass riders on a track that was not easy. I hoped to do better in the second moto because I felt like my speed was ok. On the next start I was fifth going up the jump and went for the second rut. Somebody came from the inside but ran out and over into me. I hit the floor with another rider on top of me so I could not get up. From that point it was hard work because again I was looking at the whole field in front. I was feeling good in that race. The result was not great and I am disappointed, but to come back from last to eighth was at least something. I hope I have some better luck in the next GPs!"

After events in Agueda today Strijbos and Ramon now hold second and fourth positions in the World Championship standings respectively. Strijbos is 19 points adrift of Coppins.

"We have been successful this time and the hard work paid off," commented Team Principal Sylvain Geboers. "This kind of track is very demanding for both rider and machine. I think we proved that we have the possibility to be a very strong contender for this championship."

The third round of the Belgian Championship sees both Team Suzuki riders busy next weekend before getting ready for more back-to-back Grands Prix with trips to Mantova in Italy followed directly by Teutschenthal in Germany.

MX1 Moto1: 1. Joshua Coppins (Yamaha), 39:18.003; 2. Kevin Strijbos (Suzuki), -0:11.015; 3. David Philippaerts (KTM), -0:14.133; 4. Tanel Leok (Kawasaki), -0:17.340; 5. James Noble (Honda), -0:40.774; 6. Manuel Priem (TM), -0:47.158; 7. Ken de Dycker (Honda), -0:55.077; 8. Kornel Nemeth (Suzuki), -1:00.740; 9. Mike Brown (Honda), -1:05.022; 10. Sebastien Pourcel (Kawasaki), -1:10.096. 11. Steve Ramon (Suzuki), -1:13.650.

MX1 Moto2: 1. Kevin Strijbos (Suzuki), 39:43.882; 2. Joshua Coppins (Yamaha), -0:20.114; 3. Sebastien Pourcel (Kawasaki), -0:32.151; 4. Manuel Priem (TM), -0:38.825; 5. David Philippaerts (KTM), -0:45.242; 6. Thomas Allier (Kawasaki), -0:48.725; 7. Mike Brown (Honda), -0:52.165; 8. Steve Ramon (Suzuki), -0:56.399; 9. Billy Mackenzie (Kawasaki), -0:57.586; 10. Kornel Nemeth (Suzuki), -0:58.844.

MX1 Overall: 1 Kevin Strijbos 47, 2 Joshua Coppins 47, 3 David Philippaerts 36, 4 Manuel Priem 33, 5 Sebastien Pourcel 31, 6 Mike Brown 26, 7 Kornel Nemeth 24, 8 Steve Ramon 23, 9 Ken De Dycker 23, 10 James Noble 21.

MX1 World Championship Points (after 3 from 15 rounds): 1 Joshua Coppins (NZL) 144, 2 Kevin Strijbos (BEL) 125, 3 Jonathan Barragan (ESP) 89, 4 Ramon Steve (BEL) 86, 5 Ken De Dycker (BEL) 84.