A tough weekend for Ramon in Portugal

A tough weekend for Ramon in
Portugal

Steve Ramon headed to Agueda,
Portugal, on a high this weekend, determined to get back onto the Grand
Prix podium after his 2^nd overall in Valkenswaard. In the timed
practice Ramon put in a scorching lap, taking the pole for the qualifying
race by almost 1 second over the rest of the MX1 field. A rain shower
soaked the Agueda circuit for the Saturday qualify race, but Ramon was
undeterred by this and was riding a very comfortable 3^rd behind
Cairoli in the race when disaster struck. A hail-bail had moved onto the
circuit on the landing of a huge jump, and landing on the bail Ramon was
thrown hard down the circuit, and out of the race. Ramon suffered a very
hard impact to his head and the right side of his body, but luckily there
was no major injuries, and although having to start from almost last on the
grid he was still able to contest the GP on Sunday.

The first moto got underway, and
as expected coming from the outside gate the ‘Bomb’ was down in
the pack, but pushing through Ramon was up in to 9^th by the end
of lap one. Continuing to race hard throughout Ramon eventually ended the
race in 7^th position.

Moto 2 was yet another tough
start, this time the ‘Bomb’ was down in 13^th at the
end of the opening lap. Fighting up to 10^th, the Belgian made a
mistake and dropped the bike on a corner and bending the front brake lever
and also jamming the brake system within the hand guard. Quickly
straightening up the lever Ramon got going again, and racing as hard as he
could the Number 11 Suzuki crossed the finish line in 12^th
position after a grueling 40 minutes.

With a 9^th overall for
the GP Ramon now sits 4^th overall in the World Championship
standings, just 9 points off Philippaerts in 3^rd
spot.

Steve’s comments on the
weekend:”In the Saturday qualifying race I felt so good, I thought I
can pass Cairoli, but just keep it smooth and get the result. Then coming
down off a big jump I landed on a hail-bail and it just threw me. I was
dizzy and in pain, I couldn’t even manage to re-start the bike, I was
done! Crashing out gave me a terrible gate pick for the races, so from
there I just had to do my best and salvage all the points possible in the
two races. All in all I felt like I rode well though, and look forward to
racing for a podium in Spain next week.”

Round 5 of the MX1 World
Championship takes place in Bellpuig, Spain, next weekend.

Images CDS

Results

Mx1 Race 1
1 Nagl,
Maximilian GER KTM
2 Desalle,
Clement BEL Suzuki
3 Philippaerts,
David ITA Yamaha
4 Boog,
Xavier FRA Kawasaki
5 Cairoli,
Antonio ITA KTM
6 Leok, Tanel EST Honda
7 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki
8 Pourcel, Sebastien FRA Kawasaki
9 Bobryshev,
Evgeny RUS Honda
10 de Reuver,
Marc NED Suzuki
11 Goncalves, Rui POR KTM
12 Strijbos, Kevin BEL Suzuki
13 Boissiere,
Anthony FRA TM
14 Aubin,
Nicolas FRA Kawasaki
15 Guarneri,
Davide ITA Honda

MX1 Race 2
1 Cairoli,
Antonio ITA KTM
2 Desalle,
Clement BEL Suzuki
3 de Dycker,
Ken BEL Yamaha
4 Boog, Xavier FRA Kawasaki
5 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM
6 Leok,
Tanel EST Honda
7 Bobryshev,
Evgeny RUS Honda
8 Philippaerts,
David ITA Yamaha
9 Pourcel,
Sebastien FRA Kawasaki
10 Guarneri,
Davide ITA Honda
11 Coppins,
Joshua NZL Aprilia
12 Ramon,
Steve BEL Suzuki
13 Goncalves,
Rui POR KTM
14 Strijbos, Kevin BEL Suzuki
15 Boissiere, Anthony FRA TM

Mx1 GP Overall:
1 Desalle, Clement BEL Suzuki 44
2 Cairoli,
Antonio ITA KTM 41
3 Nagl,
Maximilian GER KTM 41
4 Boog,
Xavier FRA Kawasaki 36
5 Philippaerts,
David ITA Yamaha 33
6 Leok,
Tanel EST Honda 30
7 Bobryshev,
Evgeny RUS Honda 26
8 Pourcel,
Sebastien FRA Kawasaki 25
9 Ramon,
Steve BEL Suzuki 23
10 de Dycker,
Ken BEL Yamaha 20

MX1 Championship standings:
1 Cairoli, A. ITA 179
2 Nagl,
M. GER 161
3 Philippaerts, D. ITA 133
4 Ramon, Steve BEL 124
5 Desalle, C. BEL 123
6 de Dycker,
Ken BEL 114
7 Boog, Xavier FRA 106
8 Leok, Tanel EST 96
9 Bobryshev,
E. RUS 79
10 Pourcel, S. FRA 75