Press Release

ROCKSTAR ENERGY SUZUKI SET FOR GERMANY

ocscottie
8/31/2011 2:51pm


The
Grand Prix of Europe at the Gaildorf circuit in Germany will form the
penultimate round of the FIM Motocross World Championship this weekend
and Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1 will have both factory RM-Z450s in
the MX1 gate thanks to the skills of stand-in riders Kevin Strijbos and
Cody Cooper.

The 14th meeting of 15 will take place at the
grassy and 'Old School' track located north-east of Stuttgart and is the
first visit by the World Championship to the venue since 2005.

Strijbos
raced to a first moto position of ninth on that occasion and collected a
decent fourth overall at Gaildorf in 2004 for what was the inaugural
season for the MX2 class. The Belgian, after finishing sixth and 11th in
his two outings since being welcomed back into the fold in the wake of
Steve Ramon's injury at the Grand Prix of Limburg, is ready to tackle
the natural German inclines.

"I think we will definitely find
some hard-pack there even if I hear there have been some changes to the
overall layout," the former double World Championship runner-up said.
"I've had some good races and have some good memories from that place
and can recall winning there even as far back as my days on an 85cc. I
hope it will be a dry weekend otherwise it will be a mud-bath!

"I
feel good on the bike with every session I ride but I am struggling a
little bit at the moment with the knee I twigged in Britain. It meant
the Belgian Championship race last weekend was not so good and I have a
bit of a problem in the left-hand corners but I'll put this aside and
try to do the best I can for these last two GPs."

New Zealander
Cody Cooper will embark on his first Grand Prix appearance after
previously attempting to qualify for a World Championship round 10 years
ago. It will certainly be the 26 year old's first MX1 run. The Kiwi has
been in Belgium for almost two weeks and has been gaining valuable
track time on the RM-Z450 ahead of his debut. "The team is really good
and I have been riding a lot since I have got here," said Cooper, who
finished eighth overall in the 2011 Australian National Motocross
Championship and won six motos and three podium results from the nine
rounds. "The factory bike is much easier to ride and I am loving it. The
RM-Z is lighter and I can carry more speed in the corners.

"I
don't have any pressure from the team in terms of results and I just
want to get out there and ride as hard as I can," he added. "I want to
get good starts and 'redeem' myself in Germany after not making the
qualification-cut a good few years ago! I have not ridden at Gaildorf
before but I watched a few videos and I think I'll like that natural
layout."

An early weather forecast for the weekend predicts high temperatures, clouds and the chance of showers on Sunday.

MX1 World Championship standings: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 554 points; 2. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), 472 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 461 p.;
4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 410 p.; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS,
Honda), 387 p.; 6. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 371 p.; 7. David
Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 308 p.; 8. Jonathan Barragan (ESP,
Kawasaki), 279 p.; 9. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 272 p.; 10. Ken de
Dycker (BEL, Honda), 268 p.; 11. Tanel Leok (EST, TM), 247 p.; 12. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 229 p.; 13. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1), 225 p.



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