Suzuki: De Dycker 2nd in Portuguese MX1

Team Suzuki Press Office - May 10.

Teka Suzuki World MX1's Ken De Dycker took second position and this third podium result of the season at a cloudy and changeable Agueda circuit and the Grand Prix of Portugal for the fifth round of the 2009 FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship.

The Belgian was second in both motos and led the second race for well over half distance on the RM-Z450.

The Portuguese event, attended by 25,000 people, offered two 'climates' with the first moto occurring in warm and dry conditions and the second, later in the afternoon taking place through a light shower, winds and lower temperatures. Nevertheless the undulating hard-pack track gradually got rougher throughout the day and was physically demanding courtesy of the many bumps and ripples.

De Dycker, who had taken his second pole position of the season with victory in the qualification heat yesterday, effectively fought his way through to the front of the pack from a top five start in the first moto. He passed World Champion David Philippaerts and set the pace for three laps before becoming a victim to Antonio Cairoli's lap-times. He was able to secure the runner-up position.

In the following sprint, De Dycker was sharp negotiating the first lap and proceeded to establish a margin of at least five seconds over his pursuers. He held first spot for 15 of the 20 laps but again had no answer to Cairoli in the closing stages.

De Dycker was content with his third set of silverware and has again moved up to second in the world championship standings, 25 points behind Cairoli but 16 ahead of Jonathan Barragan.

Agueda was also the scene of the second round of the Women's World Championship and Teka Suzuki Europe MX2's Larissa Papenmeier took her RM-Z250 to third place overall for her first podium of the season.

Teka Suzuki WMX1 will now travel east to Spain and the Bellpuig circuit for the Grand Prix of Catalunya and round six of fifteen next week.

Ken De Dycker, 2nd:

"I am happy with second because the last GP did not go as I hoped it would. This was an improvement even if I was not strong enough to keep the lead from Antonio in both races. To be honest I did not expect him to be so good. In the second moto I tried really hard to pull away and make a big gap but it was very rough and slippery out there. I was making a few mistakes but my riding was still OK because we had reverted back to some of the suspension settings we had last year and it worked out well. Anyway the result here is still good and I hope we can get stronger next week and for the GPs to come."

MX1 Moto1: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha), 39:32.718; 2. Ken De Dycker (BEL, Teka Suzuki WMX1), +0:07.035; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Honda), +0:12.446; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), +0:14.608; 5. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:16.374; 6. Tanel Leok (EST, Yamaha), +0:21.134; 7. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), +0:50.988; 8. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), +0:54.914; 9. Gregory Aranda (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:58.430; 10. Gareth Swanepoel (RSA, Kawasaki), +1:11.378.

MX1 Moto2: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha), 40:13.107; 2. Ken De Dycker (BEL, Teka Suzuki WMX1), +0:10.571; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Honda), +0:18.792; 4. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), +0:20.312; 5. Tanel Leok (EST, Yamaha), +0:40.474; 6. David Vuillemin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:49.212; 7. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), +0:58.709; 8. Gareth Swanepoel (RSA, Kawasaki), +1:09.139; 9. Gregory Aranda (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:15.733; 10. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), +1:31.163.

MX1 Overall Result: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha), 50 points; 2. Ken De Dycker (BEL, Teka Suzuki WMX1), 44 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Honda), 40 p.; 4. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), 32 p.; 5. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 32 p.; 6. Tanel Leok (EST, Yamaha), 31 p.; 7. David Vuillemin (FRA, Kawasaki), 25 p.; 8. Gareth Swanepoel (RSA, Kawasaki), 24 p.; 9. Gregory Aranda (FRA, Kawasaki), 24 p.; 10. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), 24 p.

MX1 World Championship standings (after 5 of 15 rounds): 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha), 193 points; 2. Ken De Dycker (BEL, Teka Suzuki WMX1), 168 p.; 3. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), 152 p.; 4. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), 144 p.; 5. Tanel Leok (EST, Yamaha), 142 p.; 6. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 134 p.; 7. Clement Desalle (BEL, Honda), 126 p.; 8. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 119 p.; 9. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 100 p.; 10. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Honda), 82 p.