Press Release

Teka Suzuki Men Podium in German MX1

Team Suzuki Press Office - June 29 – Hot weather and a rough, technical track at Teutschental in Germany made for an exciting weekend of racing action for the Team Teka Suzuki WMX1 squad at the eighth round of the FIM MX1 World Motocross Championship.


Despite the difficult conditions that both team riders always relish, Ken De Dycker ended the day in second place overall on his factory RM-Z450 with a hard-fought-for 4-2 scorecard. Battling back through the pack from poor starts in both races he was one of the few riders able to move forward through the pack on the narrow Teutschental circuit.


"I didn't get the best starts this weekend but I rode well in both races," said De Dycker. "The heat made things tough today and the track was rough also but that made it fun to ride for me. I finished second overall today which is good for the championship as only Josh Coppins scored more points than me so I'm really happy.


"The team and I are always working and I think we're getting better every weekend. I was happy with my riding, I think I'm the only rider today who could come through the pack and then stay there. I didn't want to push too hard today because it was very easy to make a mistake on this track and also it was hot which made things very tough."


Reigning MX1 World Champion Steve Ramon was also in fine form at today's Grand Prix but didn't get the end result he perhaps deserved. Battling through the pack from eighth to second in moto one, Ramon was only beaten by an on-form Josh Coppins who'd enjoyed a much better start. Closing to within four points of the championship leader David Philippaerts, Ramon was more than ready to take control of the series in moto two.


However things didn't quite turn out as Ramon planned. After gating fifth, Ramon slipped off on a foolishly freshly watered jump face and crashed midway around lap one. Several riders hit the fallen factory Suzuki damaging it badly enough to ensure Steve had to make a trip to the pits to get the damage quickly fixed.


Unable to straighten the bike sufficiently for Ramon to ride it at full race speed, the champ was forced to return to the track in an attempt to score some points. Starting over one minute behind his closest competitor, Steve rode like the champion he is, battered bike and all, to finish 18th and score three precious championship points.


"The first race was okay," he said. "I got a bad start but the track was slippery and I was able to pass some riders in the beginning, I had a good pace going and I could see Josh just ahead of me but I was happy with second and I'd already pushed hard early in the race and I was getting a little bit tired.


"In the second moto I got a much better start in around fifth place I think but on the first lap I crashed on one of the jumps. It was wet and slippery and I took the wrong rut and went sideways over the jump and I crashed. It wasn't really a big crash but some riders were coming behind me and they jumped on my bike and it was completely damaged. I had to stop in the pits to try and straighten it out.


"From that point my riding was not so good because everything was bent. I tried to take as many points as possible but they just weren't enough. It's always important to score points and those three points at the end of the year might just make al the difference. Today hasn't been good for the championship but there are still plenty of rounds to go so I'll just keep on working hard like always and see where I end."


The MX1 World Championship series continues next weekend - July 6 - with the Grand Prix of Sweden held at the excellent Uddevalla circuit.


MX1 Moto 1: 1 Josh Coppins (Yamaha - NZL) 39:32:337, 2 Steve Ramon (Suzuki - BEL) +0:03:070, 3 David Philippaerts (Yamaha - ITA) +0:06:896, 4 Ken De Dycker (Suzuki - BEL) +0:11:101, 5 Julien Bill (Honda - SUI) +0:14:773, 6 Tanel Leok (Kawasaki - EST) +0:25:707, 7 Sebastien Pourcel (Kawasaki - FRA) +0:41:215, 8 Manuel Priem (Kawasaki - BEL) +0:43:714, 9 Aigar Leok (Yamaha - EST) +0:47:859, 10 Clement Desalle (Suzuki - BEL) +0:53:196.


MX1 Moto 2: 1 Josh Coppins (Yamaha - NZL) 40:27:188, 2 Ken De Dycker (Suzuki - BEL) +0:07:806, 3 Tanel Leok (Kawasaki - EST) +0:10:916, 4 Max Nagl (KTM - GER) +0:18:247, 5 Sebastien Pourcel (Kawasaki - FRA) +0:28:423, 6 David Philippaerts (Yamaha - ITA) +0:31:971, 7 Julien Bill (Honda - SUI) +0:37:039, 8 Aigar Leok (Yamaha - EST) +0:44:990, 9 Manuel Priem (Kawasaki - BEL) +0:51:781, 10 Billy MacKenzie (Honda - GB) +1:01:592. 18 Steve Ramon (Suzuki - BEL) +1:46:550.


World Championship standings (after 8 of 15 rounds): 1 David Philippaerts (Yamaha - ITA) 266 points, 2 Josh Coppins (Yamaha - NZL) 262, 3 Steve Ramon (Suzuki - BEL) 250, 4 Ken De Dycker (Suzuki - BEL) 240, 5 Sebastien Pourcel (Kawasaki - FRA) 231, 6 Jonathan Barragan (KTM - ESP) 192, 7 Tanel Leok (Kawasaki - EST) 186, 8 Max Nagl (KTM - GER) 179, 9 Billy MacKenzie (Honda - GB) 176, 10 Marc De Reuver (Honda - NED) 156.


Manufacturer World Championship standings (after 8 of 15 rounds): 1 Yamaha 319 points, 2 Suzuki 256, 3 Kawasaki 292, 4 KTM 269, 5 Honda 247, 6 TM 31, 7 Aprilia 5.

0 comments

The Latest