GP Preview

Finally after months of waiting, the opening round of the 2008 World Championship is here, confidence is high amongst the riders, they all believe this will be there year and yet know one knows exactly where they stand amongst there competitors until the gate drops on Sunday.

MX1

The pre- season races have given us a slight indication of who is doing what however and the indications are that Steve Ramon is looking good. A decent pre-season was followed up by a overall victory in the first round of the Belgian Championships. Maybe the current world champion can win his first ever MX1 GP this season and prove the doubters wrong! Ramon's Team mate at Teka Suzuki is Ken De Dycker who also has been fast in pre season but being fast has never been Ken's problem , if he can improve his race fitness Ken will be a threat but he still has to prove to everyone that he can run his full speed for every GP moto.

The biggest question mark has to be last years’ would’ve could’ve should’ve been World Champ Josh Coppins. The toughest rider in the world is having to prove his toughness once again after badly breaking two toes in a freak practice incident 3 weeks ago, the Kiwi now faces a race to be fit for the first GP and according to Josh himself it is doubtful he will make it. If when he returns to racing and he can ride to the form of last season missing one round won’t stop Coppins taking the title. David Phillipearts has been looking good after his switch to Rinaldi Yamaha and with Coppins having his injury troubles the pressure will be on David to perform in the GPs right away mechanical problems held him back last year as well as a lack of experience but now with rookie mistakes hopefully over and a bike he seems to be very comfortable on Phillipearts should be a constant threat to win this season.

Last years runner up Kevin Strijbos has switched to the GPKR Kawaski team and has the raw speed to be champion. But like Coppins injuries hampered his title assault last year, and also like Coppins, Kevin's pre -season has been hampered by a shoulder injury, unlike Josh though Strijbos will definitely be on the start line in Holland and should be fit enough to be on the podium. If he can stay away from any more injuries and keep his motivation throughout the season the fastest GP rider at the end of last season should be a big threat to Ramon's crown. Strijbos Team-mate Sebastian Pourcel is another potential title challenger this season, excellent on hard pack tracks if he can find consistency in the sand Pourcel could be there at the end. The late Jan De Groot Kawaski team is still running and has maintained the services of Tanel Leok but after a disappointing season last year Tanel needs to turn his qualifying speed into race results if he wants to keep his factory status. Manual Priem is a quiet Belgian in the same mould as Britains James Noble. Priem has got a big break riding for a high profile team and could should a few establish stars if he builds up some momentum.

Honda are finally an HRC effort again and have 2 teams vying for the world title. CAS Honda have recruited Billy Mackenzie and held on to veteran Mike Brown, Browns winning days are probably behind him but top 10s and a few top 5s should be a regular occurance for the man from Tennessee. Mackenzie however has been looking awesome in pre – season a seems brimful of confidence that big things will be accomplished but without having raced many of the top GP riders so far except in Hawkstone Billy still has to prove to everyone that he has the speed to podium on his bad days as well as his good but for the British fans Billy is the best chance they have had of winning a GP title since Gordorn Crockard 5 years ago. Martin Honda have went with the enigma that is Marc De Reuver and like Mackenzie he has been flying in the pre-season races. An ankle injury a few weeks ago doesn’t seem to have slowed Marc down to much and he will be fired up to take victory in front of his home crowd this weekend. However, like Mackenzie his consistency not his speed is questionable when it comes to being a title challenger hopefully the popular Dutchman will justify his talent in each GP this season.

KTM are banking on the talents of 20 year old German Max Nagl who is a full factory member this season and now has Stefan Everts watching his every move. After being farmed out to Silver action KTM but still retaining factory equipment Jonathan Barragan has something to prove after rumours insinuated that he Everts were not seeing eye to eye on certain things. James Noble has been given a lifeline by KTM and is riding for KTM UK, after being a one man band last year Noble has the support of a good team and no doubt a few good performance will encourage the Factory team to send a few parts his way.

With over 10 riders capable of winning motos the MX1 racing should be fantastic with last years rookie riders maturing, Strijbos, Ramon and Coppins all something to prove it is possibly the most open year in the history of the World championship. For me with Coppins already hurt Ramon is sitting in pole position again and with a new found desire to win races combined with his famous consistency, the other riders will have to watch his every move. They all have the speed to beat him on their day but can they be there week in week out? We’ll soon find out…

By: Jonathan McCready, Photos: Paul McCready