Ramon Podiums in France

Team Teka Suzuki WMX1 riders Steve Ramon and Ken De Dycker had a day of mixed fortunes at round seven of the MX1 World Motocross Championship held at Saint Jean d'Angely in France.

The ultra-fast hillside circuit was in prime condition as the forecast rain never appeared meaning the on-track action was fast and furious in both points paying races.

Reigning MX1 World Champion Ramon looked to be in fine form as he rocketed out of turn one in the lead of race one. Easily leaving his competition behind he looked like he had victory in the bag until the champ hit a huge rock that had become displaced from the circuit's soil surface. The ensuing crash left him on the wrong side of the green netting and with some damage to his race machine.

After stopping to remove his dislodged front number plate that was playing havoc with his factory Suzuki's steering, Ramon discovered that the track markings that were tangled in his rear brake were stopping that from working properly too. But, making the best of it, Ramon was able to hang tough to finish 11th - still two places ahead of his biggest championship rival David Philippaerts.

Ramon once more took the holeshot in moto two but this time only held the lead briefly as moto one winner Sebastien Pourcel made a move to the front. Following the French rider, Ramon looked to be biding his time to make a move back to the front but a small mistake from the Teka Suzuki WMX1 team rider allowed Pourcel to pull away and Coppins to squeeze into second.

Unable to find a way back past Coppins before the chequered flag was unfurled, Ramon finished a fine third and took further points from Philippaerts who was a non-scorer after retiring with a damaged machine. Now sitting just six points behind the Italian championship leader, everything's to play for at the next round in Teutschental.

"Today I was riding well and my Suzuki was going good - really good," said Ramon. "In the first race I took the holeshot and I was pulling away, things were going really well until I hit a big stone and bounced off the track. It was a big crash and I was lucky not to hurt myself. I got caught in the green fencing a little bit and some of it got wrapped around my rear wheel, which caused my rear brake not to work - it was very difficult to finish the moto. I was disappointed because I knew I could have won that moto and Philippaerts wasn't so good in that race either and I could have taken a lot of points out of him.

"I was looking forward to the second race and I was able to take the holeshot once more. Pourcel passed me but I was able to follow him without pushing myself too hard until I made a mistake in the sand section and I almost went down. I put my foot down to steady myself and then after that I had a big cramp. I had a lot of pain so I had to slow down and Josh was able to pass me so I finished third."

Ramon's team-mate Ken De Dycker was hoping to turn the French GP into a lucrative exercise in points scoring but the tall Belgian rider suffered a big crash as he held down third in moto one. Hitting neutral on the face of a tabletop jump, De Dycker was forced to hit the eject button and badly cut his arm in the carnage that followed.

Remounting and finishing in sixth, De Dycker was able to finish the race without further problems although the damage received would cause problems in moto two.

After getting a mid-pack start, De Dycker battled as hard as the pain would allow him and the 10 points he scored from finishing 11th keep him in touch with the series leaders.

"In moto one I got a top-10 start but was able to move through the pack quite easily - I was riding well and I was just waiting for the right opportunity to move into the lead after Steve crashed," he said. "Then on a small tabletop jump I hit neutral and the bike nosedived. I had to jump off so I didn't get hurt but I still damaged my arm. I got going again and was able to finish sixth.

"Between races my arm swelled up and that made it very difficult to hold on and caused me a lot of pain. I got a mid-pack start and found it difficult to push hard as it hurt so much. I finally finished 11th which wasn't too bad considering."

The MX1 series now takes a one-week break with the next round of the World Championship being held at Teutschental on June 29.

MX1 Moto 1: 1 Sebastien Pourcel (Kawasaki - FRA) 40:09:573, 2 Josh Coppins (Yamaha - NZL) +0:01:852, 3 Jonathan Barragan (KTM - ESP) +0:12:558, 4 Tanel Leok (Kawasaki - EST) +0:24:687, 5 Max Nagl (KTM - GER) +0:30:167, 6 Ken De Dycker (Suzuki - BEL) +0:36:921, 7 Clement Desalle (Suzuki - BEL) +0:38:867, 8 Kornel Nemeth (KTM - HUN) +0:41:501, 9 Manuel Priem (Kawasaki - BEL) +0:42:356, 10 Julien Bill (Honda - SUI) +0:42:965, 11 Steve Ramon (Suzuki - BEL) +0:17:775.

MX1 Moto 2: 1 Sebastien Pourcel (Kawasaki - FRA) 40:04:650, 2 Josh Coppins (Yamaha - NZL) +0:01:808, 3 Steve Ramon (Suzuki - BEL) +0:03:113, 4 Marc de Reuver (Honda - NED) +0:05:073, 5 Steve Boniface (Yamaha - FRA) +0:25:684, 6 Jonathan Barragan (KTM - ESP) +0:032:074, 7 Julien Bill (Honda - SUI) +0:36:325, 8 Max Nagl (KTM - GER) +0:39:053, 9 James Noble (KTM - GB) +0:41:808, 10 Mike Brown (Honda - USA) +0:50:236, 11 Ken De Dycker (Suzuki - BEL) +1:00:086.

World Championship standings (after 7 of 15 rounds): 1 David Philippaerts (Yamaha - ITA) 231 points, 2 Steve Ramon (Suzuki - BEL) 225, 3 Josh Coppins (Yamaha - NZL) 212, 4 Sebastien Pourcel (Kawasaki - FRA) 201, 5 Ken De Dycker (Suzuki - BEL) 200, 6 Jonathan Barragan (KTM - ESP) 185, 7 Max Nagl (KTM - GER) 161, 8 Billy MacKenzie (Honda - GB) 159, 9 Marc De Reuver (Honda - NED) 156, 10 Tanel Leok (Kawasaki - EST) 151.

Manufacturer World Championship standings (after 7 of 15 rounds): 1 Yamaha 269, 2 Kawasaki 257, 3 Suzuki 256 points, 4 KTM 241, 5 Honda 217, 6 TM 31, 7 Aprilia 1.

By: Suzuki PR