RAMON CLOSES ON MX1 SERIES LEAD

Team Teka Suzuki WMX1 rider Steve Ramon finished second at a slippery and one-lined Uddevalla circuit in Sweden for the ninth round of the FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship and reduced the points lead between himself and the championship leader David Philippaerts while team-mate Ken De Dycker overcame goggle problems and crashes to end the day seventh overall on his factory RM-Z450.

After dominating the previous day's qualifying session, the team-mates were looking to score well in race-day's two points-paying motos.

Starting fifth in moto one reigning MX1 World Champion Steve Ramon worked his way up to third five laps from the end of the 35-minute plus two lap moto. Unable to catch De Reuver ahead of him, Ramon instead concentrated on riding error-free to stay ahead of Philippaerts and shorten the Italian's lead in the series.

Finishing third once more in moto two - after once more battling through from fifth - Ramon again beat the Yamaha rider by one place to claw back four vital points from Philippaerts on the day. Happy with his work, Ramon acknowledged just how tough an event it was.

"The track was difficult today," he said. "There were not so many lines and it was just so hard and slippery. You had to concentrate really hard to not make mistakes and that was tough.

"In the first race, my start was okay but it was hard to pass because the track was really wet and slippery. I was riding well but I made some small mistakes and De Reuver passed me and Philippaerts caught me and tried to come by but I rode defensively and held him back. I finished third and I was quite happy with that - as long as I finish in front of Philippaerts and Coppins then that's okay.

"I had a good drop from the gate in moto two but I went a little bit too wide in turn one and some riders were able to get by on the inside. The track was a little better and I was able to pass easier in this race. I saw Nagl was really fast and he was pulling away and also Barragan was pushing really hard but I was chasing him as hard as I could because I needed to be ahead of him to go for the overall victory. I started making a couple of mistakes so I decided to take it a little bit slower and settle for third place.

"Today has been good for me in the championship. I beat both Coppins and Philippaerts and that's something I need to keep on doing if I'm going to regain the World Championship title."

De Dycker was desperately looking to regain lost ground in the championship at this event but it just wasn't to be. Dominating the factory RM-Z450 as well as the race track in moto one, De Dycker reached as high as third from his sixth place start before his goggles broke and he was forced to pit for fresh goggles as the roost from his competitors' rear wheels was too heavy for him to continue. Dropping to 11th place, he was only able to regain three places before the end of the race and finally finished eighth.

Moto two wasn't much better for De Dycker and after getting tangled with Clement Desalle and De Reuver on lap two, he crashed over the handlebars all by himself to eventually finish eighth in the race and seventh overall on the day.

"I got a quite okay start in the first race but after a few laps my goggles were broken and I had to throw them off," explained De Dycker. "I stopped for a fresh pair in the pits and lost some places. I was riding well but there was only one line and it was tough to come back from 12th to eighth.

"In moto two the track was very slippery again and it was also tough to pass. I stopped once in the sand with De Reuver and Desalle and I was coming back okay then I crashed on my own when I over jumped a tabletop and landed heavily in a rut. It was really deep and it must have knocked the bike into neutral and I went over the handlebars - it was quite a big crash.

"It wasn't the best day for me and I hoped for better results but with the crash and the goggle problems I couldn't do much about it - but that's racing and next time I hope to do better."

After a one week break the FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship will continue on July 20 at a brand-new venue for GP motocross - Nelspruit in South Africa.

MX1 Moto 1: 1 Jonathan Barragan (KTM - ESP) 39:23:245, 2 Marc De Reuver (Honda - NED) +0:05:231, 3 Steve Ramon (Suzuki - BEL) +0:07:373, 4 David Philippaerts (Yamaha - ITA) +0:09:689, 5 Clement Desalle (Suzuki - BEL) +0:16:662, 6 Steve Boniface (Honda - FRA) +0:22:169, 7 Billy MacKenzie (Honda - GB) +0:28:068, 8 Ken De Dycker (Suzuki - BEL) +0:29:184, 9 Tanel Leok (Kawasaki - EST) +0:30:064, 10 Julien Bill (Honda - SUI) +0:36:017.

MX1 Moto 2: 1 Max Nagl (KTM - GER) 40:23:192, 2 Jonathan Barragan (KTM - ESP) +0:16:793, 3 Steve Ramon (Suzuki - BEL) +0:26:090, 4 David Philippaerts (Yamaha - ITA) +0:34:407, 5 Josh Coppins (Yamaha - NZL) +0:38:064, 6 Billy MacKenzie (Honda - GB) +0:40:896, 7 Julien Bill (Honda - SUI) +0:52:771, 8 Ken De Dycker (Suzuki - BEL) +1:01:706, 9 Clement Desalle (Suzuki - BEL) +1:04:476, 10 Tanel Leok (Kawasaki - EST) +1:05:532.

World Championship standings (after 9 of 15 rounds): 1 David Philippaerts (Yamaha - ITA) 302 points, 2 Steve Ramon (Suzuki - BEL) 290, 3 Josh Coppins (Yamaha - NZL) 286, 4 Ken De Dycker (Suzuki - BEL) 266, 5 Sebastien Pourcel (Kawasaki - FRA) 241, 6 Jonathan Barragan (KTM - ESP) 239, 7 Max Nagl (KTM - GER) 213, 8 Tanel Leok (Kawasaki - EST) 209, 9 Billy MacKenzie (Honda - GB) 205, 10 Marc De Reuver (Honda - NED) 178.

Manufacturer World Championship standings (after 9 of 15 rounds): 1 Yamaha 355 points, 2 Suzuki 340, 3 KTM 319, 4 Kawasaki 315, 5 Honda 284, 6 TM 31, 7 Aprilia 5.

By: Suzuki Pr