A wet and cold Grand Prix of Czech Republic watched by 24,000 spectators at the Loket circuit represented a fantastic 11th round of the FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship for Team Suzuki as Kevin Strijbos claimed his first double set of moto wins for the third overall victory of his career and the second this season.
As well as being the third GP triumph for the RM-Z450 it was his second success at Loket where he celebrated debut spoils in 2005.
With the double non-score by Josh Coppins, Steve Ramon - who was sixth overall - narrowed the gap in the championship from 107 to 77 points.
The slippery and stony Loket surface meant that the riders had to take care during Saturday's practice and qualification sessions particularly when frequent showers gave the fine mud a generous coating. The terrain continued to shift throughout the weekend. The layout, with few lines, made overtaking far from simple and the braking and accelerating bumps made for a rough track. The rain on Sunday carved the surface up further.
Starts were at a premium but the opening moto saw a frantic spell of action in the middle of the race as ten riders formed a leading group. Several of the protagonists such as Mackenzie, Barragan and Seb Pourcel had crashed. Josh Coppins had a technical problem that saw him stop and drop out of the points while Barragan also retired. Strijbos was able to come through the melee and take his first chequered flag since Portugal in April. Ramon was part of the troupe but crashed while avoiding a fallen Barragan and dropped down to a final slot of ninth, only able to slice twelve points from Coppins' championship lead when it could have been a lot more.
As the rain fell again to soak the entire second affair Strijbos was again the rider more capable on the bumpy surface. He stalked Sebastien Pourcel for the first half of the moto before moving through and taking a comfortable win. Ramon had a better race and beat Tanel Leok to take fourth.
"Of course I am happy. This feels good and I don't know what it is that I have with this track," said Strijbos. "The place itself is quite easy but today there were a lot of bumps and almost one-line. The motos themselves were tough because of the rain but we had no problems with the bike. I just want to try and win some more now."
"I had some bad luck in the first moto," commented Ramon. "I did not start well and things were tough at the beginning but it was getting better and better. I made it to the front and it was quite exciting with so many riders close together. I was fourth or fifth and made a little mistake that let Barragan pass me. I was faster than him and attacked right away on the step-up but he got out of shape and had crashed before he landed. I could not miss him and crashed also. The bars were bent and the brake level in the wrong place. It was two laps before I could start racing again and I had lost a lot of time by then. In the second moto I came back once more from an average start and it was a pity I could do no better than sixth overall because Josh had a bad day. He is still quite far ahead in the points but today showed that anything can still happen."
"We are happy and it is nice to see Kevin riding to his full potential," said Team Principal Sylvain Geboers. "It is just his 'ups-and-downs' that he has to work on. We will see what he can do for the rest of the season now but we are pleased and really excited with this race. With all the rumours about Kevin's future we have showed that we try to do our best all the time."
The world championship is now gathering pace towards its conclusion. With just four races left in a five week period Ramon has 200 points left to win. His chances of snatching the title from Coppins may look slim but the New Zealander left the Czech venue nursing an injured shoulder. Strijbos has risen to fifth and lies 22 points from third.
Team Suzuki will now ready themselves for their home event with a short trip to the south of the country and the Citadelle of Namur for the Grand Prix of Belgium next weekend.
MX1 Moto1: 1. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 39:56.279; 2. David Philippaerts (ITA, KTM), +0:02.216; 3. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), +0:04.589; 4. Julien Bill (SUI, Honda), +0:05.780; 5. Tanel Leok (EST, Kawasaki), +0:06.730; 6. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:13.226; 7. Billy Mackenzie (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:26.465; 8. Pierre A. Renet (FRA, Honda), +0:28.504; 9. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), +0:34.782; 10. Marc de Reuver (NED, Yamaha), +0:38.782
MX1 Moto2:1. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 39:09.725; 2. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:19.843; 3. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), +0:26.363; 4. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), +0:30.461; 5. Tanel Leok (EST, Kawasaki), +0:32.006; 6. Billy Mackenzie (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:33.669; 7. Julien Bill (SUI, Honda), +0:36.537; 8. Pierre A. Renet (FRA, Honda), +1:04.741; 9. David Philippaerts (ITA, KTM), +1:09.927; 10. Mike Brown (USA, Honda), +1:11.122
MX1 Overall result: 1. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 50 points; 2. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 37 p.; 3. David Philippaerts (ITA, KTM), 34 p.; 4. Tanel Leok (EST, Kawasaki), 32 p.; 5. Julien Bill (SUI, Honda), 32 p.; 6. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 30 p.; 7. Billy Mackenzie (GBR, Kawasaki), 29 p.; 8. Pierre A. Renet (FRA, Honda), 26 p.; 9. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), 20 p.; 10. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), 20 p
MX1 World championship Standings (after 11 of 15 rounds): 1. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), 445 points; 2. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 368 p.; 3. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 322 p.; 4. David Philippaerts (ITA, KTM), 312 p.; 5. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 300 p.; 6. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), 292 p.; 7. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), 276 p.; 8. Mike Brown (USA, Honda), 272 p.; 9. Tanel Leok (EST, Kawasaki), 272 p.; 10. Billy Mackenzie (GBR, Kawasaki), 247 p.