Results MotoCross World Championship, Lierop, The Netherlands
. By Bikeland Staff
The final round of the FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship saw Steve Ramon crowned World Champion for the first time as Belgian riders maintain their iron-like grip on the premier class. After three years of domination by Stefan
Everts Ramon became the latest Flemish pilot to take MX1 honours after perennial series leader Josh Coppins missed the event due to the persistent effects of a shoulder injury.
CAS Honda's Ken de Dycker signed off a decent
campaign with fourth overall giving the 23 year
old, also from Belgium, fifth place in the
championship standings. The Grand Prix was won by
Kevin Strijbos with Dutchman Marc de Reuver second and Ramon in third place.
Cloudy and chilly weather coated the flat and
sandy circuit 10km from Eindhoven. 36,000
spectators came to the venue that hosted the 2004
Motocross of Nations and has been a regular
fixture on the world championship schedule since
the inauguration of the MX1 and MX2 classes in
'04. The many racing lines across the technical
terrain meant an entertaining brace of motos but
it was physically very hard on the riders and tough on the machinery.
De Dycker scored two relatively lonely fourth
positions after a crash during warm-up left him
aching as he entered the start gate. The CAS
rider battled with the leaders during Moto1 but
rode within himself on a rough sandy course that
heavily punished any mistakes and saw riders
continually upping and lowering their pace to
suit the conditions around the physical drain. It
was another mature display from De Dycker who
earned a top five championship finish with two
podiums and his first ever GP victory during his 2007 campaign.
Team-mate Mike Brown struggled on the surface in
his first visit to Lierop and the veteran racer
admitted that the circuit was one of the roughest
tracks he had ever seen. He was close to being
lapped in the first moto as he crossed the line
fifteenth with a less-than-ideal set-up on the
CRF450F. Some adjustments and changes in the
break served him much better and he was able to
score a tenth place finish for eleventh overall.
The American re-established his Grand Prix
credentials in 2007 with two podiums and a moto
win (Sugo, Japan) and only missed the points once
from thirty motos (a mechanical glitch forced a DNF in Ireland).
Martin Honda's Julien Bill, who put pen to paper
on a new one year contract with the Martin team
for 2008 on Saturday morning, also fought vainly
in the sand. He fell twice in the first moto and
retired and then could not score any points in
the second with 21st position. The Swiss
completed the year in 15th. He joined the team
during the middle of the season and made an
instant impact. He did not drop out of the top
ten for ten consecutive motos prior to Lierop.
Better news lay in store for the Italian crew
with the news that MX2 representative Gautier
Paulin had won the European 125cc championship by
just one point. The French teenager owned both
motos at Roggenburg in Switzerland at the final
round and will come into the world championship as Europe's number one for '08.
Shineray MX Team China's Marvin Van Daele
produced one of his best finishes of the season
today with eighth position overall and was two
places ahead of Multitek Honda's James Noble who
went on to secure eleventh place in the championship.
Antonio Cairoli had already won the MX2 World
Championship for the second time in three years
in Ireland, two rounds ago, and demonstrated his
talents with a maiden MX1 success last week at
the British Grand Prix. The Italian was back on
his 250F at Lierop and rushed to his eighth
double moto victory of the campaign. The podium
was completed by Gareth Swanepoel in second and
series runner-up Tommy Searle in third.
Pascal Leuret was back in the paddock for the
first time since his heavy crash in the Czech
Republic that led to an injured shoulder and
dislocated right wrist. The Frenchman, who is
Honda's best placed rider in the MX2 standings
with seventh position (he previously reached as
high as fourth) despite missing the last four
Grand Prix, is hoping to get the all-clear from
doctors to begin riding in October.
SRS Honda's Matti Seistola finished eighth in the
championship and equalled his best ever moto
result in the first Lierop race when he gained
fifth. Sadly his chances of making a push for the
final podium of the year ended early in the
second outing when he crashed and could not restart.
De Dycker and Bill will be representing their
countries at the 61st Motocross of Nations in
three weeks time at the Budds Creeks circuit near
Washington DC. De Dycker will be attempting to
defend his British Championship at the final
meeting at Pontrilas in a fortnight.
Ken de Dycker, CAS Honda:
"Today was OK. I was happy on Saturday until
Timed Practice because I could not get a quick
lap. I had a big crash in warm-up which meant I
was sore for the races but I had some decent
starts anyway. I rode my own motos today and
didn't push too hard because I know this track
can catch you out. Two fourth positions were not
bad and I have never done better here. The season
has been alright. I was also on the podium twice
in 2006 also but we took a win this time. At the
beginning of the season I was angry with myself
and we had to develop the bike. There were a few
problems but we turned it around. I have been
with Honda for four years and we have had a good
association. I am very thankful that I could ride
for Honda and thanks also to the team."
Mike Brown, CAS Honda:
"I am not really happy with the result here at
this last GP but I had never ridden this track
before and it was one of the roughest I have
seen. I had the wrong bike set-up in the first
moto. I was riding like an amateur trying to find
the right lines and I was beating myself to death
but the guys got it fixed and it handled much
better in the second one. I went backwards a
little bit but then fought through at the end;
the more laps I rode the better I got. To end up
seventh overall in the series is really good for
me. I have been consistent this year and a
similar approach worked for Ramon who is now
champion. I just did not want to DNF the races
and through being there each week my championship standing is pretty good."
Julien Bill, Martin Honda:
"It was really difficult for me this weekend. It
was my first time in the sand since last year and
it was very tough. This is a special track and
you need to train for it. I couldn't get any laps
done beforehand and it showed. I was really far
away from the guys. I have learnt a lot though
and know that I need more sand training. My
result has been bad today, but I am really happy
to have signed a new deal with the team. We will
have direct support from HRC and this is a dream
for me; I will work really hard to be ready for 2008."
Results Motocross
MX1 Race 1 ( )
Pos / Rider / Nat. / Bike / Time
1 / Strijbos, Kevin / BEL / Suzuki / 40:12.396
2 / Ramon, Steve / BEL / Suzuki / 40:23.634
3 / de Reuver, Marc / NED / Yamaha / 40:31.826
4 / de Dycker, Ken / BEL / Honda / 40:52.327
5 / Mackenzie, Billy / GBR / Kawasaki / 41:04.542
6 / Priem, Manuel / BEL / TM / 41:10.500
7 / Nagl, Maximilian / GER / KTM / 41:18.947
8 / Philippaerts, David / ITA / KTM / 41:26.730
9 / Pourcel, Sebastien / FRA / Kawasaki / 41:28.498
10 / Noble, James / GBR / Honda / 41:32.843
11 / van Daele, Marvin / BEL / Honda / 41:40.355
12 / Leok, Aigar / EST / Yamaha / 42:13.465
13 / Freibergs, Lauris / LAT / Yamaha / 42:15.874
14 / Renet, Pierre A. / FRA / Honda / 42:18.457
15 / Brown, Mike / USA / Honda / 42:21.140
MX1 Race 2 ( )
Pos / Rider / Nat. / Bike / Time
1 / de Reuver, Marc / NED / Yamaha / 41:27.025
2 / Strijbos, Kevin / BEL / Suzuki / 41:32.730
3 / Ramon, Steve / BEL / Suzuki / 42:16.527
4 / de Dycker, Ken / BEL / Honda / 42:29.281
5 / Mackenzie, Billy / GBR / Kawasaki / 42:32.194
6 / Priem, Manuel / BEL / TM / 42:54.405
7 / Leok, Tanel / EST / Kawasaki / 42:55.718
8 / van Daele, Marvin / BEL / Honda / 42:56.464
9 / Nagl, Maximilian / GER / KTM / 43:33.266
10 / Brown, Mike / USA / Honda / 43:39.407
11 / Leok, Aigar / EST / Yamaha / 44:00.849
12 / Melotte, Cedric / BEL / Aprilia / 41:43.564
13 / Noble, James / GBR / Honda / 41:48.384
14 / Nemeth, Kornel / HUN / Suzuki / 41:49.180
15 / Freibergs, Lauris / LAT / Yamaha / 42:02.284
MX1 World Motocross Championship Standings
Pos Rider Total
1 Ramon, Steve 508, 2 Strijbos, K. 475, 3 Coppins, J. 452, 4 Pourcel, S. 439,
5 de Dycker, Ken 421, 6 Philippaerts, D. 419, 7
Brown, Mike 361, 8 Leok, Tanel 355,
9 Mackenzie, B. 351, 10 Barragan, J. 347, 11
Noble, James 270, 12 Nemeth, Kornel 215,
13 Priem, Manuel 204, 14 de Reuver, M. 201, 15 Bill, J. 199.
MX2 Race 1 ()
Pos / Rider / Nat. / Bike / Time
1 / Cairoli, Antonio / ITA / Yamaha / 39:35.785
2 / Swanepoel, Gareth / RSA / Kawasaki / 39:40.775
3 / Gundersen, Kenneth / NOR / Yamaha / 40:17.084
4 / Searle, Tommy / GBR / KTM / 40:17.617
5 / Seistola, Matti / FIN / Honda / 40:41.901
6 / Schiffer, Marcus / GER / KTM / 40:46.623
7 / Boog, Xavier / FRA / Yamaha / 40:47.753
8 / Aubin, Nicolas / FRA / Yamaha / 40:48.610
9 / Avis, Wyatt / RSA / KTM / 41:00.215
10 / van Horebeek, Jeremy / BEL / KTM / 41:01.708
11 / van Vijfeijken, Rob / NED / KTM / 41:03.252
12 / Goncalves, Rui / POR / KTM / 41:05.436
13 / Guarneri, Davide / ITA / Yamaha / 41:14.121
14 / Hamblin, Sean / USA / Suzuki / 41:16.756
15 / Nunn, Carl / GBR / Yamaha / 41:17.826
MX2 Race 2 ()
Pos / Rider / Nat. / Bike / Time
1 / Cairoli, Antonio / ITA / Yamaha / 42:13.317
2 / Eggens, Erik / NED / Suzuki / 42:18.341
3 / Goncalves, Rui / POR / KTM / 42:21.251
4 / Swanepoel, Gareth / RSA / Kawasaki / 42:22.031
5 / Aubin, Nicolas / FRA / Yamaha / 42:42.719
6 / Boog, Xavier / FRA / Yamaha / 43:23.937
7 / Searle, Tommy / GBR / KTM / 43:30.063
8 / van Horebeek, Jeremy / BEL / KTM / 43:37.225
9 / Boissiere, Anthony / FRA / Kawasaki / 43:49.843
10 / Nunn, Carl / GBR / Yamaha / 43:55.762
11 / Schiffer, Marcus / GER / KTM / 44:14.710
12 / Bonini, Matteo / ITA / Yamaha / 44:20.237
13 / van Vijfeijken, Rob / NED / KTM / 44:30.688
14 / Church, Tom / GBR / Kawasaki / 42:20.830
15 / Monni, Manuel / ITA / Yamaha / 42:48.801
MX2 World Motocross Championship Standings
Pos Rider Total
1 Cairoli, A. 660, 2 Searle, Tommy 510, 3
Pourcel, C. 436, 4 Rattray, Tyla 371, 5 Swanepoel, G. 364,
6 Aubin, Nicolas 358, 7 Leuret, Pascal 320, 8
Seistola, M. 276, 9 Schiffer, M. 260,
10 Gundersen, K. 244, 11 Goncalves, Rui 243, 12
Guarneri, D. 226, 13 Boog, Xavier 219,
14 Nunn, Carl 198, 15 Boissiere, A. 192.