RAMON ON POLE IN FRANCE

2008-06-14 21:21
Steve Ramon is on pole for tomorrow's seventh-round World Motocross Championship round at St Jean d'Angely in France with Teka Suzuki term mate Ken De Dycker third.

It was Ramon who took the fastest time in the closing seconds of the session on his factory RM-Z450. The reigning MX1 World Champion was also quickest early in the session with a time of 1:47:576 but was overtaken by Marc De Reuver, Jon Barragan, Julien Bill and Tanel Leok who all bettered his blistering fast time.

But riding as fast and consistently as ever, he fired back with a super-quick 1:46:418 to seal the deal and ensure he has the all-important first pick of the gate for tomorrow's races.
"I felt good but in the beginning it was really tricky as the circuit was much drier and dustier than the second free-practice session and with all the small stones it was also very slippery," explained Ramon. "I was able to put a good lap in early in the session but the one at the end was even better - I pushed hard and it was a good one. I like this track to ride even though it's pretty fast and hard and hopefully I can get two good starts tomorrow and push for victory or at least be on the podium."

Although De Dycker was less than 0.4 seconds slower than his Teka Suzuki WMX1 team-mate he ended the session in third place despite not particularly enjoying the fast hillside Saint Jean d'Angely circuit.

"It wasn't until the end of the session that I was able to put a good time in and even that one didn't feel that fast," said De Dycker. "This track is always tough to make time up on because it's so fast and there's not much to separate the riders. I didn't expect to do as well as I have today and I'm really motivated for tomorrow now.

"It's most important to get good starts at this track because it's not only difficult to pass because there's not much to separate the riders but there's also a very strong possibility if stone damage. I need to be top five from the start and on the top of the podium at the end."
The weather forecast for tomorrow's races is for rain with temperatures expected to be in the region of 19 degrees Celsius.


MX1 Timed Practice: 1 Steve Ramon (Suzuki - BEL) 1:46:418, 2 Tanel Leok (Kawasaki - EST) 1:46:434, 3 Ken De Dycker (Suzuki - BEL) 1:46:813, 4 Clement Desalle (Suzuki - BEL) 1:46:991, 5 Julien Bill (Honda - SUI) 1:46:996, 6 Josh Coppins (Yamaha - NZL) 1:47:048, 7 Marc De Reuver (Honda - NED) 1:47:015, 8 Jonathan Barragan (KTM - ESP) 1:47:170, 9 Sebastien Pourcel (Kawasaki - France) 1:47:360, 10 David Philippaerts (Yamaha - ITA) 1:47:658.


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Source: Team Suzuki Press Office

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