WMX1 Riders Ken De Dycker, Steve Ramon Sets No.2 & No.4 At Mallory
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Jun 01, 2008
Suzuki Racing
Team Teka Suzuki WMX1 riders Ken De Dycker and Steve Ramon dominated the opening moto of the British Motocross Grand Prix at Mallory Park to finish first and second on their factory RM-Z450s.
Backing their opening display of dominance up with solid rides in moto two the pair of Belgian racers were able to finish second and fourth overall with De Dycker being the podium visitor.
The Mallory Park circuit was in prime condition for today’s races and when the gate dropped for moto one of the sixth round of the FIM World Motocross Championship, both Ramon and De Dycker were away in the top six. But the great start did De Dycker no good as he got tangled in a turn two pile up with Marc De Reuver and David Philippaerts and started dead last while Ramon ran a steady third.
While De Dycker rampaged through the field from, Ramon moved forward and dogged early leader Jon Barragan at the front and finally moved into the lead on lap 11 - a position he’d hold until the very last lap.
Amazingly De Dycker not only caught his team-mate but made an outside move on the very last lap of the race while Ramon guarded the inside line to steal the win from the defending MX1 World Champion making it a Suzuki 1-2 in front of 41,000 excited race fans.
De Dycker didn’t get such a good start in moto two and once more had to fight through the pack after getting tangled with Clement Desalle, who crashed in front of the moto one winner on lap two. Ramon meanwhile was fourth and on a mission to the front of the pack, moving to second when Julien Bill crashed out of the runner-up spot on lap six.
After holding that position for six laps Ramon started to slow as muscle cramps made it difficult for the champ to push the pace on the difficult and now very rough Mallory Park circuit. Dropping to sixth at the 30-minute mark, Ramon would again lose a place to his team-mate De Dycker in the closing stages of the race to finally finish seventh.
Although De Dycker’s progress through the pack was nowhere near as impressive as in moto one, his sixth place in moto two was enough to place the Belgian star second overall on the day and improve his championship position to third - 20 points behind Ramon who stays second in the series.
“I’m really happy to finish second overall,” said De Dycker. “It feels really good. Everything went well for me this weekend and it’s made all the hard work myself and the team have been putting in to get back to the front of the pack worthwhile.
