The Grand Prix of Portugal at a warm and bright Agueda circuit has been a memorable one for Kevin Strijbos and Team Suzuki as the Belgian left the third round of 15 in the 2007 FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship with his second career victory and the second triumph for the RM-Z450.
The 21 year old fought with Josh Coppins in both motos under hot and sunny conditions and watched by a crowd of 18,000 spectators. The Agueda circuit was dry, rough and fast offering a decent racing surface by virtue of the lines available.
Strijbos led the first half of Moto1 before being overhauled by a charging Coppins but would have his revenge later in the afternoon. He passed early front-runner Sebastien Pourcel and again set the pace. Coppins came close and even seized the lead around mid-distance but Strijbos retaliated immediately and then initiated a flurry of laps to pull away and notch his first moto success of the year.
The team celebrated their second overall victory with the four-stroke factory machine after the maiden garland was collected - again by Strijbos - back at the Loket circuit and the Czech Republic Grand Prix in 2005.
“This feels good, for sure, ” the winner said. “The first moto was hard. Josh was faster and I couldn’t follow, but in the last race I had good speed and put my head down; I went full gas for the whole moto and really wanted that win. It was important that I passed Josh back in the same lap; I was happy with that. I have been training a lot on the bike since the GPs have started and now my fitness is right there. The team is working very hard, and has been right through the winter, so it was great to do this today. “
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