TEAM SUZUKI
RM-Z450S SWEEP KESTER MOTOCROSS

RM-Z450 motocross machinery cleaned-up at Kester for the third round of the 2011 Belgian Championship as Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1 riders Clement Desalle and Steve Ramon finished on the podium and were joined by Kevin Strijbos as the racing took place in decent weather conditions and across the naturally-set and atmospheric track.

Current MX1 World Championship leader Desalle was overall winner on the day after finishing 1st, 2nd and 1st in the three motos. The Belgian and former Champion of the national series (in 2009) has now claimed two victories and a runner-up positions from the three meetings held to date, meaning he holds another 'red plate' as Championship leader; by 38 points from Ken De Dycker. From the nine motos held so far Desalle has won six and finished second in the other three.

"I rested before the race because the trip back from Brazil was a bit heavy so I just took it easy and felt relaxed for Kester," the recently turned 22 year old said. "My riding was pretty good because the track was tricky with some hard bumps that pushed the bike around a lot. The motos were pretty straightforward but I made two mistakes in the second one and Steve got away."

Strijbos was able to earn second place overall as his positive start to the 2011 campaign continues. Ramon - who missed the second round of the Belgian championship due to illness - was third. The former World Champion was the only rider to deprive Desalle of a chequered flag after emerging victorious from their duel in the second moto. However small falls in the first and third sprints meant a scorecard of 3-1-5 delivered his third podium step.

All three Suzuki racers will now set their sights on the Grand Prix of France and the St Jean D'Angely circuit this coming weekend.

STEVE RAMON
Ramon on the podium in Kester

Steve Ramon has put in a good result at round 3 of the Belgian National Championship this past weekend, scoring a podium result. Although Ramon has only contested two of the three rounds, he is already up into 4th position in the tightly contested championship.

In the opening moto Ramon grabbed a decent start, rounding out lap one just inside the top 5. Getting his head down Ramon was on fire as he cruised his way into the lead, racing comfortably out front. With just a couple of laps remaining Ramon landed off a fast jump and collided with a lapped rider that was not aware of the speed of the riders coming up on him. Ramon quickly remounted to cross the line in 3rd position.

In moto 2 the ‘Bomb’ blasted his Rockstar Energy Suzuki out the gate and into an early lead. Battling bar to bar with Clement Desalle, the team-mates jockeyed for track position. In the end it was 2010 Belgian Champ, Ramon, taking the win.

In the 3rd and final moto Ramon once again found himself battling it out with his team-mate for the lead. As the two riders headed up a little uphill section, in the mid point of the race, Ramon’s bike kicked out from under him and he went down. Taking a little time to get restarted Ramon ultimately crossed the line in 5th position, and secured an overall podium position.

Steve Ramon: “Again today felt very good, my physical condition is back, and I am really motivated for the French Grand Prix next weekend.”

Ramon will head to France this week for some testing ahead of the GP, which is taking place in St Jean d’Angely on the 5th June. Last year Ramon scored a 2nd place at this event, tie on points with the GP winner, and team-mate, Desalle.

YAMAHA VAN BEERS TEAM
Mixed fortunes for the Yamaha van Beers Team in Kester

The Yamaha van Beers Racing Team participated in round three of the Belgian National Series at Kester today. The team scored some good results but they had also bad luck because Marc de Reuver injured his ankle in the second moto.

Marc de Reuver felt at home on the circuit in Kester and set the fourth fastest time in time practice. In the first moto he made a small crash during the race but he still managed to finish the race in tenth position. In the second moto he took a good start and was riding in fifth position till his foot slipped of the footpeg and because of this he injured his ankle. Because of the pain he was forced to retire from the race. Marc went to the hospital immediately to have x rays taken of the ankle, but because of the high amount of liquid in the ankle, it was not possible to make a final diagnosis. Marc has to come back to hospital on Tuesday morning!

For Herjan Brakke it was the first time that he had a race on the circuit in Kester. He used practice to get used to the track and because of this he had to be satisfied with nineteenth position. In the first moto he started around tenth position but things were going really well for Herjan and during the race he worked himself up to fifth position. In the second moto he took an even better start but in the first corner he crashed and had to restart in last position. Herjan came back strong and finished the race in 14th position. In the third moto he damaged his bike when he ran into a barrier and because of this he had to retire from the race. Overall he finished in 11th position.

Petar Petrov was riding aboard the Yamaha 450F in Kester. In the first and second moto he did a great job to finish in 11th and 12th position. In the third moto he crashed and finished outside of the top twenty. Overall he finished in 14th position.

Next Thursday the Yamaha van Beers Racing Team will start at the fifth round of the Dutch Open Championship Series at Rhenen.

SHAUN SIMPSON
Simpson on the pace at Kester

LS Racing Honda rider Shaun Simpson produced a determined performance at the fourth round of the Belgian motocross championship this weekend as he placed pole position in qualifying. Despite feeling slightly under the weather since returning from the recent Grand Prix in Brazil, Simpson claimed a well deserved fourth place overall in the highly competitive domestic series.

Suffering from flu like conditions Simpson set a couple of fast practice laps although was not expecting to have the pace to match the front-runners. Digging deep during qualifying the Red Bull athlete pushed hard throughout the session and was rewarded for his efforts by setting the fastest lap. Revelling on the old school style grass circuit Shaun entered his first moto with renewed confidence and got a strong start. Sitting in third position going into the first corner a small slip saw the young Scot drop into fourth place behind Steve Ramon.

“The track was pretty old school and real nice to ride, the dirt was good and the grassy start was fun. I hadn’t felt well since coming back from Brazil last weekend and still don’t feel one hundred percent now. Setting the fastest qualifying time was great and to be honest not something I expected because I felt low on energy, but it gave me the confidence that I needed going into my first moto. I got a reasonable start and made a few small, but crucial mistakes which resulted in a fourth place in the end,” said Shaun.

Happy with fourth in his first race Shaun went into his second moto looking to step onto the podium. Once again it was a small, but race changing error which saw him fail to reach his rostrum goal. Another positive start saw Shaun fighting with the sharp end of the pack, but catching his brake on a circuit marker saw him slide down the field, eventually finishing in fifth place.

“My second moto was much like my first really, I got a fairly good start and was feeling surprisingly fresh. I only had a small off and probably dropped a couple of seconds, but you really can’t afford to do that in this championship, it’s just so close,” continued Simpson.

With the demanding Belgian race format consisting of three motos, each getting progressively longer, Simpson summoned his final ounce of energy and headed out for his third and final moto. Just as before, Shaun got out of the gate well and stayed with the leading group for the first half of the race. Whilst pushing to move forward Shaun experienced a rare occurrence as he stalled his 450 four-stroke machine. Despite only losing five or six seconds the error cost him a podium finish as he was forced to settle for fourth spot once again.

“This weekend has been all about little silly mistakes really. Although I had no major problems I’m aware that in a championship as competitive as this any mistakes can affect your results. Overall I’m really pleased with how things went and coming away with fourth overall is pretty good, especially considering I have felt so ill. At the start of the year I had a target of top three in the championship and I’m currently sat in third behind my team-mate Ken de Dycker so I’m still on course with four rounds remaining,” concluded Simpson.