Motocross World Championship, Bellpuig, Spain

[Andy]

FIM MX1 / MX2 World Motocross Championship

Round 2 of 15 - Sunday 16th April 2006

Grand Prix of Spain, Bellpuig

Crowd : 26,200 for the weekend

Weather : Saturday - Morning rain showers, sunny afternoon, temperature 20

deg C

: Sunday - Sunny periods, bright but overcast, temperature

22 deg C

De Dycker 5th in sunny Spain

CAS Honda rider Ken De Dycker posted a decent 5th position overall today at

the Grand Prix of Spain for the second round of the FIM Motocross World

Championship despite not being able to ride at full-fitness, very much the

theme for many of the Honda GP riders contesting the series.

The well-prepared Bellpuig circuit in the northern region of Catalunya was

hard, rough and fairly dusty as the sun bore down on the 26,200 spectators

who travelled to the venue over Easter weekend.

De Dycker is currently carrying the hopes of the CAS Honda team after the

injury to Josh Coppins two weeks ago just before the opening GP of the

season at Zolder. The Belgian qualified in a decent fifth position during

equally sunny conditions on Saturday and was less than a second away from

Tanel Leok on pole.

The 21 year old, who is still fighting his way back to peak condition after

a problem with his thumb, rode a strong opening race to deprive Suzuki's

Steve Ramon of 5th spot on the final lap of 21. During the second moto he

split the factory KTM duo of Sebastien Tortelli and Jonathan Barragan in a

mid-top ten tussle from which he emerged unscathed with 6th place by the

end of the 35 minutes and 2 laps duration. De Dycker is 5th in the World

Championship standings and just eight points away from countryman Steve Ramon.

Martin Honda rider Brian Jorgensen was feeling fitter and looked a little

more like his old self on the Spanish slopes but two mistakes proved costly

in the first moto and he failed to score any points after previously

hovering around the top ten. The Dane was a more collected figure in the

second race and picked up 10th spot for 16th overall.

His team-mate Javier Garcia Vico was competing at his home Grand Prix and

was naturally the focus of attention. The multi-national Spanish Champion

was disappointed by lacklustre speed that prevented him from reaching

higher than 16th in Moto1 but rallied in front of his fans for an improved

11th with his second bite of the cherry. Vico is still rediscovering his

feeling at World Championship level after more than a year away from the

competition due to a neck problem.

Stefan Everts claimed victory and was joined in the top three by Tanel Leok

and Steve Ramon. Everts, now with 89 career wins, leads the World

Championship standings by ten points from Leok.

Team Wulfsport Honda's Gordon Crockard was luckless again with injury as a

rock smashed his mouth by entering the small gap between his helmet and his

goggles on the opening lap of the first moto. The Irishman was left

extremely groggy as the impact spilt both side of his front lip and bent

his teeth inwards.

In MX2 Martin Honda rider Antoine Meo grabbed a decent 4th position in the

first qualification race on Saturday. Sadly the Frenchman was the victim of

crashes in both motos that saw him running at the back of the pack trying

to make up positions. He managed 19th in the first heat but had to pull out

with a mechanical problem later in the afternoon. He now lies 16th in the

World Championship standings and is one point behind Honda's best placed

representative Patrick Caps who was 12th overall today. Tyla Rattray won

the Grand Prix again from Marc De Reuver and Billy Mackenzie.

World 2005 runner-up and De Dycker's team-mate Josh Coppins successfully

underwent surgery this week on his dislocated shoulder and is now in the

initial throes of his recovery and rehabilitation programme. The New

Zealander still does not have an estimated date for a return to action.

The third round of fifteen in the 2006 campaign will take place in just

seven days at Agueda for the third consecutive Grand Prix of Portugal.

Ken De Dycker, CAS Honda: "I am quite happy today because I feel that

things are getting better and better. I haven't ridden so much on hard-pack

recently so it was a good race considering. I was in a fairly decent

position out of the gate in the first heat but I made a few mistakes. I

didn't go too crazy in the beginning and fought back using a steady speed.

I felt good and passed Ramon right at the end for fifth. I hit the gate

with my front wheel in the second moto and the bars went sideways so I was

last around the first turn. Again I worked on coming back and being smooth.

I am still having a few problems with my hand but I feel my riding getting

better."

Brian Jorgensen, Martin Honda: "I felt comfortable in the first moto and

was just outside the top ten at the start. I tried to build-up my rhythm

and find my speed because I am still lacking some race fitness. I didn't

want to get arm-pump or make any mistakes but I tried to make a new rut on

one of the jumps. The bike went sideways and I lost it. It was difficult to

get the bike started and get going and then I went down again, this time

into the fence. I was one lap behind by the time I was back on the track

but followed Tortelli and those guys and set a good pace. In the second

moto I focussed on making my own race. The others are fitter than me at the

moment. I have to build up my confidence but because of the feeling I have

on the bike I am sure that I will be ready to fight soon and that is when I

will be happy."

Javier Garcia Vico, Martin Honda: "The first race wasn't that good and I

wasn't happy with sixteenth. I knew I had to do better later in the day and

the result was OK. Still, I am not satisfied because I felt quite prepared

for this GP earlier this week, especially mentally. Now I have to work hard

and get more time on the bike. We have to push harder than ever. I am still

nowhere near where I want to be but the team and I are working on it."

Antoine Meo, Martin Honda: "This was a difficult GP for me. I had a good

speed in the first heat but I crashed twice and that meant I had to push

hard just to take two points. I went down again in the second heat and lost

a lot of time to restart the bike. My rhythm was OK after that but there

was a small problem with the carburetion. It is a shame because I felt very

fast in qualification yesterday."

Roger Harvey, Honda Europe Motocross Co-ordinator: "What can we say? It was

a very difficult day. I was pleased with De Dycker because he had a small

operation during the week on his thumb. The problem at the moment is that

most of our riders are carrying some sort of injury; Jorgensen hasn't been

able to do much either. No excuses though because our results were not good

enough. Ken has been struggling towards the end of the races so I was happy

to see that his fastest lap came at the end of the first moto and that

shows us a little bit of a different rider compared to what we have seen in

the last few years. Jorgensen has not been able to train and now has to

work to build himself back up. Gordon Crockard was unbelievably unlucky and

will have to see a dental specialist."

MX1 Race 1 (21 laps = 32.466 Km)

Pos / Rider / Nat. / Bike / Time

1 / Strijbos, Kevin / BEL / Suzuki / 39:17.220

2 / Leok, Tanel / EST / Kawasaki / 39:26.658

3 / Everts, Stefan / BEL / Yamaha / 39:30.175

4 / Barragan, Jonathan / SPA / KTM / 39:33.276

5 / de Dycker, Ken / BEL / Honda / 39:37.293

6 / Ramon, Steve / BEL / Suzuki / 39:40.727

7 / Tortelli, S

[pitley]

How much more bad luck is Gordon Crockard going to get!! Any one here know what happend to Steven Sword?

Everts title no 10? Or will tortelli stop the glory?

[rabie]

sword has hurt is back IIRC in the practice session on that sunday