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SUZUKI’S ROCZEN AND RAMON WIN HAWKSTONE INTERNATIONAL
8 March 2010, 7:51 am

    From  Team Suzuki

A crisp  and sunny afternoon in Shropshire, England, saw Suzuki take a double victory at  the annual Hawkstone Park International; the third and final major pre-season  meeting in Europe.

Rockstar  Teka Suzuki World MX1's Steve Ramon guided his works RM-Z450 to his first win  of 2010 by going 3rd and 1st in the MX1 class while Teka Suzuki Europe World  MX2's Ken Roczen was clearly the fastest competitor in the MX2 division on his  RM-Z250 and swept the day with 1-1 scores.

The dark  sand of Hawkstone Park - long a traditional and favoured venue in motocross  circles, thanks to the technical nature of the terrain - proved once more to be  a tough test for a select set of GP regulars. A surface partly frozen in places  thawed to become rough, bumpy and demanding throughout the racing programme.

Ramon  initially fought to cope with the grinds of the layout in the first moto and  arm-pump caused him to slow his speed and take 3rd position. The 30-year-old  Belgian altered the setting of his machine in-between the races and was  suitably dialled into the track to improve his pace for the next outing. As in  Valence two weeks ago, Ramon was a more reactive force, and after overtaking  Max Nagl escaped to win and clinch the overall. He was 3rd in Superfinal that  saw the MX2 and MX1 riders mixed together, but the result did not count towards  the final classification.

'It was a  good day; three motos and across a rough track so it was hard work, but nice to  win,' the 2007 MX1 World Champion said. 'I struggled again in the first race  and had to slow down with arm-pump but we changed the set-up a little for the  second moto and I could find a rhythm quite easily. I passed Nagl and rode to  the win. I still need a bit of time to find some speed and also sharpen my  physical condition but we have some weeks before the first GP."

Team-mate  Clement Desalle was 4th overall with finishes of 5th and 3rd.

He said:  "I am a bit disappointed with today but this is part of preparation for the  first Grand Prix and we will keep looking to be ready for Sevlievo."

Ken Roczen  was untouchable in the MX2 class, two weeks after his win at Valence that was  followed by test-sessions in France and further mileage in the Belgian sand of  Lommel. The 15 year old set the second fastest time in practice and then  overtook Shaun Simpson to ease to a win of over 30 seconds in Moto1. The German  took the holeshot and left the field again in his wake for Moto2, only easing  his speed in the final 10 minutes in anticipation of the Superfinal in which he  finished 2nd against a slew of 450s.

"I think  three days of riding at Lommel this week helped towards this result. My starts  were good and I felt OK on the sand,' the 2009 German Grand Prix winner said.  'Our goal is to be ready for Bulgaria and while results like these are  enjoyable we are still working towards being in the best shape possible."

Team-mate  Arnaud Tonus was able to put the memory of an unhappy meeting in Valence behind  him with two strong showings from the three. The Swiss was error-prone in the  first moto, which he failed to finish, but was a decent 4th in the next race  and was the second-best MX2 rider in the last foray. "I was pushing too much in  the first moto and was making too many mistakes and really not enjoying  myself," he remarked. "We had a talk after that race and the second was much  better. I am pleased to be out racing again after, Valence did not end so well;  and I will keep learning and riding in the coming weeks."

Rockstar  Teka Suzuki WMX1 will now cease competitive activity until the first Grand Prix  of 15 in the 2010 world championship in Bulgaria on Easter weekend. The team  will move to Italy two weeks before the trip to Eastern Europe to prepare for  the hard-pack track that awaits them at Sevlievo. Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2  will open their national motocross commitments with the International at  Frankenbach in Germany next weekend and the will return to the UK for the  second round of the Maxxis British Championship at Mallory Park on March 21st.





Source: Inside MotoX and Off Road