Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1545477
C Y C L E N E W S • JULY 12, 2006 7 Striijbos Re-Signs Team Suzuki's 21-year-old Belgian MX1 World Championship star Kevin Strijbos has re-signed for Suzuki for the 2007 and 2008 seasons. Strijbos signed for Sylvain Geboers' factory Suzuki team in 2003 and finished fifth in the first MX1 World Championship series in 2004. Preseason injuries restricted his 2005 season, and he dropped to 16th in the series. In 2006, Strijbos has continued to develop and is currently second in the World Championship points standings. "Suzuki has made a huge effort and commitment in developing the RM-Z450 into a GP race-winning machine for myself and Steve Ramon, and I am certain that Suzuki offers me the very best opportunity to show my full potential and maximize my chance to win the World Championship within the next two years," Strijbos said. Naturally, Geboers is pleased to have his young star under contract. "We are delighted to have secured Kevin for another two seasons," the former racer said. "He has developed into a true World Championship contender with Team Suzuki and we believe he can achieve his ulti- mate ambition on the RM-Z450." Belgian motocrosser Kevin Strijbos has inked a new deal with Suzuki. Wanna Buy Loris' Ducati? How's this for a one- of-a-kind motorcycle purchase? The organ- izers of the Monterey Classic Bike Auction will offer up for sale L o r i s C a p i r o s s i ' s 2005 Chinese Grand Prix winning Team M a r l b o r o D u c a t i MotoGP bike. You may not be able to buy a Michael Schumacher Ferrari, but you can by a Ducati MotoGP bike. The auction is set to take place at the Portola Plaza Hotel in Monterey the same weekend as the U.S. Grand Prix. The Monterey Classic Bike Auction will again be run by National Powersport Auctions (www.npauctions.com), which offers off-site bidding from anywhere in the world in "real time" using NPA's AuctionSimulcast technology. For more information, visit www.montereyclassicbikeauction.com. F or the second weekend in a row, the Repsol Montesa HRC team climbed to the top of the podi- um in the World Trials Championship, but this time it was Takahisa Fujinami's turn - the Japanese rider storming to victory in the Italian Grand Prix on July 2. Fujinami's teammate Dougie Lampkin, who won last week in France, couldn't repeat his performance and came home with a disappointing sixth place. Sherco's Albert Cabestany and Gas Gas' Jeroni Fajardo finished second and third, respectively, to complete the rostrum. With the scorching temperatures hitting Italy, con- ditions on the course situated on the outskirts of the small town of Darfo Boario Terme were hot, dry and very dusty. Normally the Italian Grand Prix takes place in the mountains, but this year the sections were almost at sea level, and thus, lacked the variety of ter- rain that has always made this a special round in the calendar. Fujinami eventually took the win aboard the facto- ry Cota 4RT on a most cleans tiebreaker, by having recorded one more faultless ride compared to Cabestany. The Japanese rider, however, controlled the trial from the early stages, and only a couple of late mis- takes made it close. With only two maximums on his punch card at the end of the first lap, Fujinami found himself five marks clear of Cabestany, while Fajardo and Beta's Toni Bou were in third place at this time. Lampkin, meanwhile, was down in seventh position at this point - and championship leader Adam Raga and his Gas Gas weren't faring much better in fifth spot after the first 15 sections. By the time the final lap arrived, the steep and dusty climbs were well rutted, but Fujinami made light work of the demanding hazards. Cabestany and Raga matched him for much of the second lap, but neither could close the gap on Fujinami, allowing him to take the win and move within one point of Bou in the over- all standings. Lampkin could count himself lucky and only dropped one point to Raga in the championship race as the off-form duo finished sixth and fifth, respectively. "This result makes me very happy, as last week I lost to Dougie [Lampkin] by most cleans, and today despite some mistakes, I have still managed to defeat Cabestany," Fujinami said. "I am really pleased with the way that I am riding and with how the bike is perform- ing in the different conditions. Last week it was wet and we were strong, and today it was dry and we have been strong again. I would like to say a big thank you to my team, as this is an important result for all of us." After six rounds of the title chase, Raga leads with 132 points to Lampkin's 120. Bou is third with 115, one more than Fujinami. Fujinami Takes Italian Trials GP PHOTO BY MARIO CANDELLONE