TOP 10 FINISHES FOR SUZUKI RM-Z450 DUO IN CZECH REPUBLIC

Courtesy of Team Suzuki Press Office 

Team Suzuki Press Office – July 23. 

Kevin Strijbos – 9-12 for 12th
Arminas Jasikonis – 20-8 for 13th 

Kevin Strijbos and Arminas Jasikonis both got top-10 moto finishes on-board their RM-Z450WS machines, on what was a difficult day of racing at the old school Loket track in the Czech Republic today. Rain early on gave the track a greasy feel to it in the first motos before it dried out for race two, but whatever the conditions, passing is always at a premium and both riders showed good speed to make their way through what is an extremely competitive MXGP field. 

For Strijbos it was good to finally complete two full races, something he hasn’t done since the fifth round at Trentino in Italy. He had this to say about his weekend: “It was a tough day, coming back to race action. I was almost last coming out of the first turn in the first moto but came back pretty well, passing a lot of people and ending up ninth. I was very happy about this, especially as my arm infection was hurting a little bit at the end of the race. I still felt good for the second moto though and wanted to put in another top-10 performance. However, after the five-second board went up, the gate seemed to wobble so people moved a bit, but then nothing, and when I thought that maybe it wasn’t going to work, the gate finally dropped but of course I was last by then. I wasn’t able to make as many passes in the first few laps as I did in the first moto but I still felt I had good speed and was pushing myself and was moving forward. It was good to be back as it’s been such a long time since I did two motos. I just want to put all my injury problems behind me and start getting back to 100% in time for the next few races.” 

After his third overall in Portugal at the last round, things proved a bit harder for Jasikonis this weekend as small mistakes hampered any chance he had of challenging for another podium. “It was an ok day today”, said Jasikonis. “In the first moto we had some rain before the start which changed the track up a bit from yesterday. I tried to go from the outside gate but hit Kevin’s rear wheel in the first corner and crashed and had to remount in last position. I was coming through the pack though and was around 20th when I had a collision with another rider when I was making a pass up the inside. We both crashed and that ruined the moto really, I got back and worked back up to 20th but I consider the result a bit of a disaster. However I proved in the second moto that even with not the best start, I still came through to eighth place and was riding really well and finding good flow. It was good experience and its good see how far I’ve come from last year when I would have been happy to get 20th place in a moto.” 

Despite not the best overall results, General Manager Stefan Everts saw plenty of positives from the weekend: “Kevin had a good first race back. He’s been riding for several weeks but has had some injuries so it was good what he showed today. He battled hard after two bad starts so I’m really happy with his results. AJ ruined any chances he had of a good overall by crashing in that first turn but he showed good speed in the second moto to finish in eighth place. He did some good passing and I saw him do some things on the track that other riders weren’t doing and that’s something I really enjoy watching. We are starting to see the true potential of this kid and he definitely has a real talent when riding our RM-Z450WS.”

Both riders will now get ready for the next round of the championship, which takes place very close to the Suzuki World headquarters in Lommel, Belgium. The deep sand track is one of the toughest circuits in the world but Jasikonis and Strijbos are excited to get back to form on a surface that really suits both their styles. 

MXGP Moto 1: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 35:16.286; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:03.096; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:04.058; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:11.240; 5. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:11.588; 6. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +0:16.478; 7. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:26.057; 8. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:29.479; 9. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki World MXGP), +0:41.694; 10. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:43.516; 20. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, Suzuki World MXGP), -1 lap(s). 

MXGP Moto 2: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 34:45.495; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:04.530; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:08.989; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:10.846; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:11.580; 6. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:15.554; 7. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:31.941; 8. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, Suzuki World MXGP), +0:38.193; 9. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:44.144; 10. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +0:44.836; 15. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki World MXGP), +1:23.764.

MXGP Overall: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 45 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 44 p.; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 43 p.; 4. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 36 p.; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HUS), 34 p.; 6. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 29 p.; 7. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 27 p.; 8. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, YAM), 26 p.; 9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 20 p.; 10. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 19 p.; 11. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 19 p.; 12. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki World MXGP), 18 p.; 13. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, Suzuki World MXGP), 14 p.

MXGP Points Standings: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 523 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 431 p.; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 418 p.; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HUS), 417 p.; 5. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 353 p.; 6. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 338 p.; 7. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 308 p.; 8. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 294 p.; 9. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 286 p.; 10. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, YAM), 279 p.; 11. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 264 p.; 12. Max Anstie (GBR, HUS), 249 p.; 13. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, Suzuki World MXGP), 241 p.; 18. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki World MXGP), 108 p. 







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