Strijbos wins for Portugal

The Grand Prix of Portugal was a memorable one for Kevin Strijbos and Team Suzuki.

The Belgian left the third round of 15 in the 2007 FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship with his second career victory.

The 21-year-old fought with Yamaha’s Josh Coppins in both motos under hot and sunny conditions and watched by a crowd of 18,000 spectators.

The Agueda circuit was dry, rough and fast offering a decent racing surface by virtue of the lines available.

Strijbos led the first half of Moto1 before being overhauled by a charging Coppins but would have his revenge later in the afternoon.

He passed early front-runner Sebastien Pourcel and again set the pace. Coppins came close and even seized the lead around mid-distance but Strijbos retaliated immediately and then initiated a flurry of laps to pull away and notch his first moto success of the year.

The team celebrated their second overall victory with the four-stroke factory machine after the maiden garland was collected – again by Strijbos – back at the Loket circuit and the Czech Republic Grand Prix in 2005.

“This feels good, for sure,” he said.

“The first moto was hard. Josh was faster and I couldn’t follow, but in the last race I had good speed and put my head down; I went full gas for the whole moto and really wanted that win.

“It was important that I passed Josh back in the same lap; I was happy with that. I have been training a lot on the bike since the GPs have started and now my fitness is right there.”

Results
MX1 Moto1: 1. Joshua Coppins (Yamaha); 2. Kevin Strijbos (Suzuki); 3. David Philippaerts (KTM); 4. Tanel Leok (Kawasaki); 5. James Noble (Honda); 6. Manuel Priem (TM).
MX1 Moto2: 1. Kevin Strijbos (Suzuki); 2. Joshua Coppins (Yamaha); 3. Sebastien Pourcel (Kawasaki); 4. Manuel Priem (TM); 5. David Philippaerts (KTM); 6. Thomas Allier (Kawasaki).
MX1 World Championship Points (after 3 from 15 rounds): 1 Joshua Coppins 144, 2 Kevin Strijbos 125, 3 Jonathan Barragan 89, 4 Ramon Steve 86, 5 Ken De Dycker 84.