Grand-Prix of Czech Republic - Loket latest info

The Czech Grand Prix this weekend will be the last effort before the two week break preceding a season’s finale of three consecutive GP’s.

Steve Ramon enters this 12th round of 15 as the MX1 Championship leader as he snatched the red plate from David Philippaerts in Lommel.

In the MX2 class the fight in between current series leader Tyla Rattray and runner up Tommy Searle is set to continue with Rui Goncalves, Shaun Simpson and Nicolas Aubin also looking for podium finishes.

Yamaha Monster Motocross’ David Philippaerts is now chasing the new MX1 leader Steve Ramon of Teka Suzuki WMX1 as the duo is separated by just two points.

Philippaerts’ team mate Joshua Coppins follows from third as he aims at making up for last year’s misfortune in Loket which was the reason why he lost his Title hopes.

In the meantime youngsters Teka Suzuki WMX1’s Ken de Dycker and AXO KTM Silver Action’s Jonathan Barragan are both close to the expert Kiwi while Sebastien Pourcel and Max Nagl round off the top seven.

After racing only the first two GP’s of the 2008 season GPKR’s Kevin Strijbos is ready to make his comeback to the GP scene this weekend as a thumb injury has kept him away from the Championship until now.

Fellow Kawasaki riders Maxime Emery and Gregory Aranda will also race the MX1 GP this weekend while German Marcus Schiffer will be out after Lommel’s head concussion. The latter is expected to comeback in Ireland on August 23rd.

After Favor KTM Motorsport’s Gert Krestinov won his maiden GP at Lommel the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s riders Tyla Rattray and Tommy Searle aim at coming back to the top of the podium.

With the Czech fans waiting for another dogfight in between the two some surprises might come from KTM fellow riders Rui Goncalves, who took his maiden second overall finish at Lommel, and Shaun Simpson, who will be actually Goncalves’ team mate in the MX2 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team in 2008.

Last year’s Czech GP winner Nicolas Aubin of Ricci Racing Yamaha is another one of those looking for a strong result this weekend as he took only one podium so far in Nelspruit.

Pascal Leuret will miss this 12th GP due to problems with his right shoulder and elbow which he injured at the beginning of the season as Wyatt Avis is also out due to his back injury from Lommel.

On the other hand youngsters Loic Rombaut and Arnaud Tonus, winner of the Ricky Carmichael Motocross of Nations Award Youngest Rider last year, will put another GP under their belt this weekend.

The race track in Loket is called the "serpentine" and it is one of the most twisty in the FIM Motocross World Championship calendar. The characteristic elevation changes provide a good variety of racing situations while the intermediate ground has a hard base making it totally different from the previous Belgian venue, Lommel. Last year’s winners were Kevin Strijbos –at his last year with the works Suzuki team- and Nicolas Aubin as the weather conditions were wet.

Loket is famous among the sports’ fans as it hosts the main Motocross course in the country whose capital is Prague, just 140 kilometres away from the town hosting round 12 of the World MX series. Loket is in the Karlovy Vary region and it is characterized by the Castle overlooking the Ohøe river and the whole town which used to be the temporary seat of the members of the royal family –it has been visited several times by King Jan Luxembourg.

Saturday August 9: MX2 Free Practice at 10:00 am; MX1 Free Practice 1 at 11:00 am; MX2 Pre-Qualifying Practice at 12:00 am; MX1 Free Practice 2 at 2:00 pm; MX2 Qualifying Race 1 at 3:00 pm; MX2 Qualifying Race 2 at 3:45 pm; MX1 Time Practice at 4:30 pm; MX2 Last Chance Qualifying Practice at 5:15 pm (local time).

Sunday August 10: MX2 Warm-up at 9:00 am; MX1 Warm-up at 9:30 am; MX2 Grand Prix Race 1 at 12:10 am; MX1 Grand Prix Race 1 at 1:10 pm; MX2 Grand Prix Race 2 at 3:03 pm; MX1 Grand Prix Race 2 at 4:03 pm (local time).

EUROSPORT 2 (Pan Europe) : MX1 Race 1 at 13:00 and Race 2 at 16:00 CET

MOTORS TV (Pan Europe): MX2 Race 1 at 12:00 and Race 2 at 15:00 CET

SPORT ITALIA (Italy): MX2 Race 1 at 12:00 and Race 2 at 15:00 CET

VRT (Belgium): Summary MX1 Race 1 and Race 2 N/A CET

GALAXIE SPORT (Czech Republic): MX2 Race 1 at 12:00 and Race 2 at 15:00 CET

ART (Pan Middle East): MX1 Race 2 at 16:00 CET

SPORT TV (Slovenia): MX2 Race 1 at 12:00 and Race 2 at 15:00 CET

EUROSPORT WORLD (PAN ASIA): MX1 Race 1 at 11:00 GMT

RED BULL TV (Austria): MX2 Race 1 at 12:00 and Race 2 at 15:00; MX1 Race 1 at 13:00 and Race 2 at 16:00 CET

MEDIAZONE (Worldwide): MX2 Race 1 at 12:00 and Race 2 at 15:00; MX1 Race 1 at 13:00 and Race 2 at 16:00 CET

TRANS 7 (Indonesia): MX2 Race 1 at 12:00 and Race 2 at 15:00; MX1 Race 1 at 13:00 and Race 2 at 16:00 CET

EUROSPORT 2 (Pan Europe): Sunday August 10; MX1 Race 1 at 15:30. Monday August 11, MX2 Class at 17:00 CET

MOTORS TV (Pan Europe): Sunday August 10; MX2 Race 1 at 21:00 and Race 2 at 21:55 CET

SPORT ITALIA (Italy): Sunday August 10; MX1 Race 1 at 23:40. Monday August 11; MX1 Race 2 at 00:40 CET

EUROSPORT WORLD (Pan Asia): Sunday August 10; MX1 Race 1 at 15:45 and 23:30 and Race 2 at 16:30. Monday August 11; MX1 Race 2 at 00:15, at 04:15, at 16:15 and at 23:15; MX1 Race 1 at 03:30 and at 22:30; MX2 Class at 17:00. Tuesday August 12; MX2 Class at 00:00, at 04:00, at 09:30 and at 21:00; MX1 Race 1 at 8:00 and Race 2 at 08:45. Wednesday August 13; MX2 Class at 8:00 and at 15:00 and at 22:30 GMT

AMERICA ONE SPORTS (USA): Second Tuesday after the GP; MX2 Race 2 at 21:00; MX1 Race 2 at 22:00 USA Eastern Time

GAORA (Japan): MX2 Race 1 and Race 2; MX1 Race 1 and Race 2 N/A CET

Information, photos and results are online at http://www.motocrossMX1.com , the official website of the FIM Motocross World Championships.

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- Daniele RIZZI -