Steve Ramon took fourth place for Team Red Bull KTM at Agueda and the Grand Prix of Portugal this afternoon, round three of seventeen in the FIM MX1 World Championship.
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The Belgian notched results of ninth and fourth to place fourth overall and miss out on the podium by just one point. His team-mate and Spanish GP winner Ben Townley had a difficult day after collisions with other riders limited his chances of a good result.
The track was very wet and swampy for the first motos until the rain subsided and the Portuguese dirt began to dry. The course was technical and bumpy and the single racing line made overtaking a tough prospect.
Townley had a poor start in the opening MX1 heat and was unable to gather the required aggression to push through the pack, especially after a brief altercation with Ramon. In the second race he was running briefly with the leaders but was nudged by Joel Smets and hit the floor again. Persisting in the search of Championship points Townley was struck by Honda rider Ken De Dycker on lap four and was again forced to kickstart the bike after a fierce crash in which he was lucky to escape without injury.
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In MX2 both Tyla Rattray and Carl Nunn were victims of on-track incidents. In the first moto Nunn cased the double by the finish line and stalled the 250F. Before he could restart fellow Briton Stephen Sword clattered the twenty-five year old and he feared a broken left leg until medical checks gave the British Championship leader the all-clear. Nunn bravely attempted the second moto and took seventh for his efforts. Rattray was a decent second place in the opening race and looked set for another podium appearance, however the South African was involved in a first corner ‘coming-together’ with Mickael Maschio and fell dislocating his left shoulder. The luckless Rattray will return to his home in Belgium tonight and undergo an examination tomorrow.
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Townley and Ramon now hold fifth and sixth in the MX1 standings respectively while Rattray is third and Nunn ninth in MX2.
The fourth round of the series will take place in two weeks time at Namur where the Grand Prix of Belgium will share its programme with the Supermoto World Championship.
Ben Townley:
“It was a bad day. I gave away a lot of points. It’s disappointing that I could not salvage anything. I made a bad start next to Stefan and I couldn’t come through or get a rhythm. In the second race I had a good jump and followed Stefan down the hill in second but then I’m not sure what I happened next but someone hit me and I crashed. I got up and was riding really well. I felt like I was in the groove and was able to pass guys easily. I was 15th in five laps and I’m sure I would have made my way to sixth if De Dycker hadn’t come across me on the jump. I had to hit him and went down.