Team Suzuki Press Office – January 18.
FRI: Florent Richier (Suzuki) – 2nd
SAT: Nicholas Aubin (Suzuki) – 3rd
SUN: Yannis Irsuti (Suzuki) – 3rd
Suzuki RM-Z450 riders made the podium at the final round and three races of the ADAC SX-Cup in Dortmund, Germany at the weekend.
Over the three days, watched by 27,000 spectators, 33-year-old Richier (Stielergruppe.mx Johannes-Bikes Suzuki) was holding the flag up on the first evening and took second position in the SX1 Final. The Frenchman was celebrating a special moment in Dortmund as the most successful rider of all time with the highest achieved number of points in the history of the event and was given the golden Number #1 plate for his RM-Z450. He said: “This is a very special honour for me. I hope this was not my last race in Dortmund!”
On Saturday, Richier had a promising start, but lost some places and had to settle with a fifth place. But he still gained a podium in the overall rankings of the ADAC SX-Cup. On Sunday, he scored 10th after a collision in turn one. He added: “The track was really technically-challenging this year and even small mistakes were punished the hard way. But I can be satisfied with my performance in Dortmund and also with the third place in the SX-Cup.”
Richier’s fellow countryman, Yannis Irsuti (Team Twenty Suspension Suzuki), started the event in sixth position on Friday, but was able to step-up with 4-3 to take an overall podium in the standings. He said: “As you could see from my results I was able to build momentum. My team gave me a fantastic bike and I was able to increase my performance. This was a great weekend for us!”
Nico Aubin was satisfied with his Suzuki RM-Z450 after finishing third on Saturday. He said: “I trained a lot in the sand with my bike that was specially prepared for beach racing, therefore I had some adapting problems on the first evening. I rode the new RM-Z450 for the first time in Dortmund, but we were able to find the right settings for me quite fast. The bike really worked well and with third and fifth place on Saturday and Sunday I had two really strong races.”
Another fast Suzuki rider in the SX1-class was Team Twenty Suspension Suzuki). The Frenchman only just missed-out on the podium with two fourth places on Friday and Sunday and finished Saturday’s race inside the Top-10.
Boris Maillard (Stielergruppe.mx Johannes-Bikes Suzuki) also was able to collect important points in Dortmund and finished the SX-Cup in fourth place.
Best SX2-class rider was Gradie Featherstone on his RM-Z250. The British (Team Castrol Power 1 Suzuki Moto-Base) rider achieved a Top-10 position on each night and finished the ADAC SX2-class in seventh position.
