The end of the 2007 season was marked by an incredible Grand Prix of the Netherlands on the sandy course at Lierop, the De Herselse Bossen, under cloudy weather conditions and with a crowd of 36,000 spectators.
Steve Ramon sealed the MX1 title and made it to third on the podium, while team mate Kevin Strijbos won the Grand Prix, securing also the manufacturers’ title for Suzuki. With Josh Coppins’ absence, Yamaha’s second place in the manufacturers’ standings was defended by a strong Marc De Reuver, who finished second overall.
MX2 World Champion Antonio Cairoli put together two strong motos to clinch the final Grand Prix victory. This was the Italian’s maiden success at Lierop.
MX1
Max Nagl lead the pack into turn one, but Kevin Strijbos, Ken De Dycker and Steve Ramon all passed the German in the first half of the heat. Strijbos pulled away with the lead to win with a comfortable advantage of more than eleven seconds. Ken De Dycker, who was cruising in second place, had to face the attacks of a very gutsy Ramon, who moved up to an eventual second place ahead of Marc De Reuver. The home rider, who disappointed his fans last year at Lierop by scoring no points, rode a solid first heat recovering from seventh to third, and eventually passing De Dycker. The latter finished fourth ahead of Billy Mackenzie, while early leader Nagl ended seventh.
After another holeshot by Nagl, Ramon and Strijbos passed him and battled it out for the lead during the first part of the final moto. Ramon, who had the title under his belt after moto one, did not look like giving up until his condition – he rode with both wrists injured – forced him to settle into third. Marc De Reuver was the challenger that Strijbos had to face in the second half of the heat, but the fit Dutchman proved to be more dangerous than Ramon. De Reuver attacked until the very last lap, when he was over two seconds behind Strijbos, but he rode on incredible lines to pass the Suzuki rival on the wave section. De Reuver won his maiden MX1 heat, ahead of Strijbos, while De Dycker and Mackenzie rounded off the top five.
Jonathan Barragan did not ride the final heat, as he crashed in the first one, and went to the hospital for a check up.
MX2
Yamaha De Carli’s Antonio Cairoli continued his winning streak by conquering also the sand of Lierop; this was the first success on the De Herselse Bossen for the 2007 MX2 World Champion. Gareth Swanepoel of Molson Kawasaki was snatched the overall by Cairoli, but finished second on the podium and secured the fifth place in the Championship. KTM Red Bull’s Tommy Searle was third overall at his fifth consecutive podium appearance, while Rui Goncalves and Nicolas Aubin rounded off the top five. Home rider Erik Eggens was second in the final heat, but ninth overall because of a broken sparkplug in moto one.
Cairoli came back to the MX2 class and won both heats straight away.
Final Points
Steve Ramon grasped the MX1 title, while Kevin Strijbos moved up to the runner-up spot. Absent Joshua Coppins dropped down to third ahead of Sebastien Pourcel.
In the MX2 class, the title was clinched by Antonio Cairoli at Moneyglass, while Tommy Searle locked the second position at Donington. Injured and absent Christophe Pourcel and Tyla Rattray held third- and fourth-place, respectively, while Gareth Swanepoel moved up to an eventual fifth, ahead of Nicolas Aubin.
