Last week Ken De Dycker was strong in the second moto in Germany and registered his first top-three race finish since the Grand Prix of Portugal in early May. Teutschenthal also saw his first podium since that meeting at Agueda.

His haul of points at the weekend means the Belgian, who celebrated his 25th birthday last Saturday, is just four from the top five of the championship standings and 29 points from the first three riders.

"This will be an interesting race because it is a new place and levels the playing field," he said. "I have heard that it is quite loamy, which will be fine for me, and I want to be consistent with another podium.

"Obviously there is not much time during the week so I just did a couple of gentle motos on the bike yesterday and want to go to Latvia to do the best I can," he added.

Steve Ramon is now commencing his training programme on the RM-Z450 and if he feels no ill-effects of his neck injury will undergo a decent period of track-time in preparation for his return at the team's home event at Limburg on August 2nd.

The weather forecast for the weekend predicts sunny and bright conditions for both days