Rockstar Teka Suzuki World MX1's Clement Desalle will face the Italian Grand Prix at Fermo this weekend with a 21 point advantage over David Philippaerts and knows he has a decent chance to secure second place in the 2010 FIM Motocross World Championship and guarantee the number two plate for 2011.
The 21 year old goes into the final round of 15 having partially recovered from the nasty crash in Lierop and the Grand Prix of Benelux last Saturday that saw him lose two teeth and require stitches in his bottom lip. The Belgian is however nursing a painful haematoma on his backside, the discomfort of which has affected his preparations.
Last Sunday Desalle bravely notched two top-10 finishes in the tough sand and now stands on the precipice of yet another season of progress. Since joining the MX1 category in 2006 he has been a rider on the move, with championship finishes of 25th, 20th, 11th and third each campaign and after his first term on the works RM-Z450WS the current Belgian Champion could end 2010 as Vice-Champion and with a possible three wins or 11 podiums.
"My goal is of course to finish second this year and the way I feel at the moment I am lucky that I am a few points ahead," he commented. "I thought I was OK after the crash on Saturday and it was only really my mouth that carried any signs but now I have a lot of pain around my butt and lower back; I can't even dress myself at the moment. The weekend will be difficult but for sure I will try to ride and do my best."
Steve Ramon grabbed his fourth set of silverware last week and is set for his sixth top-five finish in the MX1 category in the seven-year existence of the class and from when Ramon went from being the very first MX1 moto winner at Zolder in Belgium in 2004. The Belgian lies 15 points behind Max Nagl in fourth and could still even pip Philippaerts to third spot. "Amazingly Fermo will be another new GP track for me after visits to Campo Grande, Glen Helen and Kegums," he said. "I expect we will find a typical 'Italian' circuit, so hard, fast and naturally laid out. If the preparation is good then Italian tracks can be fun to ride because there is a lot of traction and usually some nice jumps."
Fermo is yet another venue to be given the honour of hosting the Italian round of the series after visits to Faenza, Mantova, Castiglione Del Lago and Montevarchi in recent years. Little is known about the site that has undergone modifications to meet GP spec, but the hillside circuit seems to hold the promise of a naturally-set layout with some interesting jumps and perhaps a 'traditional' Italian hard-pack terrain.
Early weather forecasts for the weekend predict clouds and a chance of showers on Saturday with sunshine on Sunday.
MX1 world championship standings (after 14 of 15 rounds): 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 625 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Rockstar Teka Suzuki World MX1), 494 p.; 3. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 473 p.; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 463 p.; 5. Steve Ramon (BEL, Rockstar Teka Suzuki World MX1), 448 p.; 6. Tanel Leok (EST, Honda), 346 p.; 7. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Yamaha), 324 p.; 8. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 299 p.; 9. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 270 p.; 10. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Honda), 267 p.
