DESALLE AND SUZUKI PODIUMS IN FRANCE
Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1's Clement Desalle exercised decent damage-control at a sweltering St Jean D'Angely for the Grand Prix of France and the fifth round of 15 in the FIM Motocross World Championship.
The Belgian finished third overall for his fourth trophy from five events on the works RM-Z450 Suzuki even though he had to recover from several falls in the first moto across a difficult track to score 11th. A frustrating race was quickly-forgotten with a dominant performance later in the afternoon for his fourth chequered flag of the season.
Starting from Pole Position for the second time this year after his exciting Qualification Heat victory on Saturday, Desalle's first moto, in front of 32,000 spectators was swiftly interrupted on the second corner as his line was blocked by an early-braking Max Nagl. The 22 year old hit the German's rear wheel, crashed and was lucky not to be hit by the chasing pack and restarted in last position. A frantic recovery was briefly stalled by another fall but the series leader spent the rest of the 35 minutes and 2 laps circulating up to 11th place.
Disappointed during the break, Desalle was the picture of determination in the second sprint and controlled the race from start to finish to rescue a spray of rostrum champagne.
Steve Ramon had a pretty average day of results but was happy with the set-up of his factory machine after some suspension modifications. A poor start in the first moto meant that he could not penetrate the top 10 (taking 12th) and then two crashes in the second affair cast him to 17th for 15th overall.
After the first third of the series, five GPs and 10 motos, Desalle leads many tables of statistics. Most pole positions (2), most wins (2), most moto-victories (4), most podiums (4) and importantly the World Championship standings by six points over Tony Cairoli. Ramon is 11th and six points from the top 10.
Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1 now continues its busy racing schedule with a trip to the Iberian Peninsula this week: The Grand Prix of Portugal at Agueda lies in store next weekend and is followed immediately by the Spanish round at the undiscovered circuit of La Baneza.
Clement Desalle:
"Max Nagl cut the line really early and I hit his wheel and crashed. I had to roll the bike back down the hill and was totally last. It was really difficult because in those situations you have to keep a bit calm, even when the rest of the riders are getting away. I fought as hard as I could but I made another mistake and landed in all the mud. After that I focussed on completing the race. Afterwards I was very disappointed because again more mistakes and I wanted more consistency but I am still learning about all the things that can happen in a GP. I had good speed here and at least was able to show that in the second moto. You had to be careful on the track. I think the ground is very typical of the region and can be very soft but then very hard in different places but as I always say it is the same challenge for all of us. We have done five races now and I will keep on doing the best I can. I lost some points today but I'm happier for the second moto performance."
Steve Ramon:
"Tough day. My riding was not so bad but I was a bit unlucky with some crashes. I had a bad start in the first moto and it is so difficult on this track to pass and try some different lines. There were many ruts. In the second moto my start was better and the first lap was good but I slid out in the waves section and I went down. The bike was still running but the throttle was full of mud so for a while it was hard to get good grip. I then went down again through a deep rut. After that I just looked to finish the race the best I could with some good laps. My speed was OK but I was not in the right positions. I'm disappointed with the results but we will have better days."
MX1 Moto1: Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), 39:43.001; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:14.166; 3. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:26.589; 4. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:46.857; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), +0:55.476; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:57.385; 7. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), +0:58.511; 8. Benjamin Townley (NZL, Kawasaki), +1:12.515; 9. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +1:14.588; 10. Tanel Leok (EST, TM), +1:20.473; 11. Clement Desalle (BEL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1), +1:22.708; 12. Steve Ramon (BEL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1), +1:25.782.
MX1 Moto2: 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1), 39:50.343; 2. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), +0:10.986; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:13.765; 4. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +0:16.816; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:19.766; 6. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Kawasaki), +0:21.768; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:25.968; 8. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), +0:29.524; 9. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), +0:31.244; 10. Tanel Leok (EST, TM), +0:36.506; 17. Steve Ramon (BEL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1), +1:19.437.
MX1 Overall result: 1. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), 47 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 42 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1), 35 p.; 4. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 32 p.; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 31 p.; 6. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), 29 p.; 7. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 26 p.; 8. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 25 p.; 9. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 23 p.; 10. Tanel Leok (EST, TM), 22 p.; 15. Steve Ramon (BEL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1), 13 p.
MX1 World Championship standings (after 5 of 15 rounds): 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1), 199 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 193 p.; 3. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), 179 p.; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 179 p.; 5. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 161 p.; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 141 p.; 7. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 133 p.; 8. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Kawasaki), 115 p.; 9. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 114 p.; 10. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 109 p.; 11. Steve Ramon (BEL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1), 103 p.
