Clement Desalle was still able to use his weakened shoulders to lift a sixth podium trophy of the season as the Belgian battled across the rutted hard-pack of Talkessel, Teutschenthal to take third place overall on his works RM-Z450 at the Grand Prix of Germany.
Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1 was able to reflect on a successful ninth round of 15 in the FIM Motocross World Championship with Desalle barely adjusting his factory machine for the fast and undulating course and able to return to the rostrum after coping with small injury problems over the past two weeks. A large crowd of 40,000 created a lively atmosphere for the best-attended meeting of the season so far.
Two fairly decent starts and a smooth attack of the terrain and the riders ahead all hitting similar lap-times meant that Desalle was able to hunt for a healthy quantity of Championship points. A duel and victory over Ken De Dycker for fifth position in the first race was improved by a confident surge to third place in the second that put Desalle back on the box and signified a loss of only eight points to World Champion Tony Cairoli who is the sole rider ahead of the Belgian in the MX1 standings.
Team-mate Steve Ramon did not have the best GP and admitted he was not on best form as he rode to 10th and ninth for 10th-place overall. The former World Champion had a crash in the second race that set him back.
Desalle trails Cairoli by only 18 points in the series' standings with trips to Latvia, Belgium, Czech Republic, UK, Germany and Italy remaining before the culmination of the season in September. Ramon is 10th but one point from eighth.
The Grand Prix of Latvia at the Kegums circuit will hold round 10 of the FIM series and will take place next week, meaning a trek east direct from Teutschenthal for the Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1 crew.
Clement Desalle:
"It was another difficult weekend for me. I was not feeling good after the qualification yesterday and it was hard with all the small injuries to keep a good feeling on the bike today. That is the key for me. If I can find the feeling and enjoy my riding then of course I will be fast. I'm not so happy with my current situation but it is good to come back on the podium!"
Steve Ramon:
"Not much luck today. I had a pretty good start in the first moto but I made two mistakes on the first lap and some guys passed me. I wasn't riding well today and didn't have the power to push. It was tough. The second moto was about a bad start, a crash, pushing to recover and then making mistakes! I crashed together with Schiffer and from that point I just tried to get as many points as possible. Of course I'm not happy but I did what I could."
MX1 Moto1: 1. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 39:44.894; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:04.021; 3. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), +0:05.673; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), +0:06.777; 5. Clement Desalle (BEL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1), +0:22.381; 6. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), +0:25.319; 7. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +0:40.536; 8. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Kawasaki), +0:48.745; 9. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:51.773; 10. Steve Ramon (BEL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1), +0:54.969.
MX1 Moto2: 1. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 39:48.006; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:03.710; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1), +0:21.504; 4. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +0:27.394; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), +0:32.547; 6. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Kawasaki), +0:36.851; 7. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), +0:38.614; 8. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:41.565; 9. Steve Ramon (BEL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1), +1:08.997; 10. Marc de Reuver (NED, Yamaha), +1:19.049.
MX1 Overall result: 1. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 50 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 44 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1), 36 p.; 4. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 32 p.; 5. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 32 p.; 6. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), 31 p.; 7. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Kawasaki), 28 p.; 8. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), 26 p.; 9. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 25 p.; 10. Steve Ramon (BEL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1), 23 p.
MX1 World Championship standings (after 9 of 15 rounds):1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 366 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1), 348 p.; 3. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), 326 p.; 4. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 294 p.; 5. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 282 p.; 6. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 250 p.; 7. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 249 p.; 8. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Kawasaki), 204 p.; 9. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 203 p.; 10. Steve Ramon (BEL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1), 203 p.
