Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MXGP’s Clement Desalle maintained his 100% podium record this season on his RM-Z450 by taking a hard-won third place overall and remains as MXGP leader by one point. The Pietramurata circuit in Arco di Trento, northern Italy, heaved under the weight of a bumper 32,000 attendance and several hundred competitors in five classes for the fourth round of the FIM Motocross World Championship and the opening foray in the EMX European Championship this weekend. Bright skies cast a good light on the hard-pack that is flanked by the dramatic Dolomite mountains. The Italian terrain was slick and stony but also littered with short, hard bumps meaning that the compact layout had to be treated with caution. The narrow course provided line-choice in sections but the frequency of tight corners forced strong emphasis on the launch from the start gate. An erratic Qualification Heat on Saturday involved a mediocre getaway and a first lap crash, leaving Desalle staring at the gate from a slot down in 22nd place on Sunday. In the first attempt, he cut an excellent path through the field in the opening corners to hold fifth position. From there Desalle closed-down the gap and made two passes, one on former AMA Champion Ryan Villopoto, to take third place. Desalle was part of a tense and exciting four-way chase to the flag and was frustrated on the last lap by the presence of a backmarker at a crucial time that hindered his bid to overtake Max Nagl and earn second place. Third nevertheless put the Belgian into podium contention. That potential was almost wrecked by three incidents in the second moto: Firstly Desalle almost crashed in the first turn when he was pushed out wide and the ‘moment’ may have caused his left bootstraps to be damaged and come loose. Ignoring the distraction he was pushing Villopoto hard for third place when the American suffered a bizarre looping crash that almost caught the Suzuki. The same lap Desalle hit an awkward bump on the entrance to a turn at the back of the circuit, lost the front wheel and crashed. He lost third place to Romain Febvre but was able to continue and make the flag for the third step of the podium. Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe’s Glenn Coldenhoff steered his RM-Z450 to 15th in just his fourth Grand Prix in the premier class. The Dutchman was struggling on Saturday and a bad start in the Qualification Heat race had the former MX2 GP winner considering his set-up and pondering on tyre choice. Come Sunday and the change worked: Coldenhoff slotted into a decent position on the first lap and was pleased with his riding to 10th. Better was to come in Moto2: Coldenhoff pushed-up to the top-five and was looking to set a rhythm around the course where he claimed his first moto victory in MX2 the previous year, but a small crash carried a consequence. Somehow he caught a nail in his boot and had to enter the pit lane to take it out and then re-joined the race. The Suzuki man only had enough time to recover to 18th. Desalle hangs onto the #1 Red Plate as the MXGP pace-setter by one point from Nagl and Antonio Cairoli. Coldenhoff sits 12th in the table with almost a quarter of the calendar in the bag. The Grand Prix of Europe in the sand of Valkenswaard next weekend – round five of 18 in MXGP - will mean a short trip east for the crew from their base in Lommel, Belgium. A decision still has to be made over the fitness of Kevin Strijbos to see if the Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MXGP line-up can be back to full strength in time for the Dutch appointment. Clement Desalle: “I had a big crash in qualification and was happy not to be injured so after that – and all of today – it is good to be on the podium. I had quite good start in the first moto and we were riding wheel-to-wheel for a long time. I couldn't really find any cool things to do or to make any passes happen. The second moto was not so bad at the start again but somehow my boot came completely open on the first lap and I had a big stone come inside. I was third and then made a mistake by myself and lost a position. It is not a bad result considering what happened yesterday and it was good to take points and be up there. The track was not so good and having more classes on it did not help. You had to take many risks to pass and the track needed to be fixed a bit more last night. Anyway we will get in the sand now and try to enjoy it next weekend.” Glenn Coldenhoff: “Some good signs this weekend. I was struggling a lot on Saturday and had a bad start and was not riding smooth enough. I turned it around today with two good starts and two good motos. The second moto was actually better and I was running fifth I think until I had a small crash and somehow got a nail in my foot. I had to come into the pit-lane and restarted from 30th or something. So, riding was good but the results not so much. This is a learning year and it was a rookie mistake. Onto Valkenswaard now and I’ve been riding a lot in the sand. I feel fit and good so I’m hoping for a positive weekend.” MXGP Moto1: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 34:01.846; 2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:00.900; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki), +0:01.597; 4. Ryan Villopoto (USA, Kawasaki), +0:04.118; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:11.219; 6. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:16.093; 7. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:27.399; 8. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:43.842; 9. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:46.520; 10. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Rockstar Energy Suzuki), +0:47.26. MXGP Moto2 1. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), 34:09.426; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:09.091; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:09.612; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki), +0:25.068; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:26.912; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:28.030; 7. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:50.778; 8. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:53.748; 9. Davide Guarneri (ITA, TM), +0:57.020; 10. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:57.366; 18. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Rockstar Energy Suzuki), +1:41.400.MXGP Overall result: 1. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 47 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 47 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki), 38 p.; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 34 p.; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HON), 32 p.; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 28 p.; 7. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 26 p.; 8. Davide Guarneri (ITA, TM), 22 p.; 9. David Philippaerts (ITA, YAM), 21 p.; 10. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 20 p.; 11. Ryan Villopoto (USA, KAW), 18 p.; 12. Todd Waters (AUS, HUS), 16 p.; 13. Tommy Searle (GBR, KTM), 15 p.; 14. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 15 p.; 15. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Rockstar Energy Suzuki), 14 p.MXGP World Championship Standings (after round 4 of 18): 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki), 171 points; 2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 170 p.; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 170 p.; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 129 p.; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HON), 128 p.; 6. Ryan Villopoto (USA, KAW), 124 p.; 7. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 100 p.; 8. Todd Waters (AUS, HUS), 78 p.; 9. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 75 p.; 10. Davide Guarneri (ITA, TM), 70 p.; 11. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 67 p.; 12. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Rockstar Energy Suzuki), 61 p.; 13. David Philippaerts (ITA, YAM), 59 p.; 14. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki), 55 p.