Press Release

Desalle And Suzuki Take MX1 Series Lead

Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1's Clement Desalle raced to his first double moto victory and his second triumph of the season at the Grand Prix of Sweden today. The factory RM-Z450 rider was also able to walkaway after a dominant display across the wet, loose and muddy terrain of Uddevalla with the red plate as the new leader of the MX1 FIM Motocross World Championship.

More than 22,000 spectators attended the ninth round of 16 in the series and were able to scale the rocks situated next to and above the curling racetrack despite yet more rainfall and changeable conditions. The Swedish soil was slimy and slippery for the opening motos and away from a single racing line the ground was not easy to judge or tackle. Sunshine arrived later in the afternoon but the terrain still forced a cautious approach.

Desalle made a few mistakes in an action-packed sprint to third position in Saturday's qualification heat. The Belgian banged his right knee in the proceedings but the incident had no lasting effect for the two 35 minute and two-lap motos on Sunday. After dealing with the good starts and threat from Christophe Pourcel in both races, Desalle set his own rhythm for a first 'perfect' 50 points since the 2011 Grand Prix of Portugal. The haul and race incidents for Antonio Cairoli gave the team the added bonus of being able to seize control of the MX1 championship by three points.

Tanel Leok finished the day with sixth position overall. Although the Estonian was not too happy with his riding to sixth and fourth positions, the second moto result represented his best of the season so far and showed how the former GP winner can set a decent pace if he enjoys a positive launch from the gate.

Both RM-Z450 racers hold slots in the top nine of the MX1 FIM World Championship standings. Desalle is now just ahead of Cairoli and 12 points in front of Pourcel while Leok is currently ninth and 11 away from further promotion.

Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1 will now have a week to prepare for an intense trip to the east with Grands Prix in Latvia and Russia set to occur on July 15th and 22nd.

Clement Desalle:

"It's a good result today and also a good situation with the Championship. I am happy with my riding. I feel confident and could do what I wanted on the bike and this was just as important to me. It was a bad day for Tony Cairoli and a good one for me, and it was a bit strange to get the red plate like that but these things can happen in a mechanical sport and I have also had some bad luck this season. We are doing the best that we can and I don't want to speak about the Championship too early. I just go as fast as I can and in the best shape possible. Every small detail that helps you feel better on the bike or can win you time is really good and my team is so professional when it comes to this and they have so much experience so I have to say thanks to them. We have done some testing and we are trying to improve further and I think some of the work we did last week helped me today."

Tanel Leok:

"It was OK today. Sixth and fourth is not so bad and I'm quite happy with the result overall but my riding wasn't too good in the second race. I could still make fourth place but I was struggling and making mistakes. I was too tight and doing stupid things. I felt like I could do much better and could have been closer to the leaders. I had an OK start in the first moto but it was very tough to make passes on the track when it was that wet."

MX1 Moto1: 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1), 40:52.302; 2. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:20.870; 3. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:28.388; 4. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), +0:31.762; 5. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), +0:38.980; 6. Tanel Leok (EST, Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1), +1:13.721; 7. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:17.195; 8. Cedric Soubeyras (FRA, Honda), +1:22.736; 9. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:24.085; 10. Mark de Reuver (NED, Kawasaki), +1:35.661.

MX1 Moto2: 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1), 39:05.450; 2. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:04.445; 3. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), +0:07.064; 4. Tanel Leok (EST, Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1), +0:23.936; 5. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), +0:37.011; 6. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:40.893; 7. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +0:52.511; 8. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:53.034; 9. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:16.098; 10. Davide Guarneri (ITA, KTM), +1:21.824.

MX1 Overall result: 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1), 50 points; 2. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 44 p.; 3. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), 36 p.; 4. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 35 p.; 5. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), 34 p.; 6. Tanel Leok (EST, Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1), 33 p.; 7. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 26 p.; 8. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 25 p.; 9. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 20 p.; 10. Mark de Reuver (NED, Kawasaki), 20 p.

MX1 World Championship Standings (after 9 of 16 rounds): 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1), 348 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 345 p.; 3. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 336 p.; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 315 p.; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 257 p.; 6. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), 243 p.; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 236 p.; 8. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 212 p.; 9. Tanel Leok (EST, Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1), 201 p.; 10. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 183 p.

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