Desalle Races to 5th MX1 Podium in France

 


Rockstar
Teka Suzuki World MX1 played a major role in an immensely-entertaining
Grand Prix of France at a cloudy-then-sunny St Jean D'Angely which
resulted in Clement Desalle picking up his fifth trophy of the season
on the factory RM-Z450WS with third place at the seventh round of 15;
and Steve Ramon also running at the front to claim fourth overall.

A
bumper 30,000 attendance at the hillside circuit created a special
atmosphere typical of the French round of the FIM Motocross World
Championship. A hot and sunny day of practice and qualification on
Saturday changed to a morning of thundery showers, causing the track to
soften and create a rut-laden course that was technical and difficult
to negotiate, especially with regards to overtaking. After lunch,
belated sunshine dried the terrain significantly-hardening the lines
and bumps.

Ramon and Desalle were two of a four-rider group
jostling for the lead in an exciting first moto. Ramon stalked World
Champion Antonio Cairoli and overtook the Italian before being
pegged-back after two laps after failing to cut a path through a batch
of backmarkers. Second position was still the Belgian's best moto
finish since round three in Holland. Behind him Desalle and David
Philippaerts were having an intense struggle for third place which the
20 year old just lost in the closing stages.

In
the second sprint, Ramon was not able to mark the same kind of rhythm
and circulated on the fringes of the top five to score fifth and miss
the overall top-three by two points. Desalle and Philippaerts again
waged war but the Italian was faster over the gnarly layout and Desalle
opted for a safe second spot which confirmed his podium appearance.

With
Max Nagl falling and breaking his collarbone and Desalle again showing
consistency, the Belgian is now second in the World Championship
standings, 68 points adrift of Cairoli and seven ahead of Philippaerts.
Ramon is fifth and certain to move up past Nagl if the German does not
return to action in two weeks.

Ramon will contest the second
round of the Belgian Championship at Kester next weekend while Desalle
is expected to compete at Aichwald for the third round of the German
ADAC Masters. In two weeks time, it is the Grand Prix of Germany, round
eight of the FIM competition, at Teutschenthal.

Clement Desalle:

"The
first moto with David was really good. We passed each other many times
and it was good fun and a good show. In the second moto my start was
not so bad and I had some fast lines on the first laps but David was so
quick. I did not want to take any big risks on a track like that
because I found it really dangerous. I feel good about my results, just
a bit disappointed about missing points in Holland. I will keep on
doing my best."

Steve Ramon:

"Yesterday
I said a podium would be difficult but in the end it was possible and I
came very close. In the first moto I was riding well and had some good
lines but the problem was the lapped riders: Cairoli was in front of me
and I could follow him without too much trouble but the backmarkers
were holding us up and I knew the others were coming close. I passed
Cairoli and was feeling great on the bike, really smooth, but again the
backmarkers played their part because I had about two or three in front
of me around the back section and they would not move. Cairoli took
advantage of that and passed me back. I was a bit angry about that and
just had to accept it. I was happy with second place even though the
win was my goal. In the second moto the start was not bad but I wasn't
feeling as comfortable as in the first race and was struggling to come
to the front. Overall it is good that I am up there again after the
last few weeks; it was a pity not to bbbbe on the podium but I will
look to the next one."


MX1 Moto1: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 39:59.341; 2. Steve Ramon (BEL, Rockstar Teka Suzuki WMX1), +0:02.549; 3. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:06.551; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Rockstar Teka Suzuki WMX1),
+0:15.685;
5. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Honda), +0:53.066; 6. Tanel Leok (EST, Honda),
+0:56.103; 7. Anthony Boissiere (FRA, TM), +1:08.514; 8. Kevin Strijbos
(BEL, Suzuki), +1:15.764; 9. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Yamaha), +1:25.207;
10. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:32.312.

MX1 Moto2: 1. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 39:31.903; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Rockstar Teka Suzuki WMX1), +0:03.013; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:07.221; 4. Anthony Boissiere (FRA, TM), +0:11.087; 5. Steve Ramon (BEL, Rockstar Teka Suzuki WMX1), +0:13.044;
6. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Yamaha), +0:17.029; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA,
Kawasaki), +0:17.406; 8. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Honda), +0:21.295; 9.
Tanel Leok (EST, Honda), +0:25.454; 10. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA,
Kawasaki), +0:58.601.

MX1 Overall Result: 1. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 45 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 45 p.; 3.
Clement Desalle (BEL, Rockstar Teka Suzuki WMX1), 40 p.; 4. Steve Ramon (BEL, Rockstar Teka Suzuki WMX1), 38 p.;
5. Anthony Boissiere (FRA, TM), 32 p.; 6. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Honda),
29 p.; 7. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Yamaha), 27 p.; 8. Tanel Leok (EST,
Honda), 27 p.; 9. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 23 p.; 10. Gareth
Swanepoel (RSA, Honda), 18 p.

MX1 World Championship standings (after 7 of 15 rounds): 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 304 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Rockstar Teka Suzuki WMX1), 236 p.; 3. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 229 p.; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 218 p.; 5. Steve Ramon (BEL, Rockstar Teka Suzuki WMX1), 211 p.;
6. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Yamaha), 201 p.; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki),
181 p.; 8. Tanel Leok (EST, Honda), 162 p.; 9. Davide Guarneri (ITA,
Honda), 140 p.; 10. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 123 p.


High
Resolution MX1 Photos from France: CLICK HERE