Damon Graulus now 2nd in Belgian Championship

After a strong performance at the Keiheuvel on Monday 24MX Lucas Oil Honda’s Damon Graulus confirmed his form today in Orp-Le-Grand, the third round of the Belgian motocross Championship. Graulus finished fourth behind Clément Desalle, Gautier Paulin and Kevin Strijbos. Team mate Ken De Dycker claimed a solid seventh overall in his second race after returning from injury. With one more round left in the series Graulus currently sits second in standings, seven points behind Brent Van Doninck.

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Speed and consistency were Damon’s key words for the traditional visit to the old-school circuit around ‘la Petite Gette’. In qualifying Graulus guided his CRF450R to fourth, just 0,037 seconds behind Gautier Paulin and less than 0,9 seconds behind Kevin Strijbos. While time practice usually only serves as an indication of the power balance, it was spot-on this time. Polesitter Clément Desalle (Kawasaki Racing Team) was remarkably faster than anyone else around the tight, hard-pack track. Unsurprisingly the 19-time GP winner would go on to score three convincing wins in front of his home crowd. Graulus added three more fourth places and two holeshots to his scorecard. While both Strijbos and Paulin were marginally faster, the 24MX Lucas Oil Honda rider did a terrific job of keeping both seasoned factory riders honest.

De Dycker qualified eight. Although Ken lacked good starts in the first two motos he succeeded in limiting the damage with two ninth places. A better start and an inspired ride in the final 20-minute plus 1 round affair placed the former MXoN winner in the spotlight again. Keeno chased multiple world champ Steve Ramon for most of the race. With a couple weeks of solid riding and two races under his belt the popular Belgian is looking forward to making his return to MXGP racing. De Dycker, who brake his femur in February, will line up for his first Grand Prix of the  season next weekend in Assen, the Netherlands.

Damon Graulus:“I had a great day! Orp-Le-Grand is a very unique track, but I enjoy riding here. I had three strong starts so that was helping me a lot. In the first moto I managed to stay quite long in contact with Paulin and Strijbos. I was ever so close to Strijbos in the second race but visibility became an issue because of the dust when I came up behind him to pass! Clément (Desalle) and Kevin (Strijbos) were a bit too fast in the final moto however I could match the pace of Paulin. Overall I’m really pleased with my performance, and the way the bike worked. Of course it’s nice to be second in the series as well, we’ll see how the final round in Kester goes!”

Ken De Dycker:“Frankly I needed some time to adapt to the hard pack surface. This was my first outing on such a track because I had only been training in the sand so far. The first moto was a bit of a struggle with a guy crashing in the start in front of me and not feeling as comfortable as I’d liked to. In the second moto my pace was better but I didn’t have a good jump from the gate. In the final sprint things came together with a clean getaway and it was cool to be running closer to the front again. I was able to pick my lines, rather than having to race in the pack. In terms of speed this was a big improvement as well! I’m confident I had the pace to go faster still, so that’s another positive.”

Race 1
1. Clément Desalle (BEL-Kawasaki) 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA-Honda), 3. Kevin Strijbos (BEL-Suzuki),4. Damon Graulus (BEL- 24MX Lucas Oil Honda), 5. Steve Ramon (BEL-Suzuki), 6. Andy Truyts (BEL-KTM), 7. Brent Van Doninck (BEL-Yamaha), 8. Erik Willems (BEL-Yamaha),9. Ken De Dycker (BEL- 24MX Lucas Oil Honda), 10. Thomas Covington (USA-Husqvarna), 11. Michael Ivanov (BUL-KTM), 12. Robin Bakens (BEL-Kawasaki), 13. Bryan Boulard (BEL-Honda), 14. Dietger Damiaens (BEL-KTM), 15. Kenny Vandueren (BEL-KTM), 16.Kim Oiva Jarva (NOR-Kawasaki), 17. Stefan Hage (NED-KTM) , 19.Kristof Salaets (BEL-Kawasaki), 19. Maxime Renaux (FRA-Yamaha), 20. Roy Sillien (BEL-Suzuki)

Race 2
1. Clément Desalle (BEL-Kawasaki) 2.Gautier Paulin (FRA-Honda), 3. Kevin Strijbos (BEL-Suzuki),4.Damon Graulus (BEL- 24MX Lucas Oil Honda),5. Steve Ramon (BEL-Suzuki), 6. Thomas Covington (USA-Husqvarna), 7. Kenny Vandueren (BEL-KTM), 8. Andy Truyts (BEL-KTM),9. Ken De Dycker (BEL-24MX Lucas Oil Honda), 10. Kevin Wouts (BEL-KTM), 11. Michael Ivanov (BUL-KTM), 12. Maxime Renaux (FRA-Yamaha), 13.Daymond Martens (BEL-Yamaha), 14. Kristof Salaets (BEL-Kawasaki), 15. Mark Boot (BEL-KTM), 16. Erik Willems (BEL-Yamaha), 17. Robin Bakens (BEL-Kawasaki), 18. Dietger Damiaens (BEL-KTM), 19. Stijn Verstrepen (BEL-Husqvarna), 20. Stefan Hage (NED-KTM)

Race 3
1. Clément Desalle (BEL-Kawasaki), 2.Kevin Strijbos (BEL-Suzuki),3. Gautier Paulin (FRA-Honda),4.Damon Graulus (BEL- 24MX Lucas Oil Honda), 5. Steve Ramon (BEL-Suzuki),6. Ken De Dycker (BEL-24MX Lucas Oil Honda), 7. Brent Van Doninck (BEL-Yamaha), 8. Kevin Wouts (BEL-KTM), 9. Andy Truyts (BEL-KTM), 10. Michael Ivanov (BUL-KTM), 11. Kenny Vandueren (BEL-KTM), 12.Dietger Damiaens (BEL-KTM), 13. Erik Willems (BEL-Yamaha), 14. Kristof Salaets (BEL-Kawasaki), 15.Maxime Renaux (FRA-Yamaha), 16.Daymond Martens (BEL-Yamaha), 17.Robin Bakens (BEL-Kawasaki), 18. Thomas Covington (USA-Husqvarna), 19.Mark Boot (BEL-KTM), 20. Kim Oiva Jarva (NOR-Kawasaki)

Classification Belgian Championship Orp-le-Grand
1. Clément Desalle (BEL-Kawasaki) 75 pts, 2.Gautier Paulin (FRA-Honda) 64, 3. Kevin Strijbos (BEL-Suzuki) 62,4.Damon Graulus (BEL- 24MX Lucas Oil Honda) 54, 5. Steve Ramon (BEL-Suzuki) 48, 6. Andy Truyts (BEL-KTM) 41, 7. Ken De Dycker (BEL-24MX Lucas Oil Honda) 39, 8. Michael Ivanov (BUL-KTM) 33, 9. Kenny Vandueren (BEL-KTM) 31, 10. Thomas Covington (USA-Husqvarna) 30, 11.Erik Willems (BEL-Yamaha) 29,12. Brent Van Doninck (BEL-Yamaha) 28, 13.Dietger Damiaens (BEL-KTM) 22, 14. Robin Bakens (BEL-Kawasaki), 15. Kristof Salaets (BEL-Kawasaki) 19, 16. Maxime Renaux (FRA-Yamaha) 19, 17.Daymond Martens (BEL-Yamaha) 15, 18.Kim Oiva Jarva (NOR-Kawasaki), 19. Stefan Hage (NED-KTM), 20. Bryan Boulard (BEL-Honda)

Belgian Championship standings after 3 rounds

1. Brent Van Doninck (BEL-Yamaha) 136 pts,2. Damon Graulus (BEL-24MX Lucas OilHonda) 129,3.Kevin Strijbos (BEL-Suzuki) 126, 4.Steve Ramon (BEL-Suzuki) 122, 5. Jeffrey Dewulf 90 (BEL-KTM), 6. Arminas Jasikonis 81 (LIT-Suzuki), 7.Clément Desalle (BEL-Kawasaki) 75, 8. Shaun Simpson (GBR-KTM) 75, 9. Jeffrey Herlings (NED-KTM) 75,10. Max Nagl (GER-HUS) 66