Ken De Dycker previews Teutschenthal‏

Lier
- This
weekend’s German Motocross Grand Prix is the ninth round of the
2011 FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship. It is also the second race
in the back-to-back Northern-European triplet, following Sweden and
preceding the Latvian GP. After last week’s set-backs in Uddevalla
the Grand Prix of Germany gives MX1 rookie Shaun Simpson the perfect
opportunity to get his campaign back on track. Simpson, who captured
sixth position in the second moto at Glen Helen, has shown excellent
speed on several occasions but poor luck and a lack of consistency
have hampered his results. 

LS
Honda’s Ken De Dycker will travel to the Talkessel circuit in the
knowledge that he took his first rostrum moto of the season last
week. Moreover the fast hard pack German track is one where Keeno has
done well at in the past. De Dycker, a former German MX1 champion,
won the Teutschenthal race last year with a double moto victory (on
his birthday). He was third in 2009 and came respectively 2nd and 4th
in 2008 and 2006. Fresh from Wednesday’s training session we sat
down with the Belgian giant to get his views.

Considering
that you didn’t feel 100% coming into the Swedish GP you must have
been pleased with the result?

Ken
De Dycker:
“Yeah, of course it was good to take fourth and it was my best GP
of the season so far. The weekend was solid overall because I was
third in qualifying, my lap times were fine as well. On the other
hand there is still room for improvement. If I didn’t need to fight
back from way back in 22nd in the first moto to finish fourth I would
have conserved more energy for the second moto, whereas now I was
completely worn out and couldn’t hold on to third. At one point in
the second moto I was catching up on Cairoli. In hindsight it might
have been better to race a bit more conservatively.”

Do
you feel some pressure because you outgunned everyone in
Teutschenthal last year?

Ken
De Dycker:
“Not the slightest, no. This is another season and you can not
dwell on the past. l just know I’m going to Germany with a good
feeling, and when there are some ruts and bumps on Sunday it’s a
track that I find pretty interesting. When results start coming back
like now it makes you even hungrier to do well. So after a difficult
start of the season I also feel my self confidence is coming back.
With the team we keep on developing the bike and I should go well
there. The only way is up!”

What
do you think about the current level in the MX1 World Championship?

Ken
De Dycker:
“It’s the highest I have ever experienced since I started racing
in MX1 in 2004. Frankly, it’s unbelievably competitive this season!
Several guys have stepped up there game, Steven Frossard came in with
a bang. Before you could make the difference in the last part of the
race alone, that is no longer true. There’s not just a couple of
guys who train properly, it’s all of them. They go flat-out from
the first lap till the last lap.”

It
seems guys are taking more risks in the start and starts have become
even more crucial.

Ken
De Dycker:
“I don’t know whether the start itself has become riskier. After
all it’s motocross you know? That’s part of the game! But I agree
that starts are even more important these days. You absolutely need
to be in the top five, or at the very least top ten. If you are
further down there’s no way you can fight for the win. Just look at
the gap Bobryshev and Frossard had in the first moto in Uddevalla.
No matter how hard you push that’s something you can not make up!”


We
wish you all the starts you desire in Teutschenthal
Ken
De Dycker: “Thanks!”