Ken De Dycker previews the GP of Italy‏

The
3rd round of the FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship will take place
this weekend at the spectacular hillside track of Fermo, Italy. For
Red Bull-KTM’s Ken De Dycker, currently 4th in the world standings,
the Italian GP offers a great opportunity to continue his adaptation
to the factory SX-F 450. Moreover Ken will be enjoying ‘another’
home Grand Prix because he’s riding for the Italian structure of
Claudio De Carli. After defending the Ricci-Yamaha colours in 2010
this is Ken’s second stint on an Italian squad. Before traveling
from Rome to the Adriatic coast we caught up with De Dycker.

So
have you been living the dolce vita in Italy this week?
De
Dycker: “Naturalmente!
(smiling) If you are used to a lot of rain it’s easy to get a
holiday feeling here, that’s for sure. We had some good conditions
and nice weather to train and ride this week anyway. The De Carli
team has a private track close to their workshop, that’s where I
have been riding again.”

How
is to be a team mate to Antonio Cairoli, the most succesful rider in
the World Championship?
De
Dycker: “I
like it, because Tony is a really cool guy. We get along very well.
When it comes to preparation I won’t say that to me it’s a must
to have a strong team mate. I’m always going faster in a race
compared to riding during practice anyway! It might be even a bit
intimidating when you come across another rider at a practice track
who’s really flying and who’s faster, especially when you are
beating him easily come Sunday. But this week was nice though. Tony
knows the track we have been riding inside, out. I was chasing him
and we kept an eye on each other. That showed in my lap times as well
because I was just a little bit slower than him.”

What
about the gesture you made to Cairoli in the second moto in
Sevlievo?
De
Dycker: “When
I signalled to Tony I was spurring him on! I think it always helps if
someone is rooting for you, certainly during a race. If team mates
are pushing each other it’s mutually beneficial.”


It’s
great to see you gel with the bike so quickly. What’s the plan on
that front?
De
Dycker: “In both
GP’s I have been racing the 2010 450 factory bike. Probably I will
continue on that for the coming races as well. Actually there’s not
so much that we changed about it, just the position of the
handlebars, a few clicks on the suspension settings and that’s it
basically! There’s no need to throw everyting around when things
are working out but I’m definitely still learning more about the
bike. It’s crazy to think that I have just made six race starts
until now. For example, during the first moto in Bulgaria I was
shifting too late into the corner. Otherwise I was right there with
the leading men from the start. The second moto was already better,
so that’s a great feeling; to be improving every time out.”


In
Bulgaria you showed that your speed on hard pack is okay. Did it help
you to spend time in Spain in preparation for the season?
De
Dycker: “It’s true
that I rode quite a bit of hard pack early this year, and it might
give me a little something extra. On the other hand in the past my
results on hard pack have also been good with just a couple of
sessions on hard pack and focusing on stamina in the sand. You need
to put that hard work in Lommel in to build your endurance. That’s
something you can not achieve on a hard pack track!”

What
about Fermo. You didn’t race there last year after your neck
injury, but you were there in 2010.

De
Dycker: “The layout
is fun in Fermo, it’s nice to ride... alone! In a race, it’s
something different. In 2010 you didn’t have ruts or berms, it was
just rock hard and extremely difficult to make a difference. We’ll
see how it goes this weekend. I know I have the speed and I feel
confident.”