Ken De Dycker second in Kegums‏

After fourth places in Bulgaria and Mexico Ken De Dycker (Red Bull KTM) collected his first podium place of the season earlier today in the Latvian Grand Prix, the 10th round of the MX1 World Championship. The 28-year old Belgian was second behind his teammate Antonio Cairoli after scoring respectively second in both motos. Keeno remains fifth in the world standings but gained 9 points on the fourth, Gautier Paulin. To complete the KTM success in the MX1 class, the Austrian constructor now holds a 15 point advantage over Kawasaki in provisonal standings.

Saturday’s qualifying got on its way under a cloudy sky. After a start inside the top 8 De Dycker quickly found a strong pace on the Latvian track. The shorter 20 minutes plus two laps moto was disrupted by rain but Keeno soldiered on regardless to bring his factory SX-F450 home in fourth.

Over 20.000 spectators witnessed De Dycker coming 7th out of the gate on Sunday noon. He climbed up to fifth to launch an inspired push to the front. Strijbos, Paulin and Gonçalves were no match for the lanky Belgian’s speed. Circulating second by half race distance Ken was able to control his race and grab second behind Cairoli.

By the second moto the Kegums track was even rougher and more technical because of the additional rain. Once again the difficult, muddy conditions didn’t faze De Dycker. Starting outside the top-5 he was determined to climbt the leaderboard.  Three laps into the race race, leader Cairoli had gone down and Keeno was able to slot in behind the rapid Italian to improve his position, finally leaping across the finish in third behind his team mate.

"Ken De Dycker: “I could not ask for more! The mud was no problem for me, actually it  allows you to make even more of a difference. The biggest change compared to the last three GP”s was the fact that I could keep it on two wheels in the start whereas I had been on the floor every single time previously! My bad luck seemed endless. In Kegums things already improved on Saturday when I had a decent start. On Sunday again I managed to get two okay starts. My speed was good but this has been the case for some weeks now, only it’s easier to make headway with guys ahead of you that don’t slow you down as much as when you have to bounce back from the bottom of the pile!

In the second race I managed to replicate what I did in the opening race. When in circulated in third place behind Cairoli, I knew my podium was assured. I am very happy with this second place, not only for myself but also for the team and all the people around me. Because of my crash in Sweden the past two weeks I have not been able to train as I wanted to which makes this podium even more special. This is where I belong, hopefully I can repeat this performance the next couple of GP’s! "

MX1 Race 1 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 40:10.291;  2. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Red Bull-KTM), +0:14.660; 3. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +0:19.982; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:25.045; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:29.425; 6. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), +0:30.185; 7. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:48.051; 8. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), +0:49.206; 9. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:50.222; 10. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), +0:50.592; 11. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:55.266; 12. Davide Guarneri (ITA, KTM), +1:13.685; 13. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, LS Honda Racing), +1:19.877; 14. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:53.770; 15. Gert Krestinov (EST, Honda), -1 lap(s); 16. Marc de Reuver (NED, Kawasaki), -1 lap(s); 17. Matteo Bonini (ITA, KTM), -1 lap(s); 18. Milko Potisek (FRA, Honda), -1 lap(s); 19. Augusts Justs (LAT, Honda), -1 lap(s); 20. Davis Livs (LAT, Kawasaki), -1 lap(s);

MX1 Race 2 1. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), 40:41.137; ; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:09.646; 3. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Red Bull-KTM), +0:14.187; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:21.801; 5. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +0:23.040; 6. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:34.385; 7. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), +0:40.746; 8. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), +0:51.920; 9. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:54.297; 10. Marc de Reuver (NED, Kawasaki), +1:20.375; 11. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +1:30.226; 12. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:46.969; 13. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Honda), +1:52.515; 14. Gert Krestinov (EST, Honda), +1:56.410; 15. Milko Potisek (FRA, Honda), +2:15.270; 16. Santtu Tiainen (FIN, Kawasaki), -1 lap(s); 17. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), -1 lap(s); 18. Kim Lindstrom (SWE, Kawasaki), -1 lap(s); 19. Augusts Justs (LAT, Honda), -1 lap(s); 20. Davis Livs (LAT, Kawasaki), -1 lap(s); 

GP  of Latvia classification
1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 47 points; 2. Ken de Dycker (BEL,  Red Bull-KTM), 42 p.; 3. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), 36 p.; 4. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 36 p.; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 33 p.; 6. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 32 p.; 7. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), 29 p.; 8. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), 26 p.; 9. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 26 p.; 10. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 22 p.; 11. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 21 p.; 12. Marc de Reuver (NED, Kawasaki), 16 p.; 13. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Honda), 16 p.; 14. Gert Krestinov (EST, Honda), 13 p.; 15. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 11 p.; 16. Milko Potisek (FRA, Honda), 9 p.; 17. Davide Guarneri (ITA, KTM), 9 p.; 18. Santtu Tiainen (FIN, Kawasaki), 5 p.; 19. Augusts Justs (LAT, Honda), 4 p.; 20. Matteo Bonini (ITA, KTM), 4 p.; 21. Kim Lindstrom (SWE, Kawasaki), 3 p.; 22. Davis Livs (LAT, Kawasaki), 2 p

FIM MX1 standings after 10 GP’s
1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 392 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 380 p.; 3. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 357 p.; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 348 p.; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Red Bull-KTM), 299 p.; 6. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), 279 p.; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 258 p.; 8. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), 230 p.; 9. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 219 p.; 10. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 212 p.; 11. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), 185 p.; 12. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 163 p.; 13. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 154 p.; 14. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Honda), 151 p.; 15. Davide Guarneri (ITA, KTM), 118 p.; 16. Matiss Karro (LAT, KTM), 112 p.; 17. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), 66 p.; 18. Anthony Boissiere (FRA, TM), 58 p.; 19. Cedric Soubeyras (FRA, Honda), 54 p.; 20. Dean Ferris (AUS, Kawasaki), 52 p.; 21. Marc de Reuver (NED, Kawasaki), 42 p.; 22. Matteo Bonini (ITA, KTM), 38 p.; 23. Santtu Tiainen (FIN, Kawasaki), 31 p.; 24. Milko Potisek (FRA, Honda), 30 p.; 25. Herjan Brakke (NED, Yamaha), 24 p.; 26. Gert Krestinov (EST, Honda), 18 p.; 27. Augusts Justs (LAT, Honda), 17 ...

Ken De Dycker will race the 11th round of the Motocross World Championship in Semigorje, Russia next weekend