Team Suzuki Press Office - April 4.
RockstarEnergy Suzuki World MX1 starts its 2012 FIM Motocross World
Championship campaign this weekend with the Grand Prix of the
Netherlands at the sandy Valkenswaard circuit; the first of 16 rounds in
15 countries.
Steering the factory RM-Z450 Suzuki after a
promising pre-season period of testing and international race
appearances will be Clement Desalle and Tanel Leok. The former will
start his third season with the Belgian team and third campaign in which
he is expected to be a contender for the MX1 title. It will be the
ninth year of the class and Suzuki has claimed the rider's crown on one
occasion with Steve Ramon in 2007.
Leok will make his debut as
part of the works crew but came into the team at the end of 2011 as a
'known quantity' having received technical support on his impressive
maiden term in 2004. The Estonian is 26 years old but already has
immense experience at the sharp end of the sport and has ridden at least
five different motorcycles in his MX1 career.
Desalle will be
mindful of the shallow and bumpy Valkenswaard sand this weekend.
Although the Belgian is 100% fit and comes into the holiday fixture
having claimed moto victories in France and the UK, the Dutch terrain
south of Eindhoven has not always been friendly: In 2010 he dislocated a
shoulder while in 2011 he rode to a solid fifth position - the only
event from the first six of that season where he didn't finish on the
podium. Still only 22, Desalle has no problem in accepting the now
annual position and status of being a major Championship contender.
"Another year and I am getting more experience in trying to fight for a
Championship," he said. "If I have learned anything it is that something
always happens throughout a season and the most important strategy is
to aim for being consistent. Sometimes you have to remind yourself that
the series is long and there are many motos to go. I feel good on the
bike, we have a nice setting; and I knew from the race at Hawkstone Park
that we were more-or-less ready for the sand. I won't be going too
crazy this weekend. I just want to start the season in the right way and
try to keep at a high level."
Nerves and eagerness are bound to
be mitigating factors for many of the MX1 and MX2 protagonists for the
opening event that takes place on Monday with practice and qualification
on Sunday. Dealing with the wavy sand will be another major obstacle
through the two 35 minute and two-lap Grand Prix motos. "It is a strange
track and it can upset the bike a little bit because some parts are
hard and it depends where the bumps are and how you hit them," Desalle
says. "The conditions are the same for everyone though."
Leok is
struggling for peak fitness after missing several weeks of riding with
an ankle problem and is currently nursing a small arm infection in the
wake of a subsequent rigorous period of activity. The typically
hard-charging former GP winner is considering the challenge ahead. "I
haven't ridden as much as I'd like. After missing some time with my
ankle I perhaps then pushed a bit too hard on the bike and I'm nursing a
small infection in my arm at the moment," he admitted. "I'll be as fit
as I can for the weekend but I think it will be tough anyway because it
is the first Grand Prix and normally a tense meeting. I like
Valkenswaard but it gets rough and there are quite a lot of jumps for a
sandy track."
Suzuki last won at Valkenswaard when Ken De Dycker
owned both motos in 2008 but the team's ties of success go back more
than three decades before that victory when current GRP owner and Team
Principal Sylvain Geboers claimed the 250cc Grand Prix on a Suzuki in
1974.
The weather forecast for the weekend predicts cloudy and cool conditions.
4/4/2012 5:41pm
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