Season’s best for Simpson, De Dycker unlucky‏

San
Bernardino - MX1
rookie Shaun Simpson stormed to a strong sixth in the second moto of
the US Grand Prix in Glen Helen, California. Shaun produced his best
ever moto result in the MX1 class after taking 16th coming through
almost from dead last in the opening moto when he had a crash in the
start. Belgian ace Ken De Dycker was terribly unlucky not to bag more
points in the US. A fuel pump problem prevented him from finishing in
the opening race. While Ken produced an inspired ride in the second
moto, posting the third fastest lap of the race, he ran out of gas in
the penultimate corner. Former LS Honda Racing star Clément Desalle
claimed the overall GP, ahead of Nagl, Bobryshev and Strijbos.

After
an unusual overcast sky and cool temperatures in the morning the San
Bernardino setting of the Monster Energy American GP finally bathed
in sunshine on Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately the LS Honda Racings
riders didn’t get the grid positions they wanted in in the
qualification race. Shaun gated in the middle of the pack to finish
13th, De Dycker suffered a disappointing engine failure relegating
him to a lowly 31st position on the gate.

Sunday
morning would see even worse weather conditions at the Californian
track. The longest layout of the GP season was transformed into a
treacherous, muddy affair after heavy rainfall in the morning.
Suitable conditions for LS Honda’s Simpson who rode his CRF450R to
the fastest time in warm-up. Luckily the typical strong winds managed
to dry blow the track later on. With a temperature of 18° C the
riders were treated to European conditions in the first of their
overseas events. Getting a great start was always going to be
difficult for De Dycker given his bad gate position, but team mate
Simpson had an even bigger challenge on his hands when he crashed at
the start. De Dycker had just forced his way from 18th in the early
stages of the race to 11th after six laps. With his fuel pump issues
getting increasingly bigger Ken pulled out of the race. Simpson
looked on course to a top-15 in spite of his disastrous start,
however the friendly Scotsman had to settle for 16th, just 0,749
behind Estonia’s Tanel Leok. 

A
much better start in the second race provided Simpson with an
opportunity for a great result. Well inside the top-10 for the first
two laps Braveheart rode a consistent, spirited moto to grab sixth
ahead of Steve Ramon, Jonathan Barragan and David Philippaerts. De
Dycker once again started mid-pack to go from strength to strength.
The tall Belgian was without a doubt one of the fastest men on the
bumpy demanding track, but was denied the rewards of his efforts when
he run out of fuel in the very last lap when he was circulating in
ninth position.

Shaun
Simpson: “In
the first start I was looking to get away in the top ten and made a
mess of it. I hit Frossard’s rear wheel and went down. The track
was very one line and I fought back to sixteenth which I was
reasonably pleased about. The track was better for the second moto
and I managed to find my rhythm. I felt good out there. I made a
mistake, but clawed back distance on Steve Ramon and when he made an
error up Yamaha hill I got him. I pushed in the last four or five
laps. This is the sort of form I felt like I had in me and it is nice
to show people that I can do it!”

Ken
De Dycker:
“It was a really bad day with two DNFs. There is nothing we can do
and we must just keep working. We are already quite far behind in the
points and have to hope for some better results in the next races.
For a positive…my riding was good and better than the first two
GPs, my back also feels stronger. If we can improve a bit more then I
hope we can be on the podium soon.”

Race
1:
1.
Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 41:30.376; ; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA,
KTM), +0:02.908; 3. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), +0:45.473; 4. Kevin
Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:51.224; 5. David Philippaerts (ITA,
Yamaha), +0:57.603; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +1:03.102; 7.
Anthony Boissiere (FRA, Yamaha), +1:20.482; 8. Christian Craig (USA,
Honda), +1:21.415; 9. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Kawasaki), +1:36.743;
10. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), +1:48.422; 11. Jason Dougan (GBR,
Yamaha), +1:51.204; 12. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +1:56.836; 13.
Davide Guarneri (ITA, Kawasaki), +1:58.930; 14. Xavier Boog (FRA,
Kawasaki), +1:59.880; 15. Tanel Leok (EST, TM), +2:01.293; 16.
Shaun Simpson (GBR, Honda), +2:02.042; 17.
Gregory Aranda (FRA, Kawasaki), +2:39.358; 18. Carlos Campano Jimenez
(ESP, Yamaha), -1 lap(s); 19. Manuel Monni (ITA, Honda), -1 lap(s);
20. Herjan Brakke (NED, Yamaha), -1 lap(s);
29. Ken De Dycker (BEL, Honda), -5 lap(s);


Race
2: 1.
Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 43:24.372; ; 2. Maximilian Nagl (GER,
KTM), +0:01.561; 3. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:11.515; 4. Rui
Goncalves (POR, Honda), +0:12.887; 5. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki),
+0:20.108; 6.
Shaun Simpson (GBR, Honda), +0:30.121;
7. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), +0:34.060; 8. Jonathan Barragan (ESP,
Kawasaki), +0:35.550; 9. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:52.794;
10. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:56.262; 11. Antonio Cairoli (ITA,
KTM), +0:59.793; 12. Anthony Boissiere (FRA, Yamaha), +1:14.020; 13.
Christian Craig (USA, Honda), +1:25.635; 14. Gregory Aranda (FRA,
Kawasaki), +1:28.691; 15. Tanel Leok (EST, TM), +1:30.396; 16. Davide
Guarneri (ITA, Kawasaki), +2:26.628; 17. Jason Dougan (GBR, Yamaha),
+2:36.874; 18. Weston Peick (USA, Kawasaki), +2:41.647; 19. Carlos
Campano Jimenez (ESP, Yamaha), +2:43.992;
20. Ken De Dycker (BEL, Honda), -1 lap(s);

US
GP CLASSIFICATION: 1.
Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 50 points; 2. Maximilian Nagl (GER,
KTM), 42 p.; 3. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 35 p.; 4. Kevin
Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 34 p.; 5. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 32 p.;
6. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 28 p.; 7. Rui Goncalves (POR,
Honda), 27 p.; 8. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Kawasaki), 25 p.; 9.
Anthony Boissiere (FRA, Yamaha), 23 p.; 10. Christian Craig (USA,
Honda), 21 p.; 11.
Shaun Simpson (GBR, Honda), 20 p.; 12.
Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 18 p.; 13. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 14
p.; 14. Jason Dougan (GBR, Yamaha), 14 p.; 15. Davide Guarneri (ITA,
Kawasaki), 13 p.; 16. Tanel Leok (EST, TM), 12 p.; 17. Gregory Aranda
(FRA, Kawasaki), 11 p.; 18. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), 11 p.; 19.
Carlos Campano Jimenez (ESP, Yamaha), 5 p.; 20. Weston Peick (USA,
Kawasaki), 3 p.; 21. Manuel Monni (ITA, Honda), 2 p.; 22.
Ken De Dycker (BEL, Honda), 1 p.;
23. Herjan Brakke (NED, Yamaha), 1 p.; 24. Santtu Tiainen (FIN,
Kawasaki), 0 p.; 25. Sean Borkenhagen (USA, Kawasaki), 0 p.; 26.
Günter Schmidinger (AUT, Honda), 0 p.; 27. Ivo Steinbergs (LAT,
Kawasaki), 0 p.; 28. Dennis Stapleton (USA, Yamaha), 0 p.; 29. Robert
Sturm (GER, Kawasaki), 0 p.; 30. Caleb Gosselaar (USA, Suzuki), 0 p.;
31. Francesco Galligari (ITA, Honda), 0 p.; 32. Marc de Reuver (NED,
Yamaha), 0 p.; 33. Michael Sleeter (USA, KTM), 0 p.; 34. Gino Aponte
(USA, Honda), 0 p.;


MX1
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1.
Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 128 points; 2. Maximilian Nagl (GER,
KTM), 122 p.; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 104 p.; 4. Steven
Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), 96 p.; 5. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha),
91 p.; 6. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 89 p.; 7. Evgeny Bobryshev
(RUS, Honda), 87 p.; 8. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Kawasaki), 78 p.; 9.
Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 68 p.; 10. Davide Guarneri (ITA,
Kawasaki), 58 p.; 11. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 56 p.; 12. Xavier
Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 52 p.; 13. Anthony Boissiere (FRA, Yamaha), 51
p.; 14. Tanel Leok (EST, TM), 48 p.; 15.
Shaun Simpson (GBR, Honda), 38 p.;
16.
Ken De Dycker (BEL, Honda), 32 p.; 17.
Jason Dougan (GBR, Yamaha), 26 p.; 18. Christian Craig (USA, Honda),
21 p.; 19. Carlos Campano Jimenez (ESP, Yamaha), 16 p.; 20. Marc de
Reuver (NED, Yamaha), 13 p.; 21. Gregory Aranda (FRA, Kawasaki), 11
p.; 22. Martin Barr (GBR, KTM), 8 p.; 23. Gert Krestinov (EST,
Kawasaki), 6 p.; 24. Matthias Walkner (AUT, KTM), 6 p.; 25. Loic
Leonce (FRA, Aprilia), 6 p.; 26. Günter Schmidinger (AUT, Honda), 4
p.; 27. Weston Peick (USA, Kawasaki), 3 p.; 28. Manuel Monni (ITA,
Honda), 2 p.; 29. Yentel Martens (BEL, KTM), 2 p.; 30. Benjamin
Townley (NZL, Kawasaki), 2 p.; 31. Santtu Tiainen (FIN, Kawasaki), 1
p.; 32. Herjan Brakke (NED, Yamaha), 1 p.;

NEXT
WEEKEND: LS
Honda Racing will line up for the 4th GP of the season in Indaiatuba,
Brazil