Team Suzuki Press Office – May 23.
Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MXGP’s Clement Desalle will roll his factory RM-Z450 into second place in the gate for tomorrow’s Grand Prix of Great Britain after a careful run to the same position in today’s Qualification Heat at Matterley Basin for what is the seventh round of 18 in the 2015 FIM Motocross World Championship.
Cloudy but generally bright conditions blessed the first day of activity at the English venue that has hosted the UK stop on the calendar each year since 2011. The vast, open and fast Matterley course was again distinctive for its decent level of preparation and some big jumps.
Desalle was alone in the Suzuki awning once more with Kevin Strijbos opting to rest his injured right thumb. The Belgian will ride his ‘#22’ machine at home this weekend to determine if the problem has benefited from the break away from GP duty. Desalle, meanwhile, went about clocking the fastest lap in Timed Practice around a track where he has won two of the last four motos. He then moved into the top-five for the 20 minute and two-lap sprint and chased Tony Cairoli for the lead, eventually settling for a safe second spot.
The Lommel-based team will assess a few possible improvements to the configuration of the RM-Z450 in warm-up tomorrow to optimise set-up for both MXGP motos.
Clement Desalle:
“Not so bad. I had first position in the Qualification Practice and my start was not that bad in the Heat race. I was right behind Nagl when he lost his rear wheel and I had to sit up; I lost a place-or-two to fifth. I got back to second and felt like I could push further but then made a couple of mistakes and the gap was ‘elastic’ between us. I want a really good start tomorrow. We have a couple of small things to try with the settings to feel more comfortable on the track because you really have to concentrate here. The bike has to be 100%...and the rider also.”
MXGP Qualification Heat: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 24:33.614; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki), +0:01.799; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:04.215; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:05.922; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:07.357; 6. Dean Ferris (AUS, Husqvarna), +0:08.286; 7. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:08.748; 8. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:11.541; 9. Tyla Rattray (RSA, Kawasaki), +0:25.124; 10. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:31.887.
