Team Suzuki Press Office – May 24.
Another strong performance from Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MXGP’s Clement Desalle crowned a positive weekend for the factory team as the Belgian finished runner-up at a rousing British Grand Prix for the seventh round of 18 in the FIM Motocross World Championship.
Wide turns, speed, some jaw-dropping jumps and tricky bumps in certain sections were the characteristics of the first of two back-to-back Grands Prix in Britain and France in the coming week.
Desalle was unlucky in the first moto. The ‘#25’ launched brightly and had a comfortable lead of over five seconds when the race was red-flagged due to a crash by Davide Guarneri which meant that the Italian needed medical attention trackside. With fourteen minutes and two laps remaining in the distance of thirty, the riders took to the start gate again for a full res-start. On this occasion Antonio Cairoli was able to break free with the holeshot and Desalle struggled in the first section of the sprint to pass Shaun Simpson for second spot. Once through the Belgian worked on the gap to the world champion but also had Max Nagl in close company.
Having pushed hard for a moto and a half Desalle and the rest of the team set about recovering and preparing for the decisive second official outing. This time the Suzuki man again got away from the gate well and again hard to push Simpson for the lead. He made his move on lap four and fronted the pack for the middle stint of the moto but was unable to do anything about the speed of Frenchman Romain Febvre. Cairoli was shadowing in the final laps but Desalle held firm for a final scorecard of 2-2 for second.
Also on the RM-Z450 was Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe’s Glenn Coldenhoff. The Dutchman qualified down in eighteenth on Saturday and didn't have the best feeling through the fast curves. In the first moto and the restart the MXGP rookie could not count on good starts and found himself fighting for slots in the second half of the field. He circulated with Jose Butron and Alessandro Lupino and finally jumped past the chequered flag with sixteenth. In the ‘third’ moto the 24 year old improved to fourteenth but still suffered with arm-pump. Glenn rested with fifteenth overall on the day.
Team-mate Kevin Strijbos is expected to make a decision on his participation in France next weekend in the coming days and the call depends on the state of his thumb. The hand injury proved too painful for him to travel to the UK to compete.
Thanks to his 44 points and sixth podium finish from seven Desalle keeps 291 in the MXGP standings and looks at a gap of just 4 to Nagl in the top spot. Strijbos sits fifteenth despite having missed four rounds of the 2015 card so far. Coldenhoff is 12th and 12 points from the top 10.
Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MXGP barely have room to pause this week with the Grand Prix of France at Villars sout Ecot the scene of round eight near the Swiss border this coming weekend.
Clement Desalle:
“For sure I want to win soon! Two times second today and a bit of frustration. I will continue to work and train for that victory. It is a strange rule for the restart. If we have to do the moto again then it should be like American SX where they have a staggered start; maybe it is something they can improve for the future. For the top guys in a bad position then it was good but for those in first or second it meant a lot of work to do again. It was a bit of a shame. I struggled a little bit with some lines in the second moto. It was difficult to pass Shaun but he was making some good laps and I did my best. He was riding well. I think my lines were not so good at some points on the track and Romain passed me. I just did what I could today.”
Glenn Coldenhoff:
“My starts were definitely not good today. They didn't work out and I don't know why. We certainly need some start practice this week. I struggled all day with arm-pump and was just too tight. We tried to change something on the suspension and it worked out quite well but I didn't have the speed today. 16-14 is not where I want to be but I got some points, learnt something again and will try for better next week.”
MXGP Moto1: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 34:01.346; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:03.020; 3. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:04.067; 4. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:13.676; 5. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:16.369; 6. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:17.680; 7. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:19.284; 8. Tyla Rattray (RSA, Kawasaki), +0:34.863; 9. Todd Waters (AUS, Husqvarna), +0:38.855; 16. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Suzuki), +1:08.185;
MXGP Moto2: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), 34:18.842; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:02.087; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:09.664; 4. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:13.390; 5. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:23.149; 6. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:27.787; 7. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:30.814; 8. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:39.725; 9. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:41.970; 10. Steven Frossard (FRA, KTM), +0:43.350; 14. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Suzuki), +0:58.753;
MXGP Overall result: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 45 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, SUZ), 44 p.; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 39 p.; 4. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 36 p.; 5. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 36 p.; 6. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 31 p.; 7. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HON), 29 p.; 8. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 23 p.; 9. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 23 p.; 10. Tyla Rattray (RSA, KAW), 23 p.; 15. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, SUZ), 12 p.;
MXGP World Championship standings (after 7 rounds of 18): 1. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 295 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, SUZ), 291 p.; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 274 p.; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HON), 237 p.; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 235 p.; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 207 p.; 7. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 145 p.; 8. Ryan Villopoto (USA, KAW), 124 p.; 9. Todd Waters (AUS, HUS), 121 p.; 10. Tyla Rattray (RSA, KAW), 118 p.; 11. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 107 p.; 12. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, SUZ), 106 p.; 15. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 78 p.
