Clement Desalle_Top Three

Clement Desalle has well and truly returned to the top of his game. The 20 times Grand Prix winner, who sits in third place in the MXGP points standings has been a model of consistency this year. Scoring three top three finishes in races, and claimed 3^rd, 3^rd and 6^th in the first three GPs of the season.

In Argentina a couple of weeks ago, the Belgian strongman had to survive after feeling uncomfortable on the fast circuit. Riding with care, he still managed to score a lot of points, and remain inside the top three in the series.

“My qualifying race was not easy as there was a crash at the start just in front of me and I had no place to go! I didn’t crash but I lost too much time, then during the race I made one mistake and finished fourteenth. My start in the first race was pretty good; I was third or fourth throughout the race and eventually finished third; it was a good race. The track changed a lot between the two races and, even though I got a very good start, I struggled with the track. I was second at the first corner and took over the lead at turn two to lead the race for several laps but I didn’t feel confident and I took the decision to ride safe to finish the race.”

At the second round of the series in Indonesia, the Kawasaki factory rider fought through the rain and mud to claim a podium place, but he was anything but excited about the weekend.

“Those were not normal conditions. I made the podium, but there is not too much to say. The start was so important and then everybody was just trying to get around. One place on the track was really bad and in the last three-four laps you just hoped that you would get through it. The whole situation was on the limit.”

At the opening round in Qatar he surprised a lot of people as he swept back to his old self. Claiming a top three overall, and proving that the veteran wasn’t finished just yet.

“It is really good to start the year on the podium. I was not happy with how things were going on Friday. It was hard to pass, it was not easy riding out there and I wasn’t pleased! It was much better on Saturday. I had a good feeling on the bike and that is very important for me and I had some good starts. I changed my mentality a little bit but so much depends on how and where you are after the second corner! Eventually I could make a difference.”

Now onto Mexico, where Desalle will try and find that top step on the podium and add this to his already impressive list of GP victories.

Author:

Geoff Meyer