Clément makes Brazilian dreams come true!

Photo: CDS

Clément Desalle (20) ended his sensational breakthrough season on a spectacular high note, similar to the Faenza podium that kickstarted his GP campaign with LS Motors-Honda! More than 20.000 spectators witnessed how the Belgian rode his CRF450 R to a moto win and a second. Not only was it the second GP win of the season for Clément, his Brazilian victory also secured a brilliant overall podium in the final standings of the FIM MX1 World Championship. After 15 GP’s Desalle actually landed just 17 points away from runner-up Max Nagl. The spectacular rider from Gouy-Lez-Piéton also collected an impressive tally of seven podiums...

Due to exceptional rainfall the format for the GP of Brazil was changed drastically with both practice and qualifying taking place on Sunday rather than Saturday. However the organizer’s decision turned out to be a masterstroke, because today weather conditions were sunny and the track improved as the day wore on. Desalle seemed to gel immediately with the supercross styled track and he was only denied pole by Cairoli who was just three tenths quicker. More proof of Desalle’s riding skills followed in the opening moto. From fourth in the start he made headway rapidly, passing Dereuver and Ramon on the opening lap. With only Nagl in front of him, Desalle started to produce one fast lap after the other. By half race distance the ‘MX Panda’ not only caught up with the German ace he passed him cool, calm and collected. The LS Motors-Honda thus scored his third moto win of the season.

Moto two might have turned out a carbon copy of the first for Desalle. If it hadn’t been for a weaker start and the extra ground to make up as a result. Although the leading privateer was yet again the fastest man on track. After three laps Clément was in third and another three laps down the line he passed De Dycker for second. However by that point the race leader Ramon had build himself a respactble margin and Desalle decided to settle for second. In the closing stages Clément expertly withstood Coppins‘ final push to finish the job.

Clément Desalle: ”I’m really pumped with my second GP win. Even more because it’s always special to win an overseas event and certainly in front of this big and passionate crowd here today! So capping of my season in third overall was just perfect. Today was also the birthday of my sister Cloé and I’m dedicating my victory to her, because she’s always been very supportive of my career.

It’s true that compared to other GP’s we had less time to familiarise with the track, but that didn’t matter to me. I had the idea before that the track would suit me and that turned out to be correct! In the second moto I tried to hunt down Steve (Ramon), but he was just too strong. Ramon was too far off and I need all my focus to stay on two wheels and defend my position from Coppins.”

Desalle writes history in Loket!

Photo: CDS

LS Motors-Honda rider Clément Desalle wrote history today in the Czech Republic. The talented Belgian youngster was in a league of his own on the tricky and slippery Loket track. Desalle rode his CRF 450R to second in the first moto and won the second moto. Not only was this a career first GP win for the 'MX Panda' it's also unique for the fact that only a selected few riders have succeeded in winning GP's without factory backing. Now, that's what we call privateer power. Congratulations Clément!

More to follow later.

Desalle takes third pole of the season!

Photo: Ray Archer

LS Motors Honda rider Clément Desalle took his third pole of the season this afternoon in Loket. The 20-year old Belgian collided with Max Nagl in the start but he recovered quickly from fifth to second on the hard pack track. The 'MX Panda' was consistently the fastest man out and with four laps to go he passed Nagl for the lead. An impressive performance by Clément who won the Lovemytime award before in Ernée and Lommel.

Dennis Verbruggen was equally impressive in pre-qualifying practice posting the third time. Verbruggen was unlucky in the start, but bounced back from a low 36th first lap position to come home 13th. Clearly both riders feel comfortable so let's hope for more strong results tomorrow!

Bad luck for Clément at home GP

Photo: Ray Archer

Starting from pole position, whilst sporting a new outfit in his national colours, Clément Desalle took the holeshot. He held the lead for a couple of laps, then he battled with Ken De Dycker who proved too fast for Clément. However the LS Motors-Honda rider could hold off Steve Ramon to take second. The second heat would however turn into a bit of a nightmare for the fledgling young Belgian. Crashing in the first bend Desalle damaged his exhaust pipe. In true “Panda style” he made his way back from 27 th to 7th in just two laps. Soon he would find himself fifth, a place he would lose on the finish line to Manuel Priem. However, Desalle would loose a lot more places when he got docked a time penalty of one minute because of his damaged exhaust. That meant Desalle would be classified ninth and fifth overall. The time-penalty meant also he lost 4 points and his fourth place in the provisional World championship standings. Desalle now trails 4 points behind Ken De Dycker.

Clément Desalle ”I was happy with my pole position, still I knew Sunday was going to be something else. My new engine was working really well this weekend and it was great to get the holeshot in the first race. De Dycker was just a bit faster, but in the first place my goal was to be on the podium in my home GP. Unfortunately I went down in the first corner. I was able to come back quickly, although my exhaust was getting more and more damaged and I was loosing power. It’s a shame, but things like this happen. On the positive side, I was not feeling tired after my race in the US and my speed was good.”

Heat 1: 1 De Dycker (B-Suzuki), 2 Clément Desalle (B-LS Motors-Honda), 3 Ramon (BEL-Suzuki); 4 Coppins (NZ-Yamaha), 5 Cairoli (ITA-Yamaha), 5

Philippaerts (I-Yamaha), 6 Nagl (D-KTM), 7 Philipaerts (ITA-Yamaha), 8 T. Leok (EST-Yamaha), 9 Strijbos (BEL-Honda), 10 Priem (BEL-Aprilia)) / Heat 2: 1 Nagl, 2

Cairoli (ITA-Yamaha), 2 Nagl, 3, De Dycker, 4 Ramon, 5 Priem, 6 Leok T., 7 Coppins, 8 Swanepoel, 9 Clément Desalle (B-LS Motors-Honda), 10 Philipaerts

GP of Limburg classification: 1 De Dycker 47, 2 Nagl 40, 3 Cairoli 38 4 Ramon 38, 5 Clément Desalle (LS Motors-Honda) 34, 6 Coppins 32, 7 T. Leok

28, 8 Priem 27, 9 Philippaerts 25, 10 Terreblanche 14

MX1 World Championship standings; 1 Cairoli 466 2 Nagl 415, 3 Philippaerts 388, 4 De Dycker 383, 5 Clément Desalle (LS Motors-Honda) 379, 6 Coppins 375, 7 T. Leok 327, 8 Barragan 215, 9 Swanepoel 188, 10 A. Leok 167

MX Panda on the podium in Washougal!

Photo: Ray Archer

LS Motors-Honda rider Clément Desalle came ninth overall yesterday in what was his first race on American soil, in Washougal (Washington). However the twenty-year old Belgian made a huge impression on fans and media throughout the day. The ‘MX Panda’ posted a strong third time in qualifying behind series leader Chad Red and Andrew Short. Desalle backed his qualifying pace up in moto one with an excellent third place. Adding a career first AMA moto podium to his fast growing tally. The stage was set for a memorable second moto, but this time Desalle struggled with a bad start, a crash and technical woes. Still Clément kept on fighting in the sweltering heat to finish 25th.

Clément Desalle: ”To ride in the US for the first time was really a big thing for me so it was very cool to be on the podium! Racing in Washougal was a great experience, and the weather was very hot but I felt quite strong actually. Away from the bike it was also a little bit stressful and overall the result coud have been better. We had quite a lot of trouble with setting up the bike and I had some bad luck in the second moto. Still I wanted to continue after the crash I had, but I suffered some technical problems and couldn’t push like I wanted to. I know I can do more when I arrive better prepared.”

Moto 1: 1 Chad Reed (AUS-Suzuki), 2 Tommy Hahn (USA-Kawasaki), 3 Clément Desalle (B-LS Motors-Honda), 4 Matt Goerke (USA-Suzuki), 5 Josh Grant (USA-Yamaha), 6 Jake Moss (AUS-Honda), 7 Andrew Short (USA-Honda), 8 Jimmy Albertson (USA-Yamaha), 9 Justin Brayton (USA-KTM), 10 Jason Lawrence (USA-Yamaha) / Moto 2: 1 Chad Reed (AUS-Suzuki), 2 Josh Grant (USA-Yamaha), 3 Jason Lawrence (USA-Yamaha), 4 Michael Byrne (AUS-Suzuki), 5 Jarred Browne (USA-Suzuki), 6 Nick Wey (USA-Yamaha), 7 Davy Millsaps (USA-Honda), 8 Justin Brayton (USA-KTMi), 9 Ben LeMay (USA-Yamaha), 10 Jimmy Albertson (USA-Yamaha), 25 Clément Desalle (B-LS Motors-Honda),

Washougal overall: 1 Reed 50, 2 Grant 38, 3 Lawrence 31, 4 Brayton 25, 5 Byrne 25, 6 Albertson 24, 7 Wey 23, 8 Hahn 22 9 Clément Desalle (LS Motors-Honda) 20, 10 Tedesco 20

Clément off to the US

Photo: CDS

At 4 AM on Monday morning LS Motors-Honda team rider Clément Desalle has left his native Belgium for the US. Twenty-year old Desalle has been the MX1 sensation in Europe this season. He's currently fourth in the MX1 world championship and second in the Belgian Nationals. Desalle will compete in the eighth round of the 2009 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship. With the next GP on the 1st and 2nd of August in Lommel, 'MX Panda' was keen to get his first taste of racing in America and Washougal is the perfect occasion!

MX-Panda now fourth!

Photo: Ray Archer

One would almost forget that the weekend started off on the wrong foot for Desalle. He crashed early in Saturday’s qualifying race in the wavesection. TM’s Aigar Leok went down in front of Clément and it was too late to avoid him. Luckily ‘MX Panda’ managed to get going again, contrary to Leok himself. However his GP chances received a heavy blow because the LS Motors-Honda star had to continue with bent handlebars and only managed a miserable 21st position on the gate as a result.

Cool, calm and collected Desalle made the best of the situation powering his CRF450R skilllfully through the first corner, thus putting him near the front of the pack. Settling into third place Clément never looked back even when he came under serious pressure from Cairoli. The second moto saw a slightly less effective start, although Desalle took the fifth place before the end of the opening lap. The Ufo-sponsored rider remained close to Philippaerts (third) and De Dycker (fourth) for most of the race, but settled for fifth in the end.

Clément Desalle ”I’m glad I was able tot turn my chances around after a disastrous qualifying race! The track was not in a great shape either on Saturday, but conditions got better as the weekend went along. In general I’m quite happy with the GP, because I was able to climb up another spot in the championship. I was third in front of Cairoli in the first moto, but in the second race my start was not so good. I was staying close to De Dycker and Philippaerts. Then I had a small battle with De Dycker for fourth but then I lost contact again. I started making up ground on them onceagain but then I made a mistake and settled for my position.”

Heat 1: 1 Nagl (DUI-KTM), 2 De Dycker (B-Suzuki), 3 Clément Desalle (B-LS Motors-Honda), 4 Cairoli (ITA-Yamaha), 5 Philippaerts (I-Yamaha), 6 Coppins

(NZ-Yamaha), 7 T. Leok (EST-Yamaha), 8 Aranda (FRA-Kawasaki), 9 Swanepoel (RSA-Kawasaki), 10 Bryan Mackenzie (GBR-Honda) / Heat 2: 1 Cairoli (ITA-

Yamaha), 2 Nagl, 3 Philipaerts, 4 De Dycker, 5 Clément Desalle (B-LS Motors-Honda), 6 Leok T., 7 Coppins, 8 Vuillemin, 9 Swanepoel, 10 Bill

GP of Sweden classification: 1 Nagl 47, 2 Nagl 43, 3 De Dycker 40, 4 Philippaerts 36, 5 6 Clément Desalle (LS Motors-Honda) 36, 6 T. Leok 29, 7 Coppins 29, 8 Swanepeoel 24, 9 Bill 19, 10 Bryan Mackenzie 18

MX1 World Championship standings; 1 Cairoli 428, 2 Nagl 375, 3 Philippaerts 363, 4 Clément Desalle (LS Motors-Honda) 345, 5 Coppins 343, 6 De Dycker 338, 7 T. Leok 299, 8 Barragan 215, 9 Swanepoel 175, 10 A. Leok 167

Victory ad for Kegums win

Honda produced a victory ad to celebrate Clément Desalle's heat victory in the Latvian GP. Nice touch! Check the corporate Honda site here http://world.honda.com/WMX/2009/10latvia/ for more on our Baltic success.

PS A bit strange to see Cairoli being featured on the podium photo at thi above mentioned site! It's only when you open it that you see the Panda. Anyway, again congratulations Clément, let's push for the next milestone!

All at LS Motors-Honda

First ever heat win for Desalle and LS Motors-Honda!

Photo: CDS

Twenty-year old Clément Desalle continues to upset the MX1 pecking order. ‘MX Panda’ guided his CRF450R to

an impressive victory in the first moto of the Latvian GP on the sandy Kegums track! In the second outing Clément was making an equally strong impression on the more than 26.000 enthusiastic spectators. Unfortunately the LS Motors-Honda suffered a clutch problem when leading the race and settled for fifth thus safeguarding his second overall position. The fast Belgian wrote some personal history in the process not only by claiming his fourth podium of the season, runner-up is also a career best for him. Desalle remains fifth in the MX1 standings, with only 5 points less than Josh Coppins in fourth place and 19 points away from second placed Max Nagl. The GP of Latvia was won by Tony Cairoli, with Coppins in third. In the MX1 constructors classification Honda currently holds third largely thanks to Desalle and his LS Motors team.

Clément Desalle ”I’m really happy with second, and even more with my first heat win of course! This is a great reward for myself, the team and my family who have worked hard to get me here. My speed was good so it was not so hard to control the race after I had passed Nagl. When Cairoli came back there was some pressure for sure, but I managed to keep my lead and it all worked out! Again I felt strong in the second moto, but I had this problem with my clutch. I was a little disappointed because of that because otherwise I would have been second behind Tony (Cairoli) but as well know that’s part of the game when you’re racing. I gained some points on Nagl and Philippaerts in the championship so that’s another positive.”

Desalle is the prince of qualifying!

No matter how exciting the racing, final results and reputations more than anything are based on hard facts and numbers. Team managers and journalists do their share of number crunching to evaluate riders’ performances. Statistic buffs from their side can always find some ammunition for serious bench racing in the numbers itself. That’s also what we did with the following exercise.

Imagine that Saturday’s qualifying race was not merely there to pick the gate positions and entertain the crowd, but qualifying was rewarded with championship points as well! To keep things simple we applied the current GP points scoring system to the season’s MX1 qualifiers et voilà... You will see this table in jpeg above as well. It’s probably no surprise to see the dominant Tony Cairoli standing on top of this virtual classification. ‘Qualifying king’ Cairoli leads with 155 points. Whilst four riders are slipstreaming behind the Italian, only separated by a few points, it’s MX1 revelation Clément Desalle who holds the runner up spot for the moment. Of course there’s no actual value attached to these calculations yet it confirms the consistence of the 20-year old LS Motors-Honda rider. David Philippaerts and Josh Coppins are equal on points third, while Nagl is fifth.

Reaction Clément Desalle : “Now, there’s an interesting little fact: I’m virtually second in qualification standings! Seriously I like those qualifying races, it’s like a final rehearsal before the big day. It allows you to loosen up and mentally prepare for the GP. Sometimes you hear talks about the possibility of championship points being given for qualifying. I could be good idea, but in the end that’s something for the FIM and Youthstream to decide I

think.”

Desalle keeps the momentum going

Photo: CDS

Saturday’s qualifying race earned ‘MX Panda’ fifth on the start gate, but the CRF450R mounted rider couldn’t capitalize on his position come race day. First moto saw him starting outside of the top ten and history repeated itself in the second moto when Desall got boxed in. Still Desalle battled through the pack to catch up with the leading riders in both races. Unfortunately he just came up short of claiming his fourth overall podium of the season. In a do or die move in the ultimate metres of moto two Clément heroically tried to repass Coppins but crashed in the process. Desalle walked away unhurt, but suffered a painful wrist. Honda, severly hit by injuries, is currently third in the MX1 manufacturers standings largely thanks to the efforts of

Desalle.

Clément Desalle: ”This has been really a tough weekend! In spite of the modifications to the Talkessel it’s still challenging to overtake. My start in the first heat was pretty bad, but I climbed up from 12th to sixth. Half race dtistance I ran into some trouble with my goggles. For some silly reason the film got stuck so that affected my vision badly. Philippaerts passed me, but I was able to get in front Tanel Leok on the last lap. The second race was very similar to the first, where I didn’t have the best of starts but I could come back anyway. I was on Philippaerts rear wheel by the end of the moto, but Coppins repassed me right before the finish. It was unfortunate, but also a bit typical for this GP...”

LS Motors riders ready to head East

Photo: CDS

This weekend’s GP of Germany not only marks the ninth round of the 15-round FIM Motocross World Championship, Teutschenthal also marks the fifth round of the 7-round Women’s motocross World Championship. It’s the first race in a string of three events that sees the series traveling East, with Latvia and Sweden following back to back to the German Grand Prix. The fast and hard pack Talkessel track just outside Leipzig offers spectators excellent viewing conditions due to the many elevation changes and bowl-type layout. In contrast it’s reviewed with mixed emotions by the riders because it’s very fast and overtaking can be difficult.

Clément Desalle will be keen to get back on the podium in Teutschenthal, after what was a disappointing French GP for the young Belgian. Desalle was clearly one of the fastest riders in the MX1 class but he was only rewarded with fourth place, tied with Tanel Leok. Still Desalle managed to climb one spot in provisional standings, he’s currently fifth, only one point behind Josh Coppins and eleven points behind third placed Max Nagl. MX Panda continued to show great form this weekend at the Belgian championship race in Kester where he was runner-up behind De Dycker, but in front of GP stars Coppins, Leok and Cairoli.

Honda CRF250 R mounted Dennis Verbruggen will be on the hunt for a top ten result this weekend. His best result in Teutschenthal so far was 14th overall in 2007. “ The 21-year old has gradually improved since the start of the season. Dennis is regaining his speed and confidence after a troublesome kickoff, and shows a more than decent rhythm lately. Verbruggen says: “Sunny weather in Germany would be nice after all the mud we had in Kester last weekend! I’m quite happy with my riding for the moment, the bike works great and I’m happy with the support I received from the team when things weren’t going so well. I just need needs better starts to show what I’m capable of.”

LS Motors-Honda’s WMX rider Elien De Winter is lying eighth in the championship, although she’s having a difficult season after her preparation was severly hampered by injury. However De Winter showed flashes of her pace in Ernée and aims to continue her rise of performance in Germany. Elien posted her best result of the season last year at the Talkessel track coming home sixth and she knows the track well because the WMX ladies already visited Teutschenthal in 2007 and 2006 as well, making the German round one of the ‘classics’ of the series together with Uddevalla. De winter: “Actually most of the girls know the track well, so it’s going to be one where we fight on equal terms! The weather forecast for Saturay looks rainy, but I’m not too bothered because most of the time we have to ride on a watered track anyway. I quite like the track, but getting a strong start will be very important.”

On Saturday night De Winter will be one of the guests of the Freecaster.tv pre-race show presented by Stefan Everts and the lovely Lisa Leyland.

First pole position for Desalle

Photo: CDS

Today, Saturday, LS Motors-Honda rider Clément Desalle raced to his first ever pole position of the season on Saturday when he convincingly won the Qualification Heat. Clément came first ahead of Max Nagl and David Philippaerts. His dominant performance also allowed him to pick up a Lovemytime qualifying award.

MX2 rider Dennis Verbruggen qualified in 25th for tomorrow's race.

MX Panda podiums again!

Photo: CDS

LS Motors-Honda rider Clément Desalle took third in today’s GP of Great-Britain, the seventh race in the FIM MX1 world Championship. More than 35.000 people witnessed how Desalle was one of the pace setters at the technical and demanding track filled with jumps. Unfortunately the 20-year old Belgian come up one point shy off Germany’s Max Nagl, while world champ Philippaerts won the GP. However ‘Panda’ is gaining momentum in world standings closing in on both fifth placed De Dycker and fourth placed Josh Coppins, rescpectively four and five points away.

Desalle clearly felt comfortable in the UK, in spite of the elevated temperatures, many ruts and bumps the Mallory Park venue had in store. Clément’s Saturday performance in qualifying was just a sign of things to come, because he bounced back twice from crashes but managed to come home sixth. Desalle saw his first heat efforts rewarded with second place, climbing up from sixth and finishing 3.5 seconds behind Philippaerts. Again Desalle climbed up from sixth to third in the second moto but a crash set him back to where he started. However Desalle managed an impressive comeback guiding his CRF 450R ahead of Coppins, Pichon and Mackenzie, only second placed Philippaerts remained out of range.

Clément Desalle: "Finishing second only one point behind Nagl was quite disappointing! Especially because my speed was so good. It’s a shame about the mistake I made in the second moto because I’m sure there was more to come. On the other hand, I’m happy with my championship standings and closing in on De Dycker, Coppins and Barragan."

Clément has made another fan!

Photo: CDS

Today was the media day for the press just days ahead of the first round of the Belgian motocross championship. Of Course Clément -being one of the main men in his domestic series- was present as well. On the pic RTBF TV journalist Gérald Wery is having an animated conversation with 'Panda'.

It will actually be the first time for Desalle to contest the complete series (six races). As a youngster he mainly raced in France and as a professional he rode in Germany were he claimed the runner-up title last season behind Max Nagl. Our MX2 rider Dennis Verbruggen will race the open class as well. Both guys are looking strong for the moment so Beervelde, the first race, should be interesting!