Clément's new ride!

Photo: CDS

Well actually Clément's new ride is fashionably retro! For the Everts and Friends charity race in Genk last weekend -by the way an awesome fun event, make sure to be there next year- the 'MX-Panda' showed up with a restored CR500. It took some people a while to realize Clément was not racing his trusty LS Motors-Honda CRF450R, the performance of the old bike was still pretty good and Desalle was throwing whips all day long to entertain the crowd. Long live the two-stroke!

Clément wins the Keiheuvel, Dennis out!

Photo: CDS

LS Motors-Honda rider Clément Desalle was again in a league of his own on Saturday, during the fourth round of the Belgian motocross championship in Balen. The classic, demanding Keiheuvel event provided all the ingredients that have build his reputation: a demanding and technical sand track, a near 10.000 strong crowd, an incredible star-filled lineup and great weather!

Clément won the first two heats and had to settle for fourth in the final moto after crashing out of the lead. It was also the first time ever a french speaking Belgian has won the main event in the long history of the 'Keiheuvel'! To add the icing on the cake our 'MX panda' -as expected- will defend the national colours at the MX of Nations in Franciacorta.

Just days ahead of the event Dennis Verbruggen went down in practice and injured his arm. LS motors-Honda's MX2 contender hopes to be back for Lierop...

Clément Desalle: ”It was a bit of a shame to crash in the last heat, otherwise it would have been a perfect three out of three just like in Nismes. I felt good, but I knew right away that the Keiheuvel would suit me. Things turned out in my favour in the title race as well. I’m now leading with six points more than De Dycker. Besides that I have my mind set on the last two rounds of the Belgian championship in Wallonia as well. I really want to win there!”

Feels nice to win!

Photo: Ray Archer, Artwork: Honda

You can't beat the feeling of victory! Honda produced another victory ad for LS Motors-Honda rider Clément Desalle. Note the Belgium inspired riding gear is wearing on the picture. On Saturday MXoN team manager Joël Smets will announce his team! Except for Desalle, Dennis Verbruggens is also in the pre-selection. We keep our fingers crossed.

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!

Loket here we come!

Photo: Ray Archer

Natural layout, serious drops and climbs, slippery surface, pretty girls and the touristic town of Karlovy Vary (Grandhotel Pupp was the setting for one of the scenes in James Bond's Casino Royale film) near by. The GP of the Czech Republic in Loket means many different things to different people! For the riders the change after Lommel couldn't be any bigger. The hard pack track with its long straight asks for excellent throttle control and the ability to find new lines. Coming back after a bad start can be very hard indeed and close racing is more rule than exception. Probably the closest was the second MX2 race in 2007 when Aubin beat Cairoli by just 0,4 seconds.

Both LS Motors-Honda riders enter the Loket event in high spirits. Desalle and Verbruggen currently race at their best, so a good points haul should be in reach for both! The last Honda rider to win the Czech GP was Mickael Pichon in 2004, maybe the 'MX panda' can write history once more this weekend!

TIMETABLE

Saturday: MX2 Free Practice 10:00-10:40; MX1 Free Practice 10:50-11:30; MX2 Pre Qualifying Practice 13:30-14:10; MX1 Pre Qualifying Practice 14:30-15:10; MX2 Qualifying Race 16:00; MX1 Qualifying Race 17:00.

Sunday: MX2 Warm Up 9:15-9:35; MX1 Warm Up 9:45-10:05; MX2 Grand Prix Race 1 12:10; MX1 Grand Prix Race 1 13:10; MX2 Grand Prix Race 2 15:03; MX1 Grand Prix Race 2 16:03.

Check the Sunday races live on: www.freecaster.tv

LS Motors-Honda waves goodbye to Desalle

Photo: CDS

Belgian star Clément Desalle, currently fifth in the MX1 World Championship, and his team LS Motors-Honda have mutually agreed to end their relationship at the end of this season. In spite of a two-year contract that saw Desalle racing for LS Motors-Honda until the end of 2010 the rider will be released before.

The partnership between the leading privateer outfit and the ‘MX Panda’ has proven massively successful so far. From an 11th overall placing in 2008 Clément went on to guide his CRF450R to one heat win, four podiums and two pole positions in GP racing so far. The LS Motors-Honda rider is still fighting for the title in his domestic series as well and he’s also a favourite to be picked for the Belgian MX of Nations team.

Clément Desalle, rider LS Motors-Honda: ”I have to thank Steven and the LS Motors-Honda team for their trust and support. They have worked hard to provide me with the best possible equipment and create good conditions. On a personal level there is always been a good understanding between us and this has resulted in great results on the track. You will hear more about my future team and program in the next few days.”

Steven Lettani, team manager LS Motors-Honda: ”Of course we are sorry to see Desalle go, but unfortunately we

couldn’t offer him the long-term career options that he is looking for. Nor could Honda. I’m convinced that Desalle from his side will go on to do amazing things. As we will from our side for the years to come. But first let’s continue to kick ass together!”

Marnicq Bervoets, sports manager LS Motors-Honda: ”First of all I want to thank Clément and his family for their

professionalism and enthusiasm. They were a joy to be working with. It’s clear that the combination between Clément, the bike and the team gelled really well. Probably because we have so much in common: as a team LS Motor-Honda is young and hungry as well. We maintain a no-nonsense professionalism and give everything we got. That’s a part of the ’MX Panda’ style that will stay with us, so next year Clément will be gone but not forgotten!”

Crusty podiums in Lommel!

Photo: Ray Archer

LS Motors Honda rider Dennis Verbruggen (22) took his first ever GP podium by finishing third in today’s GP of Limburg- Belgium in Lommel. A fifth and third place in the heats meant Verbruggen ended up on the third step of the podium behind Joël Roelants and Marvin Musquin.

As often Verbruggen experienced some problems during the opening stages of the first heat. Laying in 27th after the first lap, the sand specialist cut once again through the field. Lap after lap Verbruggen gained some valuable positions to finally finish fifth. In the second heat Verbruggen found himself fourteenth after lap one. “Crusty” would once again work his way up to the top 5, whilst duelling with KTM Factory Rider Rui Goncalves in the process. In the final stages “Crusty” got rid of Gonçalves, who wasn’t capable of keeping up with the Honda rider’s speed. In the very last lap “Crusty” even passed Nicolas Aubin to take third in the heat and third overall. Dennis Verbruggen his now 15th in the World MX2 standings, just 4 points off 13th placed Anthony Boissière.

Dennis Verbruggen “I’m really happy with this result, to take your first podium in front of your home crowd is unbelievable! However I don’t think this is just because I’m strong in the sand. My riding has consistently improved over the last few months and my fitness has never been better. So I think I can aim for a strong result in Loket as well. Today it was the battle of the fittest out there, especially the first race was hard with my bad start and the rain. I had to take off my goggles early on, but I kept on pushing. In the second race I was gaining ground on Musquin and Roelants, unfortunately I crashed and lost all the time that I had made up. That’s when I decided to settle for my podium finish.”

Heat 1: 1 Musquin, 2 Goncalves, 3 Roelants, 4 Van Horebeek, 5 Dennis Verbruggen (BEL-LS Motors Honda), 6 Roczen, 7 Guarneri, 8 Jorgensen, 9 Monni,

10 Larrieu / Heat 2: 1 Musquin, 2 Roelants, 3 Dennis Verbruggen (BEL-LS Motors Honda 4 Aubin, 5 Schiffer, 6 Roczen, 7 Jorgensen, 8 Goncalves,9 Guarneri, 10 Monni

GP of Limburg classification: 1 Musquin 50, 2 Roelants 42, 3 Dennis Verbruggen (BEL-LS Motors Honda) 36, 4 Goncalves 35, 5 Roczen 30, 6 Jorgensen

27, 7 Aubin 26, 8 Guarneri 26, 9 Monni 23, 10 Van Horebeek 23

MX2 World Championship standings: 1 Musquin 421, 2 Goncalves 383, 4 Paulin 372, 5 Guarneri 357, 6 Frossard 284, 6 Roczen 269, 7 Aubin 229, 8

Roelants 222, 9 Moni 222, 10 Boog 197, 15 Dennis Verbruggen (BEL-LS Motors Honda) 143

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

Desalle and Verbruggen strong in qualifying!

Photo: CDS

LS Motors-Honda enjoyed a great day of qualifying at its home GP in Lommel. Clément Desalle clearly recovered well from his Washougal AMA race last weekend. The 'MX Panda' won the race ahead of Ramon, Coppins and Nagl. It was also the second pole position of his career. Desalle said: "Of course, I am satisfied and it's important to win today, but tomorrow is even far more important! My start was good and still felt quite fresh because I didn't ride at all this week after coming back from the US. I have worked in the sand this winter, so I should also do well tomorrow."

In MX2 Dennis Verbruggen capped a strong race coming from behind -down in 16th place- off with a strong top five. The birthday boy, who celebrated his 22nd today, looked fast al day long. So Crusty might just be the MX2 surprise in his home GP!

MX1 Qualifying Race top ten: 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, LS Motors-Honda), 2. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 3. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 5. Tanel Leok (EST, Yamaha), 6. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Suzuki), 7. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Honda), 8. Manuel Priem (BEL, Aprilia), 9. Matteo Bonini (ITA, KTM), 10. Gareth Swanepoel (RSA, Kawasaki)

MX2 Qualifying Race top ten: 1. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 2. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Yamaha), 3. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), 4. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), 5. Dennis Verbruggen (BEL, LS Motors-Honda), 6. Nikolai Larsen (DEN, Suzuki), 7. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, Yamaha), 8. Loic Larrieu (FRA, Yamaha), 9. Manuel Monni (ITA, Yamaha), 10. Marcus Schiffer (GER, KTM)