MX Panda consistent in Istanbul

Photo: CDS

Two ninth places in the heats meant an eighth place overall in the Turkish GP. Desalle was quick out of the gate but crashed on the opening lap. From nineteenth he worked his way up to eighth, passing established riders like De Reuver, McKenzie and Vuillemin in the process. While doing so Desalle posted the fastest lap times. In the final laps however Clément couldn’t withstand the pressure from Coppins and had to settle for ninth. After another excellent start Clément lost a couple of places. He would again end the heat as ninth. Italian Antonio Cairoli won the GP ahead of Steve Ramon and David Philippaerts. In the World MX1 points standings Desalle is now ninth. The LS Motors-Honda rider is not only the sole private entered rider in the top 10 but also the youngest.

Going to unchartered MX territory in Turkey

Photo: Ray Archer

This Easter weekend the World MX Championship goes to Turkey for the very first time. Turkey may be unchartered territory when it comes to motocross, motorcycling on the whole has definitely become popular after Ten Kate Honda’s Kenan Sofuoglu took the World Supersport crown in 2007 and hosting MotoGP racrs from 2005 to 2007. For the motocross riders however the journey to Turkey will add some exotic flavor because no one knows what

to expect. LS Motorsport-Honda’s sporting manager Marnicq Bervoets looks ahead to this weekend’s racing and analyses Clément Desalle’s previous GP.

On Desalle’s crashes in Bulgaria: “I think Clément was a bit too confident going into the races on Sunday. In the first few laps he was a bit too wild, taking some unnecessary risks. He crashed twice and was forced to make his way through the pack in order to clinch tenth. An effort in which he had to dig deep and robbed him from vital energy in the second moto. Add to that the first real heat of the season, always a massive impact someone coming from

a moderate climate., and you know the reasons for a not so good second moto. Still Clément is only 19 and you can’t expect him to be on the podium of every GP. But he is definitely a fighter and will continue to make progress in the months to come.”

Racing in Turkey: “We know very little about the track, apart from the fact that it’s located on an airport site close to a lake, west of Istanbul. Being located so far from Belgium, it makes it a bit of an overseas GP. And they’re always a bit of an expedition really. But that’s part of the World championship and adds about of ’s charm to it. Besides, we will have our truck there, which we don’t have overseas. It’s clear to see that the Turks are ambitious about

this GP. The biggest Turkish oil company launched the GP through a massive ad campaign in each of its 3.300 petrol stations.”

Coming to grips with a brand new track: “Nobody of the GP regulars knows the track. But quick learners will

definitely have an advantage. For some riders it takes two or three GP’s before they are competitive on a particular track. That’s definitely not the case with Clément who doesn’t needs tons of practice in order to learn a track. When we debrief after free practice I’ll point out the parts on the track were he might struggle. But most of the time he knows already where he lacks speed and where he is fast. Being able to analyse your own performance like that is key to progress for a young rider.”