Dennis in Turbo diesel mode

Photo: Ray Archer

Seventh in pre-qualifying practice was just another confirmation: Dennis Verbruggen is getting back to where he belongs. The 21-year old showed strong pace again in the qualification race putting him in tenth behind the gate. A determined Verbruggen added a 20-points bonus to his championship tally on Sunday. However things might have been more impressive for Marnicq Bervoets’ protegé had he not missed his start twice. Not unlike Kegums last week ‘Crusty’ was again ripping through the field trading his 30+ opening positions for eleventh in both motos. The Grobbendonk-born Belgian is 16th and only 22 points behind number 13 Anthony Boissiere, Catalunya’s moto one winner. Goncalves won the GP, teenage sensation Roczen was second before France’s Paulin.

Dennis Verbruggen: “The first 180° corner offers some possibilities to make up ground in the start. So twice I tried to slice around the outside, but clearly it wasn’t meant to be! As a consequence I had to hunt from behind in every moto. I think I did a pretty good job with my comebacks getting eleventh in the end. Things could have been a lot worse, because I was a bit scared about the state the track would be after levelling works on Saturday. Luckily there were still plenty of lines to overtake. I’m happy with my riding for the moment and I know there’s more to come. In the meanwhile I will keep on giving it my best shot. I’m 16th now, but I now I can claim back another few places in the coming GP’s ! Between now and Lommel we are going to do some work on the gearbox to dial in the bike for the start. I’m absolutely convinced we can solve that problem as well.”

Heat 1: 1 Roczen (GER-Suzuki), 2 Goncalves (POR-KTM), 3 Frossard (FRA-Kawasaki), 4 Monni (Ita-Yamaha), 5 Roelants (BEL-KTM), 6 Guarneri (ITA-Yamaha), 7 Paulin (FRA-Kawasaki), 8 Karro (LAT-Suzuki), 9 Nicholls (GBR-KTM),10 Triest (BEL-KTM), 11 Dennis Verbruggen (BEL-LS Motors Honda) / Heat 2: 1 Goncalves (POR-KTM), 2 Paulin (FRA-Kawasaki), 3 Guarneri (ITA-Yamaha), 4 Roelants (BEL-KTM), 5 Monni (Ita-Yamaha), 6 Bobryshev (RUS-Yamaha), 7 Roczen

(GER-Suzuki), 8 Karro (LAT-Suzuki), 9 Schiffer (GE-KTM), 10 Nicholls (IGBR-KTM), 11 Dennis Verbruggen (BEL-LS Motors Honda)

GP of Sweden classification: 1 Goncalves 47, 2 Roczen 39, 3 Paulin 36, 4 Guarneri 35, 5 Roelants 34, 6 Monni 34, 7 Karro 26, 8 Nicholls 23, 9 Bobryshev 22, 10 Schiffer 24, 11 Dennis Verbruggen (BEL-LS Motors Honda) 20

MX2 World Championship standings: 1 Musquin 371, 2 Paulin 358, 3 Goncalves 348, 4 Guarneri 331, 5 Frossard 284, 6 Roczen 239, 7 Aubin 203, 8 Monni 199, 9 Boog 197, 10 Roelants 180, 16 Dennis Verbruggen (BEL-LS Motors Honda) 107

Elien De Winter remains ninth

Photo: Ray Archer

The Swedish was the penultimate round in the WMX series. Replicating her MX2 team mate Dennis Verbruggen, De Winter finished the GP in eleventh on her CRF250 R. However Elien had few reasons to be overwhelmed with joy because she produced a great start in every moto. Regrettably she failed to make the best of those starts. In the championship standings she remains the best Belgian and highest placed Honda lady. The GP was won by Steffi Laier in front of Maria Franke and the Irish Nathalie Kane scored her first ever career podium. The world’s fastest girls travel to Holland, Lierop at the end of August to compete in the final round of the championship.

Elien De Winter: “Looking back on Uddevalla I’m not really satisfied. In fact I pulled off my best starts of the weekend twice, getting out of the gate in third, but this weekend I lacked the confidence needed for a strong performance. At the start of the moto my times were pretty good, then they would drop and I bounced back by the end of the race again. That’s surely something that I need to work on. On top of that, I had a hard time to find the right rhythm on this track. I’m not looking for excuses, although I have to admit Uddevalla is not a track that I’m particularly fond off! The changing soil switching from sand to hard pack or gravel stone makes it pretty difficult to read. So in that respect it was good to get the GP of Sweden out of the way!”

Heat 1: 1 Steffi Laier (Ger-KTM), 2 Franke (Ger-Kaw), 3 Nathalie Kane (IRL-Suz), 4 Mann (SWE-KTM), 5 Larissa Papenmeier (Ger-Suz), 6 Marielle De Mol (NED- Yamaha), 7 8. Sara Petterson (SWE-KTM), 9 Chiara Fontanesi (ITA-Yamaha), 10 Brenda Wagemans (BEL-KTM), 11 Elien De Winter (BEL-LS Motors Honda) / Heat 2: 1 Steffi Laier (Ger-KTM), 2 Maria Franke (Ger-Kaw), 3 Kane (IRL-Suz), 4 Larissa Papenmeier (Ger-Suz), 5 Mann (SWE-KTM), 6 Marielle De Mol (NED- Yamaha), 7 Nicky Van Wordragen (Ned-KTM), 8 Borchers (Ger-Suzuki), 9 Sarah Whitmore (USA-KTM), 10 Marie Romlin (SWE-KTM), 11 Elien De Winter (BEL-LS Motors Honda)

GP of Sweden classification: 1 Laier 50, 2 Franke 44, 3 Kane 40, 4 Papenmeier 34, 5 Mann 34, 6 De Mol 30, 7 Romlin 25, 8 Whirmore 20, 9 Elien De Winter (BEL-LS Motors Honda) 20, 10 Fontanesi 20

WMX World Championship standings: 1 Steffi Laier (Ger-KTM) 261, 2 Papenmeier (Ger-Suz) 224, 3 Maria Franke (Ger-Kaw) 223, 4 Nathalie Kane (IRL-Suz) 194, 5 Elin Mann (SWE-KTM) 191, 6 Livia Lancelot (FR-Kaw) 185, 7 De Mol (NED-Yamaha) 145, 8 Veenstra (Ned-Suz) 140, 9 Elien De Winter (BEL-LS Motors Honda) 128, 10 Nicky Van Wordragen (NED-KTM) 104, 15. Ashley Fiolek (USA-LS Motors Honda) 80

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.”

Dennis ‘Crusty’ Verbruggen fights to seventh!

Photo: CDS

European championship success on the same track and his recent form provided Dennis Verbruggen with plenty of

confidence ahead of the Latvian GP. The sandy, fast terrain 40 kilomentres south-east of Riga certainly favoured his riding. Crusty posted the third time in Saturday’s pre-qualifying and finished ninth in the qualifying race. Grabbing his best start of the season Verbruggen created an excellent launch path for himself in the first moto. The CRF250R mounted rider ran as high as fifth, but lost a few places finally to come home eighth behind Italy’s Davide Guarneri.

Dennis had another good start but seemed to lack some aggression in the early stages of the second outing. However the 21- year old Belgian pulled himself together and quickly made headway recovering from 14th to 7th behind country man Joël Roelants. Verbruggen’s eighth and seventh culminated in a seventh place overall, making him the highest placed Honda rider of the event. He also replicated his team mate Desalle today in getting his best result of the season so far. The MX2 GP was won by the Portuguese ace Goncalves in forn of Frenchies Musquin and Paulin. Dennis Verbruggen is currntly 18th in MX2 standings, equal on points with Sword.

Dennis Verbruggen “I was feeling fine all weekend and long and finally I managed the top ten result that I have chasing for a while now. My start in the first moto was awesome and that allowed me to climb up to fifth. (grinning) Maybe that was even a notch above my own expectations, because suddenly I encountered a stress attack! I dropped back to eighth, but I was consuming quite a lot of energy as well since I was so tensed. Again I had a good jump from the gate in the second moto and I was about tenth. After that I think I rode a bit too conservatively and lost some places because of that. Still I knew how Physical Kegums can be and the warmth made it quite uncomfortable as well so conserving some energy played to my advantage later on. I was able to catch up and finish seventh.”

Mediocre German GP for Elien De Winter

Photo: CDS

The German GP has been a cornerstone for the women’s series for some time now. This time the home crowd had even more to cheer about with three German lasses (Laier, Papenmeier and Franke) capturing the podium! LS Motors-Honda rider Elien De Winter was not so happy in former East-Germany. The experienced WMX rider from Denderleuw, Belgium came home 12th overall after 10th and 12th place finishes. She drops one place in the world standings to ninth, seven points adrift from Marielle De Mol. De Winter an aspiring physiotherapist heads back to her books preparing for her upcoming exams, but she’ll be back on track in a fortnight for the sixth round of the WMX series in Uddevalla. In Sweden Elien will be joined by American guest rider Ashley Fiolek. Kickash is currently in great shape, having won all fourrounds of the WMA series in the US so far!

Elien De Winter “Practice went okay, but I couldn’t string together a fast lap in qualifying due to traffic. So tenth was not too bad, and we were all very close to each other anyway. I was only one second off from Chiara Fontanensi in sixth. My first race was no good at all. I reacted too slow at the gate and on top of that my first few laps were not very inspired either. Setting up a good rhythm was simply impossible, however things changed for the better on Sunday. Again I didn’t exactly have the snap when the gate dropped but still I dove into the corner around fifth place. I lost some ground in the opening stages, but at least my riding was better for the remaining laps.”

Dennis digs deep

Photo: CDS

A DNF in the qualifying race relegated Verbruggen to a disastrous 38th spot on the grid. However two impressive comeback rides earned the LS Motors-Honda rider 17 valuable championship points. Moreover no one gained more positions today than Crusty, making up 25 places in the second moto. The former European champ was 13th overall and is now 21st in standings, equal on points with fellow Honda rider Koungsith Vongsana.

Dennis Verbruggen: “I was a bit too forceful in the qualifier and went down twice. So that was it, I thought because I was dead last and was getting lapped after only four minutes and decided to concentrate on the races. My gate pick was horrifying so I had only one choice left: give it absolutely everything. I fought hard and got 12th and 13th. It wasn’t easy, that’s for sure, because I had to dig damn deep! Still I’m really thrilled because I’m getting close to my best shape and my riding is good as well. I was able to focus well and made hardly any mistake.”

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...”

Clément claims second in muddy Kester

Photo: CDS

In spite of its splendid natural surroundings the Kester track -close to Brussels- has rarely been blessed with good weather conditions. The 2009 edition was no exception for this former GP track. True to form LS Motors-Honda’s Clément Desalle wasn’t complaining and aimed for his first ever win in Kester. Over 6.000 race fans saw how ‘MX Panda’ animated the races together with Ken De Dycker, although it was the latter who won the overall. Clément won the opener and took two seconds. The CRF 450 mounted Belgian is now second on 127 points, trailing De Dycker by 13 points. New Zeland’s Josh Coppins was third, Tanel Leok fourth.

Dennis ‘Crusty’ Verbruggen (eighth in qualifying) only marked points in the last heat with a tenth place finish. However Verbruggen showed more than decent speed, and he’s currently the second MX2 mounted rider in the series behind Joël Roelants. LS Motors-Honda’s support rider Dennis Dierckx best result in Kester was tenth in heat 1. The third race of the championship takes place on July 19 in Nismes.

Clément Desalle: ”All in all I did all right, but I couldn’t be satisfied with my last heat where I made too many mistakes and crashed twice. In the end the gap with De Dycker was too big and I had to settle for second. A pity really, because I felt I was fast enough today to beat Ken. It seems that the championship will be between me and Ken so that’s going to be interesting. I’m really looking forward to the next race in Nismes, where I won last year.”

Solid result for Elien De Winter in France

Photo: CDS

Elien De Winter qualified in seventh on Saturday, showing some decent speed. However, she couldn’t reproduce that same pace during the races. The winter ended the heats in tenth and ninth which meant ninth overall. In the World championship standings Elien jumped from ninth to eight . The French GP was won by home favourite Livia Lancelot who took both heats. German rider Stefi Laier ended up second in front of another German rider Lasissa Papenmeier. In two weeks De Winter takes part in the fifth GP of the season in Teutschenthal (Germany).

Elien De Winter: “In the first heat I took a reasonable start, taking the first turn in sixth. But in the first lap I was already losing some places. Unbelievable really. During practice everything went smooth, but during the race things just didn’t pan out. That’s how I ended up tenth on Saturday. Today (Sunday) I had a good start. I hung in fourth when, just before, the first jump, I tangled with another rider. Luckily, I kept the bike upright. Besides that I had to give in during the last three laps, until then I had been in seventh.”

Hard-charging Desalle misses the podium

Photo: CDS

Clément Desalle dominated Saturday’s (dry) qualifying race in Ernée. However, the treacherous weather conditions on Sunday didn’t favour the young Belgian’s chances. But even in these difficult conditions 'MX-Panda' proved to be one of the best MX1 riders of the moment. In the fist heat he even finished fourth without goggles. In the second heat he would end up sixth despite three crashes. Desalle finished fourth, on equal points with Tanel Leok, in the overall of the GP. Clément is now fifth in the World MX1 classification, trailing only one point behind Josh Coppins. The GP was won by Max Nagl, who ended up second behind Desalle in Saturday’s qualifying race.

Clément Desalle: "I had a fairly good start in the first heat. But almost immediately I had a problem with my goggles and I had to throw them away. It was really tough to ride without goggles in rain and mud. I ended up fourth but I couldn’t be happy with that. I didn’t have a good start in race two, laying in 6th or 7th. Maybe I wanted too much and that meant that my back wheel just stepped out. I remounted rather quick and was able to pass Cairoli and Leok, but after that I slipped twice. That meant I had to come back from 13th. Finally I would finish sixth. Top five wasn’t too bad after all. But it feels like a bit of a missed opportunity. I really feel I could have done better."

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."

Another top ten for Elien

Photo: CDS

One week after Agueda in Portugal the Womens Motocross World Championship moved to yet another new location on their calendar : Bellpuig. The Catalan track would turn out to be a positive experience for Elien. Two ninth places and a good rythm confirmed the good streak of Belgium’s leading MX lady. De Winter took also ninth overall and remains ninth as well in the WMX point standings. Because of her American commitments Ashley Fiolek was not present in Spain. The next GP of the WMX championship is the French GP in Ernée on june 6-7.

Elien De Winter: "There was a huge difference with Portugal. Things went a lot better this weekend. I got a good

feeling right from practice. That feeling was confirmed in the qualifications. In the first heat I got a good start when I was third. I wanted to follow Laier and Papenmeier but lost the front in a corner. As a result of that my front brake lever got destroyed. I didn’t lose a lot of places because of the crash. But riding without a front brake was not easy and that’s how I ended in ninth.

In the second heat I had a real bad start and it took a while before I could find the right rhythm. After that my pace was ok. But I was behind American rider Sarah Whitmore for most of the heat. Even if I was quicker it was really difficult to pass her because there was only one line. That was a bit of a bummer, but I know now that I need to be more aggresive in the beginning of the heats. I’ll be working on that in the next few weeks."

Desalle sixth after Spain

Photo: CDS

After six rounds in the 2009 MX1 World Championship, Clement Desalle is the revelation of the season so far. Desalle is currently sixth in the point standings, a place he shares with Estonian Tanel Leok. Despite the blistering heat in Spain today, the LS Motors-Honda rider showed his potential once more with a brilliant second place in heat one behind former GP-winner Jonathan Barragan. In the second heat « Le Panda » seemed to be in the running for yet another podium finish. However he would miss the podium for just two points. In the GP-overall the 19 year-old ended up fourth on equal points with German rider Max Nagl. In two weeks time the British GP is the next round on the World Championship calendar.

Clément Desalle: "Things went decent, both yesterday and today. Despite that I couldn’t claim a real top result. That’s why I have mixed emotions about this GP. In heat one I started as sixth but was able to make my way up to second. But Barragan was way too strong and out of my reach. In the second heat I got away in around eight place. I was able to pass Cairoli and Barragan’s crash put me in fifth. However the track was really treacherous in some place and that’s why I played it safe in the remainder of the second heat."

Dennis Verbruggen continues to improve

Dennis surprised a lot of people by taking fourth behind Van Horebeek, Goncalves and Guarneri, aboard hisCRF250R during Saturday’s qualifying race. However he wasn’t able to repeat Saturday’s performance in the GP. Nevertheless, Verbruggen rode a decent first heat, ending in twelfth. In the second race, Crusty, would throw the towel after just two laps. The victory in the Spanish GP went to Verbruggen’s fellow countryman Jeremy Van Horebeek. Verbruggen is now 25th in the MX2 point standings.

Dennis Verbruggen: "I felt super after Saturday’s fourth place. So I started heat one with quite some expectations. I

had a reasonably start. After a slight dip, halfway through the race, I was able to come back strong and finish in 12th. My start in the second race was ok, but I got passed several times during the first few laps. After yesterday’s result that just demoralized me so much I called it quits. I know I shouldn’t have done that but at that moment I just couldn’t go through with it."

'Kickash' does it again!

Photo: CDS

WMA Champion Ashley Fiolek (18) steered her CRF 250R to a third place in today’s WMX GP of Portugal. The fast American was also third on Saturday. This not only meant that ‘KickAsh’ took her second consecutive podium but also that she was second in WMX standings, laying 14 points behind points leader Lancelot. However, this was Ashley’s last race for now because from now on she will focus on defending her American Women’s title. Elien De Winter will look back with mixed feelings on Agueda. After a severe injury Elien is gaining momentum but she clearly needs to rack up race miles to up her speed. Elien was 12th on Saturday and 10th on Sunday. In the WMX standings however she gained two spots jumping from 11th to 9th. Both LS Motors-Honda lasses served as camerawomen this weekend. Ashley rode some laps with an helmet camera as Elien put in some laps to show the track to the TV audience.

Ashley Fiolek: "On Saturday I missed my start but my riding was also lacking. It seemed like I was stuck in a rut. On Sunday it was a different story with deep ruts all over the track. But that’s how I like it! I clinched the holeshot and was able to attack more than during the first moto. It was good to be able to follow Lancelot’s pace in that second heat. On the other hand I’m a bit sad to say goodbye to the GP’s now that I’m second in the points standings. But I knew beforehand that my priority is defending my American title with Red Bull/Honda. Hopefully, some day I will be able to do the whole GP series. But I’m still young so I have plenty of time!"

Desalle shines in Portugal

Photo: CDS

Weekend after weekend Clément Desalle confirms himself as one of the future stars of the World MX1 class. After a first podium during the Italian GP in Faenza, the 19-year old LS Motors-Honda rider clinched his second podium today in Agueda. Two third places meant that Desalle found himself on the third step of the podium behind De Dycker and Cairoli. During Saturday’s qualification race « Le Panda » showed his speed by leading during most of the race. Finally he would cross the finish line in third behind Coppins and De Dycker.

In the World MX1 standings the CRF450 R mounted rider moved from 9th into 7th position. Desalle now closes in on reigning World champ Philippaerts who is in sixth and has 8 points more than him.

Clémént Desalle: "I am pretty pleased with this GP. (smiles) It’s always nice to be on the podium of course! The whole weekend went as I’d wanted. Before this GP my plan was to focus on my starts and putting in some consistent laps. That went well. In the first heat I worked my way up after a decent start. A few laps later I was in third and able to control. In the second heat I had an excellent start and was leading early on. I noticed that there was a problem with my throttle because it seemed to be reacting somewhat strange. So, I decided to play it safe. All in all, I had another decent race and finished third again. It would be nice if I could battle for a heat win and, why not a GP win. These are definitely my next goals."

You can relive the action here: http://freecaster.tv/mx/1007927/mx-gp-of-portugal-09-mx1-race-2-replay?page=11

Bad luck for Desalle in Tongeren

Photo: CDS

Cruising around is not exactly the style of Clément Desalle so you can imagine how gutted he was when he saw a possible victory slipping away because of damaged exhaust in the opening heat! However the LS Motors Honda posted some impressive results with a second and a third in a field with Ken De Dycker (the overall winner), Max Nagl (second), Tanel Leok and Jonathan Barragan.

Click here for a video of the event: http://vimeo.com/4730482

Another podium for Desalle

Photo: CDS
In spite of the usual stiff competition in the Belgian championship Clément Desalle rode to an excellent third place in Beervelde, the opening round of the series. Desalle was consistent all day long and finished two times fourth and one time second. The overall winner was Suzuki factory rider Ken De Dycker ahead of David Philippaerts. Desalle actually provided the more than 5.000 spectators with a great battle fighting Philippaerts for second in race two. Onther attending top GP riders were Kevin Strijbos, Marc De Reuver and Josh Coppins.

Amidst all those big guns Dennis Verbruggen did a great job as well. Crusty came eighth overall, making him the second MX2 rider behind Joël Roelants. The second round of the United Telecom Trophy is Kester on June 14.

Verbruggen and Desalle add to their points tally in Holland

Photo: CDS

Four GP’s into the series and Clément Desalle is not only ninth in the point standings but also the first Honda rider. Technical woes during Saturday’s qualifying race were the cause for Desalle’s last pick behind the gate. Nevertheless he rode two decent heats, once again. In the second heat he even set the fastest time. Spaniard Jonathan Barragan won the GP, in front of Antonio Cairoli and Tanel Leok.

Despite being handicapped by a difficult starting position Dennis Verbruggen proved his worth in Valkenswaard. In both heats the rider who hails from Grobbendonk worked his way up, to grab 11th in the overall standings. The former European Champion confirmed his good form of last week’s race in Mons. Portuguese rider Rui Goncalves won the MX2 overall in front of Simpson and Aubin.

Sports manager Marnicq Bervoets: “I was also pleasantly surprised by Dennis’ performances this weekend. He pulled through and proved that he is capable of doing a lot better then his results showed until now. This is definitely a boost to his morale, it should give hem the calm and confidence to keep on performing in the races to come. Clément set some very fast laps but in the last 15 minutes he was suffering physically. We don’t know what ‘s causing this, but it is definitely something we should look further into.

Podium for Fiolek!

The LS Motors-Honda girls started their season in style. American Women’s MX champion Ashley Fiolek grabbed another podium spot, her third podium from her five GP starts so far! Ashley finished 3rd in both races and left a very good impression. Fiolek took the holeshot in both moto’s and enjoyed held the leader spot for a couple of moments. On Saturday as well as on Sunday German Laier and reigning World champion Lancelot proved to be a bit faster. Lancelot won the GP in Sevlievo in front of Laier and Fiolek. However Ashley was the best American girl on Bulgarian soil with Tarah Gieger coming home ninth while Aubrianna Dunn unfortunately didn’t score any points.

Belgium’s Elien De Winter ended up 11dth in the overall standings. That was a surprisingly good result l given her injuries (Elien is on the mend after suffering a broken vertebra and a dislocated pelvis). In the first race on Saturday Elien finished in 8th. In the Sunday she had to ride through the pain barrier but clinched an honourable 13th position nevertheless. De Winter became 11th and first Belgian in the overall standings. Brenda Wagemans was 13rd and Morane de Barquin 24th.

Desalle top ten in Sevlievo

Photo: CDS

A decent tenth place was Clément Desalle’s final result for this season’s second GP. But the result could have been a lot better for the LS Motors-Honda rider. Nineteen-year old Desalle showed his potential by leading Saturday’s qualifying race for several laps. Finally he’d qualify in fourth. On Sunday a couple of mistakes would cost him dearly. The high rhythm meant passing was very difficult on the fast hard pack track. Clément is 8th in the current World MX1 standings. The GP of Bulgaria was won by Coppins in front of Barragan and De Dycker.