Login | Password dimenticata? | Registrati

MX Grand Prix of Germany, Desalle fights through to 6th

In Offroad

23 giugno 2009

The Grand Prix of Germany at the Talkessel circuit in Teutschenthal saw Antonio Cairoli win the ninth round of fifteen in the FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship. LS Honda’s Clement Desalle was the highest placed Honda CRF450R rider with sixth overall.

The Belgian negotiated the fast and rough German terrain with the undulations of the old track providing a tough test for suspension set-up and tyre choice. Desalle recovered from two average starts to battle for positions in the top five and in front of a mammoth 35,000-plus crowd. He took fifth in the first moto and just lost out on a similar result in the second outing after a mistake a few corners before the chequered flag. The youngster drilled his machine through the final turn to try and overtake Josh Coppins at the last possible moment (and actually crashed on the landing of the finish-line jump) and was just 100th of a second from a repeat fifth place.

The German event represented the third and last appearance by Mickael Pichon for Martin Honda. The 33 year old Frenchman had taken sixth, seventh and posted an eighth position at Talkessel in his three race return for the Italian squad. The former 250cc world champion struggled with some arm-pump as a consequence of a slight wrist complaint in Moto1 and was ninth at the flag. He was more relaxed in Moto2 and consequently faster racing to take eighth.

Martin Honda will not have a representative in Latvia next week but are expected to complete the Grand Prix of Sweden in two weeks time with another rider in place. The injured Kevin Strijbos, Martin Hondas contracted rider, will begin to practice in the next two weeks and will spend all of July getting into race-shape for his home meeting at Lommel, Belgium on August 2nd.

CAS Honda’s Billy Mackenzie had to withdraw from the Grand Prix after attempting the opening few laps of the first race. The Scot, competing with a ruptured thumb ligament and with pain-killing injections could not control the bike effectively on the steep down-hills and through the deep ruts. After pulling into the pits the team and rider made the decision to stop and undergo surgery to fix the problem and the British champion is expected to miss the next two-three Grand Prix. Mackenzie’s cousin, Bryan, took the other CAS machine to 23rd with two points in the first moto.

Desalle now has 268 points in the MX1 standings, 25 less than Max Nagl in third place but with a 16 advantage over Tanel Leok inseventh.

Round ten of fifteen will take place next weekend at Kegums in Latvia.

Clement Desalle, LS Honda:
“The track was really difficult and the terrain was quite strange. My first start was not so good and I was in the top ten. I came back slowly to fifth. In the second heat the start was better and I was fighting with Coppins, Philippaerts and Leok. On the last lap I was close with Philippaerts and Coppins, we were in the same second, and I made a small mistake before the finish that lost me a top five result. I really went for it on the last corner and thought I could pass Coppins. I was full gas and that made me crash on the landing past the finish line. I am not so happy but will hope for better next time.”

Mickael Pichon, Martin Honda:
“It was a good race but I had a problem with my wrist. I twisted it last week and had some pain. I thought I had broken a ligament actually but it turned out to be OK for riding this weekend. The track was tough. I had some arm-pump in the first moto after four or five laps so I had to slow down as I was making big mistakes. Towards the end I felt a bit better and made my best lap, which wasn’t far from the top guys. In the second race I missed my start a little bit but came back. I tried to push hard and I am happy because although I was not in the top positions I stayed close to the fast guys like Philippaerts, Coppins, Desalle and Leok. So, overall six motos and no DNFs, between 25-30 points every weekend; of course it could be better but after not so much training it is OK. The bike is great and I had a good time with everybody in the team. I gave the best I could in each session and had a lot of fun.”

Pagina 1 di 3