Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MXGP rider Clement Desalle raced to victory at the Valence pre-season International Motocross event in France overnight; the second of three international races the team will attend before the opening round of the World MXGP Championship at Qatar on February 28th.
Team-mate Kevin Strijbos and Desalle set the fastest lap-times aboard their factory RM-Z450s in Saturday's free practice, held under semi-dry conditions, but today‰Ûªs races were hit by constant rain that turned the circuit into a single-lined mudfest.
Strijbos took pole position in the morning with a super-quick lap that was almost three-seconds faster than Desalle‰Ûªs, but Desalle was the fastest out of the gate in the first heat; a race he convincingly won from start-to-finish from Strijbos.
In the second heat, Desalle rounded the first corner in third position, but moved forward when Frenchman Gautier Paulin (Honda) made a couple of errors; and then after Xavier Boog (Kawasaki) took an outside line, the 25-year-old Belgian took the lead and held it to the chequered flag.
‰ÛÏWith this weather and this track the starts were super important." Desalle stated.
"I got a real good start in the first heat and could lead from start-to-finish. The second race was a bit more difficult when I was in third position, but Paulin made some mistakes so I could get through, and that was basically the same with Boog, but it‰Ûªs good to win here for the fourth time!‰Û
