Just two weeks after getting back aboard his Rockstar Energy Suzuki RM-Z450, Clement Desalle showed incredible form to win Sunday‰Ûªs gruelling Ronde des Sables race in France as fellow Suzuki-man Steve Ramon also raced to the podium with third position.
Desalle entered the race as part of his preparation for the 2015 MXGP season; and his first race after a broken scaphoid ended his 2014 championship bid and required surgery and three-months of recuperation.
Held at Loon-Plage, the event is one of the first real tests in preparation for the legendary Le Touquet Beach Race due to its similarities in the race format, deep sand, two pit-stops and two-and-a-half hours of racing.
‰ÛÏIt's the first time I‰Ûªve done a long distance race like this and it wasn‰Ûªt so easy." Desalle admitted. "I felt good and rode as hard as I could in the first two hours, but that last half-hour was really difficult. I started to feel every muscle in my body and had pain everywhere.
‰ÛÏOur first pit-stop was a bit early, we had a rough idea how long we could do, but as we had a slightly-smaller fuel tank than the others we decided to come in after 40 minutes.
"After that it was clear that we could do a lot longer on each tank of fuel and keep it down to two stops. It was a good experience, my wrist hurts a bit but so does everything else, so I think it's normal!‰Û
