Belgian rider Clement Desalle (Rockstar Energy Suzuki) kept his slim MX1 World Championship hopes alive with victory in Sunday’s Czech Grand Prix.
Desalle arrived at the Loket track without a win since June’s Portuguese GP, whilst points leader Antonio Cairoli had scored three wins to open up a commanding advantage atop the standings.
Little looked set to change as Cairoli scored a comfortable victory in the first moto, beating Desalle across the line by five seconds. Portuguese rider Rui Goncalves (Honda) was third.
But the second run saw Cairoli make an uncharacteristically bad start, allowing Desalle to take control of the moto. He scored the win from the impressive Tanel Leok (TM Racing), who had headed the field early on but eventually bowed to the superior Belgian. Desalle thus took the overall triumph with Cairoli – who could only fight his way back to P4 – second.
Goncalves took third again in the second moto to secure his maiden MX1 podium. The Honda man had looked nailed on to achieve the result at the previous weekend’s Belgian event only for a last lap mechanical failure to drop him down the order.
Desalle’s win sees him close the gap to Cairoli – albeit by just four points – to now sit 48 in arrears of the Italian. Steve Frossard, who placed a disappointing eighth at Loket, maintains third.
Just three events remain on the 2011 calendar, with the next coming on August 21 as MX1 travels to Winchester for the Grand Prix of Great Britain.
MX1 Race 1 top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 40:32.283; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:05.506; 3. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +0:06.272; 4. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:07.172; 5. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), +0:08.098; 6. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:11.839; 7. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), +0:13.689; 8. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:30.589; 9. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Kawasaki), +0:35.142; 10. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Honda), +0:56.943;
MX1 Race 2 top ten: 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 40:06.261; 2. Tanel Leok (EST, TM), +0:03.847; 3. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +0:05.500; 4. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:07.409; 5. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:08.391; 6. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), +0:10.341; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:19.581; 8. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:21.471; 9. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), +0:48.590; 10. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Kawasaki), +0:54.398;
MX1 Overall top ten: 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 47 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 43 p.; 3. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 40 p.; 4. Tanel Leok (EST, TM), 31 p.; 5. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 29 p.; 6. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 28 p.; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 27 p.; 8. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), 25 p.; 9. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 24 p.; 10. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Kawasaki), 21 p.;
MX1 Championship top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 509 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 461 p.; 3. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), 428 p.; 4. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 387 p.; 5. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 378 p.; 6. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 349 p.; 7. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 308 p.; 8. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), 268 p.; 9. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 262 p.; 10. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Kawasaki), 254 p.;
Watch the MX1 World Championship on Motors TV
James Weeks
International
