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MXGP, Teutschenthal, GERMANY, 20 Május 2018

A splendid recovery by Clement Desalle in Germany

Clement Desalle of the Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team maintained third place in the FIM MXGP World Motocross Championship series with a hard-fought fourth place at Teutschenthal in Germany.

Unfortunate incidents during qualification had left Clement with only twenty-first choice of start gate in the two points-scoring races but, calling on his iron resolve and the power of the Kawasaki KX450F-SR, the twenty-nine year old Belgian stormed to top six starts in each moto and fought two dramatic race-long battles with the defending world champion, defying his every move to finish fifth in the first moto and fourth in the second to secure fourth overall in the GP. The result has confirmed his third place in the championship standings after eight rounds of the twenty GP series.
 
­Clement Desalle: “Yesterday I had a bad qualifying race as I crashed in the second corner, and then again later in the race to finish only twenty-first. We know that the position at the gate is really important here, and I must admit that I didn’t slept so well last night as I tried to find a solution. Finally, I got two good starts to finish the races fifth and fourth. It was a similar scenario in both races; I was between sixth and seventh in the first few corners and pushed straight away to advance to fifth and fourth in the races, defending my position in each race against Cairoli. It was very important to stay on two wheels here."
 
KRT teammate Julien Lieber also rode an excellent first moto to hold eighth place throughout and looked set to repeat the scoreline in the second race until another rider lost control and cannoned into the young Belgian. Rejoining the race in twenty-fourth position he had recovered to nineteenth by the chequered flag. He retains tenth place in the championship standings.
 
Alessandro Lupino and Maxime Desprey of Gebben Van Venrooy Kawasaki Racing again showed their speed and consistency to post strong scoreline in each moto. The Italian finished thirteenth and eleventh for eleventh overall in the GP, while the Frenchman completed the races sixteenth and fourteenth. Tommy Searle of Bike It DRT Kawasaki made a tentative return to GP racing after an absence with a broken collarbone and also scored points in both motos.