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MXGP, Pietra Murata, ITALY, 16 Aprile 2017

Clement Desalle sixth in Italy

Clement Desalle of the Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team retains third place in the FIM World MXGP Motocross Championship after taking sixth place at the GP of Trentino in northern Italy.

The Belgian was optimistic of maintaining his title challenge after joining a six rider breakaway in qualification on Saturday at the Pietramurata track, but it was already evident that the start would be vital and, although Clement started in the leading group in each GP moto on race day, he found himself maintaining station to finish fifth in each race. He was fifth throughout the first moto to finish just eleven seconds from the pacesetter, and was even closer in race two to cross the finishing line less than nine seconds behind the winner. He remains third in the series standings.
 
Maxime Desprey, standing in for the injured Jordi Tixier, acquitted himself well to record his first-ever score in the MXGP class. The Frenchman quickly acquainted himself with the KX450F-SR factory bike to qualify fifteenth of forty starters and showed his determination as he raced from twenty-fifth to twentieth in race one and advanced to fifteenth in race one despite an incident on the opening lap which had cost him ten places. Maxime will again cover for Tixier's absence next weekend in The Netherlands.
 
Clement Desalle: “I qualified in sixth position on Saturday, but the second part of the race was not as good as the first half so we changed some settings on the bike for today. The feeling was better for the races, but once more the start was important as there’s a group of fast riders in this class so the position in the first corner often influences the final result. I finished fifth in each race but I think that I could have achieved more with a better start; in the first moto we all followed each other, then in the second one I was fourth behind Herlings but I couldn’t pass him and finally Cairoli overtook me. It was a decent weekend, but I want to achieve more and I hope that Valkenswaard will be different for me.”
 
Maxime Desprey: “I enjoyed riding a lot this weekend, and I tried to appreciate each moment on such a great bike! Saturday was OK for me; I had a good feeling with the bike and qualified fifteenth for the GP races. After a good warm-up I missed a good start in the first race but I came back to twentieth with good lap times; I always struggle a little bit to pass rivals, and here there were not so many lines as they worked on the track between the races. The second start was much better as I was twelfth at the first timing point, but then I made a mistake in a corner and lost ten positions but I never gave up and came back to fifteenth. Today was the first time that I have scored points in the MXGP class. Now I will spend the week in Belgium to prepare for Valkenswaard, and to get even more used to the KX450F-SR.”