Desalle races to tenth season podium at Loket

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Rockstar Teka Suzuki World MX1's Clement Desalle finished runner-up for the fourth time this season at the Grand Prix of Czech Republic and the 12th round of 15 in the FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship.

The podium appearance in front of 21,000 spectators represented the Belgian's 10th trophy in his first year with the factory team and onboard the factory RM-Z450WS, his seventh rostrum celebration in a row and the second in two years at the Loket circuit.

The 21 year old took his fourth pole position of the season yesterday in difficult and very wet conditions but thankfully the track drained and dried under brighter skies on Sunday. Despite the absence of heavy mud around the mostly single-line layout, the dirt was bumpier and rutty; presenting a different set of demands from the usual slippery hard-pack found on the picturesque Loket hill.

Desalle initially struggled at the start of the first moto and made excellent progress to rise from ninth to third throughout the 35 minutes and 2 laps. In the second outing he leapt away from the pack with world champion Tony Cairoli and although he shadowed the Sicilian for the first half of the race, was unable to overtake his rival. The duo was over a minute ahead of team-mate Steve Ramon. Desalle's total of 42 points gave him the second step and he lost only five points in the World Championship standings to Cairoli; nevertheless the gap stands at 84 with just 150 left to grasp in 2010.

Ramon was unable to get on the pace of the leaders at a track that he does not favour. The veteran and former double World Champion's better moto was his second with a distant third (his eighth top-three finish of the year) while fourth overall was secured thanks to sixth earlier in the day. The 30 year old is fifth in the points table and needs just six to enter the top four. Suzuki remains second in the Manufacturer's competition.

Desalle and Ramon will keep busy next weekend: Desalle will travel to the United States to participate in the ninth round of the Lucas Oils AMA MX series, the Rockstar Unadilla MX National, and will remain in the Americas before travelling down to Campo Grande for the Grand Prix of Brazil the following week. Ramon will enter the fourth round of the Belgian Championship in the sand of Balen.

Clement Desalle:

"Second position again and of course I want to be first but this sport is very hard and I can only do my best all the time. I am working to step-up and be faster and feel that it is coming. I had a bad start in the first moto and had to push all the way to reach third. It was too late in the race to expect better. I was more satisfied with the second moto because we were really fast to break away. The conditions were a bit different to normal and we had to adjust."

Steve Ramon:

"The track was tough with many ruts and not many lines. I didn't feel comfortable in the first moto and was really fighting the track; I didn't feel happy. In the second moto I had a really good start but I drifted too far to the outside, hit some soft mud and Cairoli passed me. I was then awful in the first two corners and made mistakes that also cost me two positions. I searched for my rhythm in the opening laps but I felt faster on the bike. I could see Bobryshev was getting tired and passed him but Max was riding well and kept pushing. I'm happy with third place because I don't like the track at all. Overall I'm satisfied with the result."