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MXGP, Saint Jean d'Angely, France, 10 Červen 2018

Second for Clément Desalle in France

Clement Desalle of the Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team consolidated his medal hopes in the FIM World MXGP Motocross Championship with a second place moto finish at St Jean D'Angely in France.

The twenty-nine year old Belgian underlined his determined character when he immediately turned round a disappointing qualification the previous day to sprint clear of the chasing pack through the first few corners of the opening moto to secure a solid second place, a position he maintained to the finish of the race despite late pressure from the defending champion. An unfortunate incident when another rider stalled in front of him soon after the start of the second moto cost Clement a lot of time but he showed great speed and character to charge back strongly from fifteenth place to snatch sixth place four laps from the end of the race. The combined result of the two motos gave him fourth overall in the GP, frustratingly one single point from the podium despite the misfortune early in the second race, but the scoreline also enabled him to consolidate third place in the series standings as he extended his advantage over his closest rival to twenty-eight points.
 
Clement Desalle: « I’m again disappointed to narrowly miss the podium for the fourth time in a row! Yesterday, soon after the start of the qualifying race, there was a strange incident in a corner when Gajser hit Cairoli who then hit me. I crashed and had pain in my right shoulder and knee, but managed to come back to nineteenth. In the first GP moto today I got a very good start and came second; Cairoli was pushing me during the last few laps but I kept my position. My second start was not as good but I was in the top eight until Febvre stalled his engine right in front of me! I had no place to go and fell, losing a lot of time berfore I could restart in fifteenth position. I recovered to sixth position but it was not quite enough for the podium which I missed by just one point! But I want to be positive. It’s another good result, especially after the crash on Saturday, and we’ll keep working in the upcoming rounds."
 
Alessandro Lupino raced to a solid twelfth place in the opening moto for Gebben Van Venrooy Kawasaki with teammate Maxime Desprey fifteenth as Tommy Searle of Bike It DRT Kawasaki faced a long hard ride back from thirty-first to nineteenth after losing considerable time in the early stages as he had to adjust the controls after a crash. The Brit followed up with a strong ride from sixteenth to eleventh in race two.