Motocross: Clement Desalle And Jeffrey Herlings Perfect At Spanish Grand Prix

Andrea Wilson | May 12, 2014
Rockstar Energy Suzukis Clement Desalle earned his third win of the season with a perfect weekend in Spain. Photography Courtesy of Suzuki

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF SUZUKI

Rockstar Energy Suzuki’s Clement Desalle and RedBull KTM’s Jeffrey Herlings both left Talavera de la Reina, Spain, with a perfect score in their respective classes – MXGP and MX2.

Although feeling poorly during Saturday’s qualifying, Desalle showed up on Sunday feeling good on the bike and got two great starts to claim both moto wins and move up to second place in the championship – 24 points behind the Red Bull KTM’s Antonio Cairoli, the World Champion ending up fourth overall on the day.

“It was so nice to get two moto wins like I did,” Desalle said. “It is good for the confidence and the championship. I was really happy about my riding and I enjoyed myself out there.”

Yamaha’s Jeremy Van Horebeek carded a two-four moto tally for second place with Desalle’s teammate Kevin Strijbos’ ending up fourth and third to end up on the podium.

Cairoli struggled a bit in the Spanish clay, but recovered from a sixth-place finish in the first moto to finish second in moto two, giving him fourth overall for the day.

I didn’t have the best of starts and I had to work a lot, especially in the first race, to make the passes, which are not easy on this track,” Cairoli said. “There was a lot of water on the track and you had to be really aggressive to pass and that’s not really my style. I invented some strange lines in the second moto and when I got up to second I pushed a lot to try to pass Desalle, but he was riding very good and I couldn’t make the pass.”

Cairoli’s teammate Herlings, on the other hand, had no such struggles, showing that he is back in good health and fitness after being sidelined earlier in the season with a bad shoulder.

CLS Kawasaki Monster Energy’s Dylan Ferrandis and Arnaud Tonus ended up second and third overall behind Herlings.

Ferrandis finished a solid third in both motos, while teammate Tonus made an error in the second moto and had to settle for fifth. However, Tonus’ second-place finish in the first moto secured him a spot on the podium, his fourth this season. Tonus also remains the nearest to the points leader Herlings – 27 points behind the two-time MX2 Champion.

2014 Spanish Motocross Grand Prix
MXGP Results
1. Clement Desalle (Suzuki) 1-1
2. Jeremy Van Horebeek (Yamaha) 2-4
3. Kevin Strijbos (Suzuki) 4-3
4. Antonio Cairoli (KTM) 6-2
5. Steven Frossard (Kawasaki) 3-5
6. Xavier Boog (Honda) 7-9
7. David Philippaerts (Yamaha) 11-7
8. Tyla Rattray (Husqvarna) 8-10
9. Jake Nicholls (KTM) 13-6
10. Joel Roelants (Honda) 9-11

MX2 Results
1. Jeffrey Herlings (KTM) 1-1
2. Dylan Ferrandis (Kawasaki) 3-3
3. Arnaud Tonus (Kawasaki) 2-5
4. Romain Febvre (Husqvarna) 5-4
5. Jordi Tixier (KTM) 4-9
6. Jose Butron (KTM) 8-6
7. Tim Gajser (Honda) 17-2
8. Julien Lieber (Suzuki) 6-11
9. Petar Petrov (Yamaha) 9-10
10. Christophe Charlier (Yamaha) 12-8

 

 

Andrea Wilson | Associate Editor / Website Coordinator

Andrea has been shooting everything from flat track to road racing in her job as a professional freelance photographer, but she's made the move to a full-time staff position at Cycle News where her love of all things motorcycling will translate well. Wilson has proven her worth as more than a photographer as she migrates to the written word with everything from race coverage to interviews.