2012 Portuguese Grand Prix
Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1’s Clement Desalle obtained the first FIM Motocross Grand Prix victory of the season in Agueda, Portugal, a track where he has always won in the last three years.
The Belgian rider won the first moto with more than six seconds advantage over second classified Christophe Pourcel, but he could only be third in the second race. The Belgian rider admitted that he was a bit disappointed with his performance in the second heat, because he had lost too much energy in the beginning of the heat, as he had a bad start and had to push really hard to catch the leading group. The Belgian rider will travel to his home Grand Prix second in the point standings.
Second overall was Kawasaki Racing Team’s Gautier Paulin after finishing fourth in the first heat and winning the second moto from the likes of Cairoli. At the start of the first race Paulin hit his pipe with another bike and the pipe went on the radiator and made his Kawasaki machine get really hot by the middle of the race. The French rider was satisfied with the fourth position in the first moto and for being again on the podium thanks to the victory of the second heat.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli was third in the first moto and he was about to win the second heat, which would have given him the overall victory. The current leader of the series rode really close to Paulin during the last three laps of the second heat and in the very last lap the Italian managed to overtake Paulin. However, Cairoli could not keep the lead and had to settle down with the second position, which made him finish third overall place of the Grand Prix.
The fourth overall position was for CP377 Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit’s Christophe Pourcel, who took the holeshot in both motos but he could not win any of them. In the first heat the French rider finished second behind Desalle, and in the second race he was able to lead the first half of the race but he then made a mistake and he went down to the third position. In the end Pourcel crossed the finish line fourth and finished fourth overall in the Grand Prix. The French rider is now fourth in the Championship, one point behind Gautier and four points behind Desalle.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Ken De Dycker completed the top five thanks to double fifth positions in today’s heats. The Belgian rider did really well today taking into account that he started from the very outside, as he had the last gate pick today due to his DNF in the qualifying race yesterday.
Xavier Boog did not have an easy first moto because he got stuck behind a crash at the start and had to break hard in order not to crash. The French rider put a lot of effort to move from sixteenth to seventh and such extra effort left him with without energies to battle in the second moto. Boog was eleventh in the second race and he finished sixth overall of the Grand Prix.
Home rider Rui Gonçalves leaves his home Grand Prix a little bit disappointed after not having been able to finish on the podium. In the first moto the Portuguese got stuck behind Philippaerts and Leok’s crash at the start and he was only able to finish 14th, whereas in the second race he got a better start and he crossed the finish line sixth, which gave him the overall seventh position.
Jonathan Barragán had a really good start in the first moto and he ended sixth, but he crashed in the second heat and ended fourteenth, eighth overall of the Grand Prix. Leok and Philippaerts completed the top ten.
Evgeny Bobryshev got a DNF in the first moto because his bike stop while he was riding eleventh. In the second heat he finished seventh and he ended sixteenth in the Grand Prix.
MX1 Race 1 top 10: 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 40:04.024; 2. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:06.155; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:16.903; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:23.550; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:41.323; 6. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Honda), +0:43.183; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:45.298; 8. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:13.177; 9. Matiss Karro (LAT, KTM), +1:16.143; 10. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), +1:16.869.
MX1 Race 2 top 10: 1. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 39:04.520; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:00.484; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:25.785; 4. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:29.957; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:31.550; 6. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +0:33.435; 7. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:38.248; 8. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), +0:43.679; 9. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:48.689; 10. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), +0:50.250.
MX1 Overall top 10: 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 45 points; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 43 p.; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 42 p.; 4. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 40 p.; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 32 p.; 6. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 24 p.; 7. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 22 p.; 8. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Honda), 22 p.; 9. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), 21 p.; 10. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 21 p.
MX1 Championship top 10: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 295 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 258 p.; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 255 p.; 4. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 254 p.; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 211 p.; 6. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 190 p.; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 185 p.; 8. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), 171 p.; 9. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 156 p.; 10. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), 142 p..
MX1 Manufacturers: 1. Kawasaki, 306 points; 2. KTM, 306 p.; 3. Suzuki, 268 p.; 4. Yamaha, 219 p.; 5. Honda, 204 p.; 6. TM, 37 p.