Belgium’s Clement Desalle raced to his first double moto victory and his second triumph of the season at the Motocross Grand Prix of Sweden overnight, the ninth round of 16 in the world series.

The factory Suzuki rider was also able to walk away after a dominant display across the wet, loose and muddy terrain of Uddevalla with the red plate as the new leader of the MX1 FIM Motocross World Championship.

Pourcel obtained the second overall position, while Kevin Strijbos was for the second time this season on the third step of the rostrum.

On the other hand, Italy’s defending MX1 world champion Antonio Cairoli (KTM) and Russian Evgeny Bobryshev (Honda) each failed to finish either race and Italian David Philippaerts (Yamaha) crashed in the first moto and he has a suspected fracture in both wrists.

In the MX2 class, Britain’s Tommy Searle (Kawasaki) won the day, while Dutchman Jeffrey Herlings (KTM) had a difficult second race and was second overall, and French youngster Dylan Ferrandis (Kawasaki) completed the top three.

Earlier in the morning was the second race of the UEM EMX125 series and Tim Gajser dominated it again and obtained another round victory. Pauls Jonass was once again on the second step of the podium and Magne Klingsheim completed the top three.

More than 22,000 spectators attended this ninth round of 16 in the series and were able to scale the rocks situated next to and above the curling racetrack despite yet more rainfall and changeable conditions.

The Swedish soil was slimy and slippery for the opening motos and away from a single racing line the ground was not easy to judge or tackle. Sunshine arrived later in the afternoon but the terrain still forced a cautious approach.

Desalle made a few mistakes in an action-packed sprint to third position in Saturday’s qualification heat. The Belgian banged his right knee in the proceedings but the incident had no lasting effect for the two 35-minute and two-lap motos on Sunday.

After dealing with the good starts and threat from French Kawasaki rider Christophe Pourcel in both races, Desalle set his own rhythm for a first ‘perfect’ 50 points since the 2011 Grand Prix of Portugal. The haul and race incidents for Cairoli gave the team the added bonus of being able to seize control of the MX1 championship by three points.

Desalle is now just ahead of Cairoli and 12 points in front of Pourcel.

“It’s a good result today and also a good situation with the Championship. I am happy with my riding,” said Desalle.

“I feel confident and could do what I wanted on the bike and this was just as important to me. It was a bad day for Tony Cairoli and a good one for me, and it was a bit strange to get the red plate like that but these things can happen in a mechanical sport and I have also had some bad luck this season.

“We are doing the best that we can and I don’t want to speak about the Championship too early. I just go as fast as I can and in the best shape possible. Every small detail that helps you feel better on the bike or can win you time is really good and my team is so professional when it comes to this and they have so much experience so I have to say thanks to them. We have done some testing and we are trying to improve further and I think some of the work we did last week helped me today.”

RESULTS:

MX1 Race 1 top ten:

1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 40:52.302; 2. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:20.870; 3. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:28.388; 4. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), +0:31.762; 5. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), +0:38.980; 6. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), +1:13.721; 7. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:17.195; 8. Cedric Soubeyras (FRA, Honda), +1:22.736; 9. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:24.085; 10. Mark de Reuver (NED, Kawasaki), +1:35.661.

MX1 Race 2 top ten:

1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 39:05.450; 2. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:04.445; 3. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), +0:07.064; 4. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), +0:23.936; 5. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), +0:37.011; 6. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:40.893; 7. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +0:52.511; 8. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:53.034; 9. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:16.098; 10. Davide Guarneri (ITA, KTM), +1:21.824.

MX1 Overall top ten:

1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 50 points; 2. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 44 p.; 3. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), 36 p.; 4. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 35 p.; 5. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), 34 p.; 6. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), 33 p.; 7. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 26 p.; 8. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 25 p.; 9. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 20 p.; 10. Mark de Reuver (NED, Kawasaki), 20 p.

MX1 World Championship Standings (after 9 of 16 rounds):

1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 348 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 345 p.; 3. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 336 p.; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 315 p.; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 257 p.; 6. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), 243 p.; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 236 p.; 8. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 212 p.; 9. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), 201 p.; 10. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 183 p.

MX2 Race 1 top ten:

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 39:51.669; 2. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:03.017; 3. Joel Roelants (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:53.378; 4. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:05.289; 5. Zachary Osborne (USA, Yamaha), +1:17.557; 6. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +1:22.205; 7. Alexander Tonkov (RUS, Honda), +1:40.416; 8. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +1:41.138; 9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), -1 lap(s); 10. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Kawasaki), -1 lap(s).

MX2 Race 2 top ten:

1. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 40:12.526; 2. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), +0:18.574; 3. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:27.266; 4. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +0:29.925; 5. Zachary Osborne (USA, Yamaha), +0:51.319; 6. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), +1:05.434; 7. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +1:19.931; 8. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +1:23.237; 9. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +1:24.264; 10. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Husqvarna), +1:34.735.

MX2 Overall top ten:

1. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 47 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 39 p.; 3. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), 38 p.; 4. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 33 p.; 5. Zachary Osborne (USA, Yamaha), 32 p.; 6. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 26 p.; 7. Joel Roelants (BEL, Kawasaki), 25 p.; 8. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), 22 p.; 9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 21 p.; 10. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 18 p.

MX2 Championship top ten:

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 403 points; 2. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 387 p.; 3. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), 330 p.; 4. Joel Roelants (BEL, Kawasaki), 263 p.; 5. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 243 p.; 6. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 237 p.; 7. Max Anstie (GBR, Honda), 199 p.; 8. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), 177 p.; 9. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 168 p.; 10. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Husqvarna), 163 p.

Photo courtesy Suzuki