After fourth placings in Bulgaria and Mexico, Ken De Dycker (Red Bull KTM) collected his first podium finish of the season at the weekend at the Latvian Grand Prix and he’s now on the charge with just six rounds remaining in the Motocross World Championships.

The 28-year old Belgian was runner-up to his KTM team-mate Antonio Cairoli after scoring respectively second in both motos at the Latvian GP.

De Dycker remains fifth in the world standings but gained nine points on the fourth-ranked rider, Frenchman Gautier Paulin.

Saturday’s qualifying got on its way under a cloudy sky. After a start inside the top eight, De Dycker quickly found a strong pace on the Latvian track. The shorter 20 minutes plus two laps moto was disrupted by rain but De Dycker soldiered on regardless to bring his factory SX-F450 home in fourth.

More than 20,000 spectators saw De Dycker coming seventh out of the gate on Sunday noon. He climbed up to fifth to launch an inspired push to the front. Kev Strijbos, Paulin and Rui Gonçalves were no match for the lanky Belgian’s speed. Circulating second by half race distance, De Dycker was able to control his race and grab second behind Cairoli.

By the second moto the Kegums track was even rougher and more technical because of the additional rain. Once again the difficult, muddy conditions didn’t faze De Dycker. Starting outside the top-five he was determined to climb the leaderboard.  Three laps into the race, leader Cairoli had gone down and De Dycker was able to slot in behind the rapid Italian to improve his position, finally leaping across the finish in third behind his team-mate.

“I could not ask for more!” said De Dycker afaterwards.

“The mud was no problem for me, actually it  allows you to make even more of a difference. The biggest change compared to the last three GPs was the fact that I could keep it on two wheels in the start whereas I had been on the floor every single time previously!

“My bad luck seemed endless. In Kegums things already improved on Saturday when I had a decent start. On Sunday again I managed to get two okay starts. My speed was good but this has been the case for some weeks now, only it’s easier to make headway with guys ahead of you that don’t slow you down as much as when you have to bounce back from the bottom of the pile!

“In the second race I managed to replicate what I did in the opening race. When in circulated in third place behind Cairoli, I knew my podium was assured. I am very happy with this second place, not only for myself but also for the team and all the people around me.

“Because of my crash in Sweden the past two weeks I have not been able to train as I wanted to which makes this podium even more special. This is where I belong, hopefully I can repeat this performance the next couple of GPs!”

Words by Tom Jacobs

Photo by CDS