Belgium’s Clement Desalle has not dropped out of the top two in the first four motos of the premier class in the 2015 FIM Motocross World Championship and carries the coveted red plate as MXGP series leader to Neuquen this week for the first Grand Prix of Argentina this century.

A new, sandy, scenic and woodland-set facility in Villa La Angostura awaits his Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MXGP team rider and the rest of the MXGP field for the third round of 18 this season.

The 25-year-old Desalle has recovered from the heat and hefty trip back from Thailand two weeks ago and has been preparing for the second ‘unseen’ racetrack in as many races for the GP stars.

“I took some more rest to get over the trip back from Thailand but then got back on my normal schedule last week. I’m feeling good,” he said, while packing for the long flight to Buenos Aires and then onto Bariloche this week. “I was doing some laps at Lommel and then also enjoyed a mountain bike ride with some friends.”

“I’m in good shape and I want to continue the positive start to the season,” he added. “As I always say: when I am having fun on the bike and enjoying my riding the speed and results come. So far everything has been going OK and we have that red plate. I’m happy. I want to win races but it is also important to be consistent and we have done that in the first two GPs so far.”

With Max Nagl and Ryan Villopoto earning victories in Qatar and Thailand, Desalle will have his eyes on the top-step against the most competitive collection of motocross athletes seen in Grand Prix in recent years. He will be the sole works RM-Z450 rider in the factory team aiming to do so however.

Desalle’s team-mate Kevin Strijbos will miss the long 14-hour flight to the capital city in order to have more corrective surgery on his right wrist to deal with problems connected with Tendonitis. The Belgian is hoping for a competitive return for the Grand Prix of Trentino (Italy) in mid-April and will require three weeks of recuperation after the procedure.

The current climate should see sunny and temperate conditions for practice and qualification heats on Saturday and the Grand Prix motos on Sunday.

The Grand Prix of Argentina will be the first of three events that will also take MXGP and MX2 to Italy and Holland before the end of April.

MXGP Championship Standings (after 2 of 18 rounds):

1. Clement Desalle (BEL, SUZ), 88 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 79 p.; 3. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 78 p.; 4. Ryan Villopoto (USA, KAW), 70 p.; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 67 p.; 6. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HON), 67 p.; 7. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 55 p.; 8. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 45 p.; 9. Todd Waters (AUS, HUS), 40 p.; 10. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 38 p.

MX2 Championship Standings (after 2 of 18 rounds):

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 100 points; 2. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 78 p.; 3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 70 p.; 4. Julien Lieber (BEL, YAM), 62 p.; 5. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 58 p.; 6. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, HUS), 56 p.; 7. Thomas Covington (USA, KAW), 53 p.; 8. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 52 p.; 9. Petar Petrov (BUL, KTM), 41 p.; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 38 p.