Across a stormy and challenging thirteenth round of 2017 MXGP Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Clement Desalle kept consistent but feisty to finish as runner-up in the Czech Republic for his fifth gleam of podium silverware this season and remain number two in the series standings while Courtney Duncan aced the latest chapter of WMX. Current MXGP and MX2 category leaders Tony Cairoli and Pauls Jonass were top dogs on the day.
An unstable climate greeted the first Grand Prix after the summer break and around a special and unchanged Loket circuit that invited a special flow. The dirt was low on technical difficulty (despite the emergence of some hefty braking bumps and churned hard-pack) but also sparse for grip and clear overtaking opportunities, meaning good starts were essential for podium hopes, riders ran in close trains and errors – both forced and unforced – influenced the order of the motos.
Desalle made the brightest of starts in Moto1 and gave keen chase to world champion Tim Gajser; the Belgian closed up to the Honda but the gap fluctuated and the Slovenian kept distant to earn his first moto win since Arco di Trento (Italy) in April. Another fierce getaway by Clement, winner of races in France and Russia this year, put him at the heart of an entertaining tussle for second place with four other riders for company. It was the action highlight of a Grand Prix that saw the four seasons strike in a matter of hours (rain, wind, sunshine). Desalle won the tussle to guard the second step of the box.
“Of course it is not a win but twice second is a strong day and a good result,” #25 said. “I’m happy I could make today a ‘positive’ because yesterday I had a really bad start in the qualification heat. Together with my team last night we said that the start would be the big key to this GP and I was able to do that in the first and also the second races. I focussed on myself and enjoyed what I could do.”
Monster Energy Yamaha duo Romain Febvre and Jeremy Van Horebeek placed sixth and seventh with the blue bikes unable to match the prowess of their peers from the metal gate flooring.
MX2 was the domain of Pauls Jonass as title foe Jeremy Seewer rallied back from a second moto crash to minimise the damage that sees the riders split by 47 points. Kemea Yamaha’s Benoit Paturel was in the thick of the dispute of a lively second moto and just missed the podium; the Frenchman taking fourth. Monster Energy DRT Kawasaki’s Darian Sanayei returned to action followed a severe bout of heat-stroke two rounds ago in Italy and caught the eye with his speed to seventh in the second outing.
Courtney Duncan produced one of her best (and most exciting) Grand Prix performances to win the fourth round of six in WMX and peel the red plate away from Yamaha brandmate Kiara Fontanesi, therefore fronting an incredibly close contest in the tenth edition of the FIM Women’s World Championship. Duncan passed a struggling ‘Fonta’ mere corners before the chequered flag to claim the first moto and then recovered from a crash in slick and muddy conditions Sunday morning to finish as No.2 and celebrate her second ‘overall’ of the year. Fontanesi tangled with defending number one Livia Lancelot in the battle for third on Sunday and the Italian was frustrated to miss out on the podium while her French rival was just behind her in the rankings with fifth position.
Amazingly four girls are split by just 12 points in 2017 WMX and Duncan will feel the heat with the penultimate round of the contest set for Assen and the Grand Prix of the Netherlands in September. “Taking the win and re-taking the red plate is what we wanted,” the Kiwi said. “It is all really close and there are four races left, I have to be smart and get the starts because I know I have the speed to do it. The four of us are really close at the moment but I hope we can get some more moto wins and that title. Assen is seven weeks away now but we’ll have plenty of time to get in the sand.”
For all the sporting performance, tension and speed on display in the Czech Republic the Grand Prix ran under a metaphorical dark cloud as well. The accident and passing of Moldovan youngster Igor Cuharciuc in the midst of the 85cc European Championship race on Saturday afternoon stunned the paddock and led to cancellation of the second EMX85 outing. It was a brutal and stark reminder of the perils and risks involved in one of the hardest closed-circuit motorsports and numbed a great deal of the riding fraternity, teams and staff.
MXGP soldiers on…with the fourteen round of nineteen scheduled for the deep and dreaded sand of Lommel and the Grand Prix of Belgium on August 6th.
