News

ws-logo shield text

Race report: MXGP Assen

 

The tight, technical and very sandy circuit proved to be extremely draining both physically and mentally.  Still Graulus - fired up after strong rides in the Belgian Championship last week- managed to find some good lines and impressed on day one. After a mediocre start in the qualifying moto Damon moved up quickly. It was only on the very last lap of Saturday’s sprint that he got relegated to 14th by Max Nagl. For De Dycker the entire Grand Prix weekend was a leap into the unknown. Although Ken is most at home on sandy terrain the Assen weekend made it absolutely clear that he needs some more time on the bike to regain a good base speed in all conditions.

Torrential downpour on Sunday morning transformed the rough mx track inside the famous ‘cathedral of speed’ into an even more treacherous, energy-sapping test. The tight first bents were notoriously hard to negotiate for the starting field in every class, including MXGP. Graulus’ hopes were brutally cut short when he hit the deck with a couple of other colleagues in the hustle and bustle of the opening lap. While the #71 bravely continued to push on he never got in contention to score points. De Dycker saw his race aborted quickly when he encountered a technical malfunction with the clutch.

De Dycker DPA 5019 C


Completely dry in the afternoon  the Assen circuit produced a different kind of racing for moto two. Damon put his CRF450R in a strong position at the start. He continued at a very competitive pace inside the top-10 for the first quarter of the race. Giving it all Graulus seemed on his way to 13th when he suffered bad traffic with lapped riders. Unsettled by the slower riders in front of him he lost his rhythm and was caught by a hard-charging group with Nicholls, Guillod, Strijbos and Simpson. Understandably disappointed Damon had to accept 17th place. Never at ease with the track De Dycker suffered with both his speed and fitness. However De Dycker soldiered on to complete the race, coming home 26th.

Damon Graulus: “Saturday went pretty good. I was able to follow Strijbos for almost the entire qualification race only losing one place in the end to Nagl. Sunday was completely different especially after the hard rain we had. I’m not looking for excuses but personally I find these the most challenging conditions you can encounter in motocross! After my early crash the first moto was one to forget quickly. My riding was a lot better in the second moto. I had a great first lap passing some guys in the waves so that I moved up to 8th. Unfortunately I focused too much on the guys in front of me when I started to lap. It drove me nuts to lose a positive result just like that. On the other hand I can take some consolation in the fact that I had the speed for top-12.”

Ken De Dycker: “ Not great. I’d never ridden here before so everything was new for me. Still this race made it very clear that I still have some more work today to improve my confidence and speed. You had to keep your rhythm here even on the most challenging sections or the heavy sand punished you even more when you slowed down just a little! With the ruts and the way the track developed I encountered some difficulties to use my left leg like I’d wanted to so I’ll check with my surgeon to get the bolt in my leg removed. Now I’m looking forward to more riding to continue improving.”

Graulus DPA 4060 C

 

MXGP moto 1

1. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 34:23.278; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:08.511; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:15.649; 4. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:16.595; 5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:32.529; 6. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:35.717; 7. Rui Goncalves (POR, Husqvarna), +0:42.884; 8. Jordi Tixier (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:49.112; 9. Tanel Leok (EST, KTM), +0:56.148; 10. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +1:00.466; 11. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +1:13.702; 12. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +1:16.778; 13. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +1:18.714; 14. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +1:22.370; 15. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +1:25.457; 16. Harri Kullas (EST, KTM), +1:36.592; 17. Priit Ratsep (EST, Honda), +1:46.359; 18. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, Suzuki), -1 lap(s); 19. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), -1 lap(s); 20. Jake Nicholls (GBR, Husqvarna), -1 lap(s); 21. Kevin Wouts (BEL, KTM), -1 lap(s); 22. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), -1 lap(s); 23. Damon Graulus (BEL, 24MX Lucas Oil Honda), -1 lap(s); 24. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Honda), -1 lap(s); 25. Rick Satink (NED, Husqvarna), -2 lap(s); 26. Alex Snow (GBR, Yamaha), -7 lap(s); 27. Toms Macuks (LAT, Kawasaki), -7 lap(s); 28. Jonathan Bengtsson (SWE, KTM), -11 lap(s); 29. Jeffrey Dewulf (BEL, Yamaha), -17 lap(s); 30. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), -17 lap(s);

MXGP moto 2

1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 34:18.739; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:02.106; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:03.267; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:05.370; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:24.762; 6. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:34.969; 7. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, Suzuki), +0:37.170; 8. Tanel Leok (EST, KTM), +0:57.508; 9. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:59.272; 10. Jordi Tixier (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:05.532; 11. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +1:06.648; 12. Harri Kullas (EST, KTM), +1:18.395; 13. Jake Nicholls (GBR, Husqvarna), +1:23.547; 14. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +1:26.328; 15. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +1:26.910; 16. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +1:29.490; 17. Damon Graulus (BEL, 24MX Lucas Oil Honda), +1:33.304; 18. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +1:46.583; 19. Rui Goncalves (POR, Husqvarna), +1:48.191; 20. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Honda), -1 lap(s); 21. Kevin Wouts (BEL, KTM), -1 lap(s); 22. Toms Macuks (LAT, Kawasaki), -1 lap(s); 23. Rick Satink (NED, Husqvarna), -1 lap(s); 24. Jeffrey Dewulf (BEL, Yamaha), -1 lap(s); 25. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), -6 lap(s); 26. Ken de Dycker (BEL, 24MX Lucas Oil Honda), -7 lap(s); 27. Alex Snow (GBR, Yamaha), -7 lap(s); 28. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), -10 lap(s); 29. Priit Ratsep (EST, Honda), -14 lap(s); 30. Jonathan Bengtsson (SWE, KTM), -16 lap(s

GP of the Netherlands classification

1. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 44 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 43 p.; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 40 p.; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 33 p.; 5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 31 p.; 6. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 30 p.; 7. Tanel Leok (EST, KTM), 25 p.; 8. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KAW), 24 p.; 9. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 23 p.; 10. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 22 p.; 11. Tommy Searle (GBR, KAW), 18 p.; 12. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 18 p.; 13. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, SUZ), 17 p.; 14. Rui Goncalves (POR, HUS), 16 p.; 15. Harri Kullas (EST, KTM), 14 p.; 16. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 12 p.; 17. Jake Nicholls (GBR, HUS), 9 p.; 18. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 9 p.; 19. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HON), 5 p.; 20. Damon Graulus (BEL, 24MX Lucas Oil Honda), 4 p.; 21. Priit Ratsep (EST, HON), 4 p.; 22. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, HON), 1 p.; 23. Kevin Wouts (BEL, KTM), 0 p.; 24. Toms Macuks (LAT, KAW), 0 p.; 25. Rick Satink (NED, HUS), 0 p.; 26. Jeffrey Dewulf (BEL, YAM), 0 p.; 27. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 0 p.; 28. Ken de Dycker (BEL, 24MX Lucas Oil Honda), 0 p.; 29. Alex Snow (GBR, YAM), 0 p.; 30. Jonathan Bengtsson (SWE, KTM), 0 p.;

MXGP standings after 16 rounds

1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 653 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 588 p.; 3. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 542 p.; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 522 p.; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 494 p.; 6. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 477 p.; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 347 p.; 8. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 342 p.; 9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 326 p.; 10. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 307 p.; 11. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 291 p.; 12. Tommy Searle (GBR, KAW), 272 p.; 13. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HON), 230 p.; 14. Christophe Charlier (FRA, HUS), 198 p.; 15. Tanel Leok (EST, KTM), 193 p.; 16. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KAW), 192 p.; 17. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 187 p.; 18. Ben Townley (NZL, SUZ), 128 p.; 19. Milko Potisek (FRA, YAM), 119 p.; 20. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, HON), 104 p.; 21. Jake Nicholls (GBR, HUS), 103 p.; 22. Harri Kullas (EST, KTM), 59 p.; 23. Rui Goncalves (POR, HUS), 49 p.; 24. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, SUZ), 47 p.; 25. Dennis Ullrich (GER, KTM), 41 p.; 26. Steven Lenoir (FRA, 24MX Lucas Oil Honda), 38 p.; 27. Kei Yamamoto (JPN, HON), 34 p.; 28. Jens Getteman (BEL, KTM), 31 p.; 29. David Philippaerts (ITA, YAM), 17 p.; 30. Damon Graulus (BEL, 24MX Lucas Oil Honda), 16 p.; 31. Priit Ratsep (EST, HON), 15 p.; 32. Gert Krestinov (EST, HON), 13 p.; 33. Chad Reed (AUS, YAM), 11 p.; 34. Angus Heidecke (GER, KTM), 10 p.; 35. Gregory Aranda (FRA, YAM), 9 p.; 36. Ander Valentin (ESP, KAW), 9 p.; 37. Jeffrey Dewulf (BEL, YAM), 8 p.; 38. Eduardo Andrade (MEX, YAM), 7 p.; 39. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, SUZ), 6 p.; 40. Xavier Boog (FRA, KAW), 6 p.; 41. Valentin Teillet (FRA, HON), 5 p.; 42. Rick Satink (NED, HUS), 4 p.; 43. Ezequiel Fanello (ARG, YAM), 4 p.; 44. Marcos Trossero (ARG, YAM), 3 p.; 45. Alex Snow (GBR, YAM), 3 p.; 46. Filip Bengtsson (SWE, SUZ), 2 p.; 47. Cedric Soubeyras (FRA, YAM), 2 p.; 48. Toms Macuks (LAT, KAW), 1 p.; 49. Nicolas Carranza (ARG, HON), 1 p.; 50. Marco Schmit (ARG, YAM), 1 p.; 51. Valtteri Malin (FIN, KTM), 1 p.; 52. Peter Irt (SLO, YAM), 1 p.; 53. Thanarat Penjan (THA, HON), 

 

Graulus DPA 4861 C