CLEMENT DESALLE AND KEN ROCZEN WIN THE POLE FOR GLEN HELEN USGP MOTOCROSS

Clement Desalle won the pole position at Glen Helen after winning the 450 qualifying race. Second was Max Nagl with Russian Evgeny Bobryshev third. 450 points leader Steven Frossard was fourth and Antonio Cairoli finished a distant seventh seventh.

In the 350 class Ken Roczen pulled away to victroy after passing Marvin Musquin. Jeffrey Herlings also passed the current 250 World Champion for second. Musquin was third in an all-KTM qualifying podium.

The oldest GP rider at the moment is former Champion Steve Ramon.

Doug Dubach picked up where he left off last year by winning the first moto of the World Vet Cup. And the oly rider who can stay with him, and possibly beat him in today’s second moto is Darryll King. FIM Vet Cup points leader Matts Nilsson could not build up the nerve to do the Triple Step-Up or the Double-Down…and was relegated to a distant and lonely third.

450 MX1 QUALIFIER

Clement Desalle (25) leads through the sand whoops. At this point in the qualifier Antonio Cairoli (222) is third, but he would crash on this lap and have to work his way back into the top ten. Since Glen Helen has the longest start straight in motocross, and the fairest first turn, Cairoli won’t be hurt when it comes to gate pick for today’s USGP.

Clement Desalle from Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1 team was first in today’s MX1 Qualifying race after starting from the second position and overtaking Evgeny Bobryshev in lap three. The Belgian rider expressed his satisfaction of getting his first Lovemytime pole position award of the season and he is determined to go for the overall victory tomorrow and get the red plate back.

Red Bull Teka KTM Factory Racing MX2’s Max Nagl did a very consistent qualifying race and managed to finished second. Nagl has missed the overall victory in Bulgaria and Valkenswaard but he has proved that Glen Helen might be the place to get his first Grand Prix victory of the season.

Clement Desalle, who has raced AMA Nationals in the past, was the clear-cut favorite after his easy qualifier win.

Third was Honda World Motocross’ Evgeny Bobryshev, who managed to take the holeshot and led the race until lap three when Clement Desalle overtook him.

Red Plate holder Steven Frossard from Monster Energy Yamaha finished fourth, but he is confident about tomorrow’s races. The French rider injured his shoulder in Glen Helen but he confessed he is fully fit again to try to obtain his maiden 4501 overall victory.

Completing the top five was Portuguese Rui Goncalves from Honda World Motocross team, followed by David Philippaerts and Antonio Cairoli.

Kristian Craig, son of former Team Yamaha rider Mike Craig, airs it out over the Double-Down jump. Photo: Mark Chilson

Anthony Boissiere did an excellent start and rode third for the first three laps, but he then lost some energy and he crossed the finish line eighth.

Ken De Dycker had a problem with his bike and could not finish the race, as well as Davide Guarneri and Xavier Boog, who both crashed during the MX1 qualifying race.

450 QUALIFIER RESULTS
1. Clement Desalle ……..Suzuki
2. Max Nagl ……..KTM
3. Evgeny Bobryshev ……..World
4. Steven Frossard ……..Yamaha
5. Rui Goncalves ……..Honda
6. David Philippaerts ……..Yamaha
7. Toni Cairoli ……..KTM
8. Anthony Boissiere ……..Yamaha
9. Steve Ramon ……..Suzuki
10. Jonathan Barragan ……..Kawasaki
11. Tanel Leok ……..TM
12. Kevin Strijbos ……..Suzuki
13. Shaun Simpson …….Honda
14. Greg Aranda ……..Kawasaki
15. Carlos Campano ……..Yamaha
16. Jason Dougan ……..Yamaha
17. Manuel Monni ……..Honda
18. Herjan Brakke ……..Yamaha
19. Weston Peick ……..Kawasaki
20. Gunter Schmidinger ……..Honda

250 MX2 QUALIFIER

Marvin Musquin scrubs the Saddleback hump. Photo: Mark Chilson

Red Bull Teka KTM Factory Racings Ken Roczen got his second pole position award after today’s victory. The German made a mistake during the sighting lap and he injured two fingers of his left hand. However, the pain did not prevent him to dominate the MX2 qualifying race finishing almost 12 second ahead his teammate Jeffrey Herlings.

Jeffrey Herlings finished second behind Roczen and he will be able to choose a good starting spot on Sunday’s tomorrow to try to stop his teammate Ken Roczen. At the Dutch Grand Prix, Herlings proved how good he is riding on the sand, but there is no doubt that he is also a rider to take into account for tomorrow’s overall victory.

Jeffrey Herlings.

Third was other Red Bull Teka KTM Factory Racing rider Marvin Musquin on his come back to the FIM Motocross World Championship. For Musquin was the first race after his knee injury in the Supercross in Bercy, so he was very happy with this result.

CLS Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit’s Max Anstie obtained a solid fourth position, ahead of Gautier Paulin, who did not have a good start and had to improve from his initial eleventh place. Tommy Searle finished sixth and he was closely followed by Jordi Tixier, who did an outstanding start being third in the opening lap, but he made a mistake and he was already ninth at the first lap.

The 250 qualifier start was a gimme for Marvin Musquin (and the rest of the KTM 250 team).

Zach Osborne crashed while he was fifth and could only get back to  15th and his teammate Arnaud Tonus made a mistake on the first lap and he was not able to come back to the race.

250 QUALIFIER RESULTS
1. Ken Roczen ……..KTM
2. Jeffrey Herlings ……..KTM
3. Marvin Musquin ……..KTM
4. Max Anstie ……..Kawasaki
5. Gautier Paulin ……..Yamaha
6 .Tommy Searle ……..Kawasaki
7. Jordi Tixier ……..KTM
8. Harri Kullas ……..Yamaha
9. Travis Baker ……..Honda
10. Joel Roelants ……..KTM
11. Scott Champion ……..Honda
13. Nico Aubin …….KTM
14. Petar Petrov ……..Yamaha
15. Zach Osborne ……..Yamaha
16. Ludwig S”derberg ……..Kawasaki
17. Pascal Rauchenecker ……..KTM
18. Valentin Guillod ……..KTM
19. Alessandro Lupino ……..Husqvarna
20. Jordan Booker ……..KTM

VETERANS CUP FIRST MOTO

18-time World Vet Champion Doug Dubach was second in time practice, but he showed his potential at the start of Saturday’s first moto (the second moto is on sunday) by dominating the race from beginning to end. Second was Darryll King, who managed to close the massive gap he had with Doug Dubach and he entered the finish line just two seconds behind the winner. Third was current FIM Vet Cup Champion and current points leader (Dubach and King do not race the whole series) Matts Nilson. Chuck Sun could not finish the race because he injured his ribs during a crash in timed practice.