6 Sep 2010

Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross Team’s David Philippaerts finished fifth overall at a sunny Lierop circuit for the Grand Prix of Benelux and the penultimate round of the 2010 FIM Motocross World Championship and closed the gap to Clement Desalle in the chase for the number two plate.

If the summer weather created a pleasant experience for the 12,000 attendance at Lierop, the churning sand was still its usual difficult test in terms of its technical demands and physically-sapping form for the riders. The ruts and pointed wavy bumps pushed the athletes to the limits of their concentration and capabilities. Philippaerts was one of the protagonists on the factory YZ450FM and rode to a pair of fifth positions for his overall ranking, while also showing off his DP19 design competition winning race-wear.

Three small spills in both 35 minute and 2 lap motos did not help the determined Italian’s charges but his superior position to Desalle means that he now needs 22 points more than the Belgian to seize the position of vice-champion with 25 points available in both of the final two motos of the season next week.

Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross Ricci Team’s Ken De Dycker was back on the track after missing the recent Grand Prix of Brazil to concentrate on daily therapy to his injured shoulder. The Belgian, lacking race sharpness, took a solid sixth in the first moto even if he did tire towards the end. The 25 year old did not complete a lap of the second race and pulled out citing an unexplainable mechanical problem. De Dycker is seventh and 22 points from sixth in the MX1-GP standings.

In other news Sweden’s Mats Nilsson successfully defended his Veteran’s World Cup title in Holland on the YZ450F while Carlos Campano became Spain’s first ever world champion by clinching the MX3 crown in Geneva today.

Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross Team’s home round, the Grand Prix of Italy, will take place next week at Fermo for the last event of the FIM Motocross World Championship.

David Philippaerts, Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross Team:

“I wanted better from today but I crashed three times across the two motos, one in the first and twice in the second, and that cost me some time. Apart from the small mistakes I was riding well and the times were good on a track that was very heavy. I took some points away from Desalle but Nagl managed to come close to me. It will be a tight fight but the next race is in Italy where I want a good result and stay at the top. We fly to Italy tonight and will ride once this week before going to Fermo.”

Ken De Dycker, Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross Ricci Team:

“It was my first grand prix for a few weeks and I knew I would not have the best condition for this race, especially on this track. I haven’t been able to train normally for quite a long time and you need to be in good shape for Lierop. I did OK in the first moto but felt pretty tired at the end. In the second it felt like the bike had a problem on the first lap.”