VAN HOREBEEK CLOSE TO ITALIAN TITLE STATUS

It was the first significant chequered flag of the year for the rejuvenated Belgian who also quaffed champagne from the podium at Sardinia the previous week. The upshot of his promising pace and form at this early stage is that ‘JVH’ is all-square at the top of the standings with Bobryshev with the all-important closer coming this weekend at Ottobiano south of Milan. “I am really happy to win yesterday,” said the 26 year old who was MXGP vice-champ in 2014 and lifted the Italian crown that same season. “It gives me a good feeling for the start in Qatar in less than 20 days. I`m also really looking forward to do next week`s race in Italy for final preparation.”  The same fixture wasn’t as rewarding for teammate and current world champ Romain Febvre who fell from his works YZ450FM exiting the first corner and suffered a cut to his right elbow that required a hospital visit for stitches. ‘461’ will put his lid to one side for ten days and will not twist the grip in anger until the Grand Prix of Qatar, the opening round of the 2016 MXGP series at the end of the month.

Further north through Europe and in the UK, Clement Desalle narrowly missed out on overall victory at Hawkstone. The famous venue had been hit by heavy rainfall that forced organisers to cut out the daunting hill section of the layout and the dark sand was typically technical and tricky. The Black Monster Kawasaki ace swept passed the chequered flag to win the first moto on his KX450F but was pipped to the line by Ben Townley in the second outing and surrendered the ‘overall’ (on combined points) to British Champion Shaun Simpson with his third position. The Belgian, watched by a decent crowd that braved the conditions, dropped to the second plinth but is aiming for better in a previous happy hunting ground that is the French Valence International this coming weekend. Testing, starts, confidence and ‘cobweb removal’; the MXGP pre-season can be a risky but also an affirming period for the world’s fastest off-road motorcycle riders.