ODespite two terrible starts, Ken De Dycker offered his home crowd two very strong performances. Ken's dramatic catch-up races earned him a 10th and 6th place respectively, good for sixth place in the final standings. After 8 GPs, the 27-year-old Red Bull-KTM rider now holds 5th place in the MX1 World Championship. De Dycker's teammate Cairoli won the Belgian Grand Prix.
Due to heavy rain, the program on Saturday was shortened to spare the circuit. The pre-qualifying training therefore decided the starting position for Sunday. Ken managed to set an excellent second time in both the first and second sessions. The ease with which De Dycker completed his fast laps in particular raised hopes for the best for his Belgian GP.
More than 18.000 enthusiastic fans, including a large delegation of Keeno fans, attended the first 'MX Battle of the Ardennes' on Sunday in pleasant, sunny conditions. However, when Ken crashed in the first corner together with Evgeny Bobryshev, his chance for a strong final result was immediately lost. To make matters worse, even more time was lost for both top riders in disassembling the linked engines. From last place - and with a lot of distance behind the rest of the field - De Dycker inexorably advanced to 10th place, just 3 seconds behind 8th. That was the culmination of a strong achievement because Ken kept pushing until the end and hardly made any mistakes.
At the start of the second race, Keeno slid away as the starting gate dropped. Although the surface was dry almost everywhere, De Dycker almost slipped a second time when he drove through a mud patch on the inside of the first corner. Once again the KTM factory rider was forced to play catch-up. He steered his SX-F450 to the front with speaking ease. With a great time in the fifth lap, the second fastest lap of the race, De Dycker entered the top 10. Then Karro, Paulin, Leok and Guarneri were also quickly killed. That's how Ken ended up sixth.
Ken Dycker: “I got off to a very strong start in the first heat. Bobryshev slid away and ended up with his front wheel between my rear wheel and the fender. I couldn't go anywhere! After that I was able to come back well, but it's a shame about the second slider I made. Not that I lost much time, but it did cost me quite a bit of strength. Overall I was satisfied with both heats. Only I made some mistakes in the middle of the second series, otherwise there might have been something more. Unfortunately I was not able to make up any points against the competition.
The circuit itself was very beautiful and very versatile; tracks, potholes, hard and softer parts... You also had plenty of overtaking opportunities here. The organizers certainly deserve compliments for their efforts because they still worked very hard on the race even after the rain.”
MX1 Race 1
1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 40:20.568; ; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:02.127; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:04.944; 4. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), +0:31.016; 5. Christopher Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:36.324; 6. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:37.570; 7. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:43.854; 8. Sebastian Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:50.218; 9. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), +0:51.123; 10. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Red Bull-KTM), +0:53.502; 11. Matisse Karro (LAT, KTM), +1:06.344; 12. Anthony Boissiere (FRA, TM), +1:20.546; 13. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Honda), +1:33.462; 14. Cedric Soubeyras (FRA, Honda), +1:38.937; 15. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +1:40.739; 16. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), +1:41.805; 17. Milko Potisek (FRA, Honda), +1:43.072; 18. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, Honda), +1:45.974; 19. Loic Leonce (FRA, Yamaha), +1:55.095; 20. Mark de Reuver (NED, Kawasaki), -1 lap(s);
MX1 Race 2
1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 40:19.194; ; 2. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:04.597; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:09.786; 4. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), +0:10.625; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:36.754; 6. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Red Bull-KTM), +0:42.862; 7. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), +0:44.952; 8. David Guarneri (ITA, KTM), +0:52.345; 9. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:53.004; 10. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:55.722; 11. Sebastian Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:56.505; 12. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), +1:04.723; 13. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +1:06.549; 14. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +1:09.617; 15. Anthony Boissiere (FRA, TM), +1:44.975; 16. Mark de Reuver (NED, Kawasaki), +1:57.120; 17. Nicholas Aubin (FRA, Honda), +2:07.791; 18. Matteo Bonini (ITA, KTM), -1 lap(s); 19. Loic Leonce (FRA, Yamaha), -1 lap(s); 20. Jamie Law (GBR, KTM), -1 lap(s);
GP of Belgium final score 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 50 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 40 p.; 3. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 38 p.; 4. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), 36 pp.; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 34 p.; 6. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Red Bull-KTM), 26 p.; 7. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), 26 p.; 8. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 26 p.; 9. Sebastian Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 23 p.; 10. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 22 p.; 11. Evgeny Bobryshev (Russia, Honda), 16 p.; 12. Anthony Boissiere (FRA, TM), 15 p.; 13. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), 14 p.; 14. David Guarneri (ITA, KTM), 13 p.; 15. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 13 p.; 16. Matiss Car (LAT, KTM), 10 p.; 17. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Honda), 8 p.; 18. Nicholas Aubin (FRA, Honda), 7 p.; 19. Cedric Soubeyras (FRA, Honda), 7 p.; 20. Mark de Reuver (NED, Kawasaki), 6 p.; 21. Loic Leonce (FRA, Yamaha), 4 p.; 22. Milko Potisek (FRA, Honda), 4 p.; 23. Matteo Bonini (ITA, KTM), 3 p.; 24. Jamie Law (GBR, KTM), 1 p.;Standings Motocross World Championship after 8 GPs
1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 345 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 298 p.; 3. Christopher Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 292 p.; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 289 p.; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Red Bull-KTM), 237 p.; 6. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 212 p.; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 211 p.; 8. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), 207 p.; 9. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 169 p.; 10. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), 168 p.; 11. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 137 p.; 12. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), 125 p.; 13. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Honda), 118 p.; 14. Matiss Karro (LAT, KTM), 112 p.; 15. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 108 p.; 16. Davide Guarneri (ITA, KTM), 98 p.; 17. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), 66 p.; 18. Dean Ferris (AUS, Kawasaki), 52 p.; 19. Anthony Boissiere (FRA, TM), 52 p.; 20. Cedric Soubeyras (FRA, Honda), 34 p.; 21. Matteo Bonini (ITA, KTM), 26 p.; 22. Herjan Brakke (NED, Yamaha), 24 p.; 23. Santtu Tiainen (FIN, Kawasaki), 21 p.; 24. Milko Potisek (FRA, Honda), 21 p.; 25. Marcus Schiffer (GER, Suzuki), 14 p.; 26. Alfie Smith (GBR, Yamaha), 12 p.; 27. Gregory Aranda (FRA, Yamaha), 11 p.; 28. Loic Leonce (FRA, Yamaha), 8 p.; 29. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, Honda), 7 p.; 30. Rodolfo Fernandez (USA, Yamaha), 7 p.; 31. Martin Garcia (MEX, KTM), 6 p.; 32. Mark de Reuver (NED, Kawasaki), 6 p.; 33. Raynear Mejia (DOM, Kawasaki), 6 p.; 34. Antonio Jorge Balbi JR (BRA, Kawasaki), 5 p.; 35. Gert Krestinov (EST, Honda), 5 p.; 36. Samir Rodriguez (MEX, Yamaha), 4 p.; 37. Wellington Garcia (BRA, Honda), 4 p.; 38. Mario Farfan (MEX, Honda), 3 p.; 39. Nathan Parker (GBR, KTM), 2 p.; 40. Donovan Garcia (MEX, Honda), 2 p.; 41. Giuzepe Vazquez (MEX, Yamaha), 2 p.; 42. Adrian Garrido (ESP, Honda), 2 p.; 43. Augusts Justs (LAT, Honda), 2 p.; 44. Jamie Law (GBR, KTM), 2 p.; 45. Pier Filippo Bertuzzo (ITA, Honda), 1 p.; 46. Martin Barr (IRL, Kawasaki), 1 p.; 47. Jose Luis Guzman (MEX, Kawasaki), 1 p.; 48. Paulo Alberto (POR, Suzuki), 1 p.;
The ninth round of the MX1 World Championship will take place on July 1 in Uddevalla, Sweden
