Joël Roelants thanks to Saint-Toon!
We have not yet been able to find out what Angély's 'Sain-Jean' ever achieved. Dr. Toon Claes, renowned surgeon and patron saint of motocross riders, on the other hand, did an excellent job during the French GP. His presence even meant a world of difference for stagegoer Joël Roelants. The perseverance of the Negaan-JM Racing KTM pilot did the rest.
As has often happened this season, did your Saturday go downright poorly?
Joel Roelants: "Unfortunately yes! On Saturday just about everything went wrong. I couldn't find my way and the suspension wasn't to my liking either. In qualifying I also fell at the start. It wasn't until thirty seconds after the last one that I was able to leave and I ended up being 31th. That obviously gave me a very bad seat at the fence.”
A bad omen, because the start was also difficult due to the sand brought in?
Joel Roelants: “The rain from Saturday to Sunday certainly did not make things any better. There were tracks at the start that were completely under water. Then I have rap trying to prepare my place as best I can. Fortunately I had two super starts.”
Did you have to take a lot of risks at the start to get there?
Joel Roelants: "Anyway! Especially in the first series, I had a very good start and I left it open for a long time. While driving up I got mud from Musquin on my glasses. That's why I had to pull off a flipper first and I went from left to right, it was just a hair away from us all hitting the ground! Fortunately, it all turned out fine.”
The driving was also more than satisfactory?
Joel Roelants: "After the start I was able to ride well every time, my pace was good. In the second series I fell once and was still able to get on Shaun Simpson's wheel. Otherwise I might have finished second, but I was very pleased with Saturday. On Sunday I also had a different suspension and the engine ran excellently.”
We also heard afterwards that you had suffered a knee injury in Glen Helen, a torn meniscus and cruciate ligament in the left knee?
Joel Roelants: “I won't know exactly what it is until tomorrow (Tuesday) when I go to Herentals for a scan with Dr. Claes. It is probably a tear in the medial ligament. Toon was also present in Sain-Jean and that helped enormously. He treated my knee on Sunday morning and taped it up extensively. I had hardly any inconvenience while driving, certainly much less than last week. The team had also taken great care to adjust the bike to spare my knee. If the diagnosis is correct, there is not much we can do about the knee during the season, but I am not worried about it because it is an injury that you can keep under control.”
Photos credit: Samo Vidic/Red Bull Photofiles, CDS
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