On Track Off Road No.184

FEATURE
In the first months of 2009 I remember
asking factory Yamaha rider and
reigning MXGP (then ‘MX1’) world
champion David Philippaerts who he
thought would be one of the biggest
threats for the forthcoming season. It
was quite surprising to hear the Italian
utter “Clement Desalle”. The Belgian,
then just nineteen years old, had caught
the eye with some bursts of speed on a
250cc two-stroke in the premier class
and was a feisty prospect that did not
move over or show much respect to the
older and experienced names of the
class.
“IT’S INTERESTING TO SEE WHERE
EVERYBODY IS BUT YOU CAN NOTICE
IN OTHER SPORTS AS WELL THAT
SOME GUYS ARE ALWAYS PUSHING
MORE AND MORE; LIKE THERE IS NO
LIMIT FOR PREPARATION...”
Desalle had been a promising youth
prospect, known to the establishment
but eschewed the 250s and MX2 to jump
straight in at the deep end. Struggling a
little with his English and already distinctive
for his intensity and aloofness #25
was easy to capture as the pantomime
villain against the flamboyance of Tony
Cairoli, the liveliness of Marc de Reuver,
the steadfastness of Josh Coppins
and the smooth, uncontroversial form of
Steve Ramon.
Although in a privateer LS Honda setup
(his mechanic at the time is now his
Team Manager at Monster Energy Kawasaki
Francois Lemariey) Desalle fulfilled
Phillippaerts tip: he won two Grands Prix
that year, finished third in the championship
and firmly ‘arrived’ at the highest
level. A good example of Clement’s forthright
character, directness and his unwillingess
to always play the PR game came
in the second victory in the season-closing
Brazilian Grand Prix at Canelinha.
When asked if the triumph mattered
more at the heavily Honda-backed event
the Belgian replied “no, because Honda
do not support me much…”