Ken De Dycker continues to impress 30.04.2012: Ken De Dycker finished today’s motos respectively 7th and 4th at the treacherous Fermo track in Italy for the

Ken De Dycker finished today’s motos respectively 7th and 4th at the treacherous Fermo track in Italy for the third round of the FIM MX1 World Championship. Christophe Pourcel won the event ahead of De Dycker’s team mate Cairoli and Belgium’s Clément Desalle. De Dycker now sits in fifth in standings, trailing third placed Pourcel by only 11 points.


For De Dycker his fourth place finish in the second race was the well-deserved culmination of a great Italian weekend. On Friday, during the Red Bull-KTM media night, MX1 team manager Claudio De Carli had confirmed the Belgian’s positon with the team for the remainder of the season. Ken repaid the faith put forward by qualifying an excellent third on Saturday.


After a good start Keeno remained third for the complete race. A 17.000 strong crowd enjoyed the hot and sunny weather conditions in Fermo. The first 35 minute plus two lap race turned out to be a frustrating affair for the 27-year old. Ken started outside of the top ten and managed to make good progress, yet the fast hillside track proved hard to negotiate and offered few overtaking opportunities. After passing Soubeyras for seventh after eight laps De Dycker was not able to close down the gap with the riders in front of him.


In race two Ken powered his KTM SX-F 450 to a great start inside the top five. The difficult, technical first section of the track allowed him to charge to third behind Cairoli and Pourcel in no time. On the second lap the Red Bull-KTM rider made a small mistake in one of the uphill sections, he lost the momentum and Desalle made the pass. While De Dycker matched Desalle’s pace for most of the race the Suzuki rider remained just outside striking distance. Antonio Cairoli won the race.


Ken De Dycker: "The dirt was pretty tough to deal with this weekend. You had some deep ruts, soft spots where you didn’t expect them and hard, slippery places elsewhere! In the first moto I didn’t have a great start and that was half of my race gone, really. I struggled to get into the rhythm and I lost too much time in the opening laps.



My second moto was a lot better. I had a great start  and felt a lot more comfortable on the track. It was a pity to lose third, but for most of the race I had Desalle in my sight. Unfortunately I made a mistake with one and half lap to go. That’s when I lost hem, although I have to admit that it would have been extremely hard to find a passing opportunity anyway!


After all 4th in the moto was quite good, and given the conditions 5th place overall was fine. Obviously my weekend started of well when I received the confirmation from Claudio (De Carli) to stay with the team for the rest of the season. I’m really looking forward now to the next GP’s! Normally I had a Belgian Championship race scheduled for Tuesday but that has been cancelled due to excess rain. So now I can start preparing for the South-American double header.”




MX1 Race 1

1. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 40:45.152; ; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:00.807; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:10.841; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:45.920; 5. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:46.277; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:49.834; 7. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Red Bull-KTM), +0:57.051; 8. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), +0:59.812; 9. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +1:04.282; 10. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), +1:07.930; 11. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), +1:09.830; 12. Davide Guarneri (ITA, KTM), +1:20.842; 13. Matteo Bonini (ITA, KTM), +1:21.502; 14. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Honda), +1:30.149; 15. Cedric Soubeyras (FRA, Honda), +1:32.581; 16. Matiss Karro (LAT, KTM), +1:32.687; 17. Dean Ferris (AUS, Kawasaki), +1:33.574; 18. Anthony Boissiere (FRA, TM), +1:46.935; 19. Milko Potisek (FRA, Honda), +1:49.535; 20. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +1:54.514;



MX1 Race 2

1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 39:48.505; ; 2. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:09.147; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:15.265; 4. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Red Bull-KTM), +0:20.222; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:31.310; 6. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:42.169; 7. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), +0:54.334; 8. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +1:02.716; 9. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +1:05.010; 10. Dean Ferris (AUS, Kawasaki), +1:06.052; 11. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), +1:22.905; 12. Matiss Karro (LAT, KTM), +1:26.852; 13. Anthony Boissiere (FRA, TM), +1:46.079; 14. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:58.639; 15. Cedric Soubeyras (FRA, Honda), -1 lap(s); 16. Davide Guarneri (ITA, KTM), -1 lap(s); 17. Herjan Brakke (NED, Yamaha), -1 lap(s); 18. Alfie Smith (GBR, Yamaha), -1 lap(s); 19. Santtu Tiainen (FIN, Kawasaki), -1 lap(s); 20. Augusts Justs (LAT, Honda), -2 lap(s);



GP of Italy overall


1. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 47 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 45 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 38 p.; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 37 p.; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Red Bull-KTM), 32 p.; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 31 p.; 7. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), 25 p.; 8. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 25 p.; 9. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 23 p.; 10. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), 20 p.; 11. Dean Ferris (AUS, Kawasaki), 15 p.; 12. Matiss Karro (LAT, KTM), 14 p.; 13. Davide Guarneri (ITA, KTM), 14 p.; 14. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 13 p.; 15. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), 13 p.; 16. Cedric Soubeyras (FRA, Honda), 12 p.; 17. Anthony Boissiere (FRA, TM), 11 p.; 18. Matteo Bonini (ITA, KTM), 8 p.; 19. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Honda), 7 p.; 20. Herjan Brakke (NED, Yamaha), 4 p.; 21. Alfie Smith (GBR, Yamaha), 3 p.; 22. Santtu Tiainen (FIN, Kawasaki), 2 p.; 23. Milko Potisek (FRA, Honda), 2 p.; 24. Augusts Justs (LAT, Honda), 1 p.;



Provisional World Championship standings after three rounds


1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 133 points; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 116 p.; 3. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 106 p.; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 105 p.; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Red Bull- KTM), 95 p.; 6. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), 76 p.; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 72 p.; 8. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 69 p.; 9. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 69 p.; 10. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), 62 p.; 11. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), 58 p.; 12. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 54 p.; 13. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), 40 p.; 14. Davide Guarneri (ITA, KTM), 36 p.; 15. Matiss Karro (LAT, KTM), 35 p.; 16. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Honda), 33 p.; 17. Cedric Soubeyras (FRA, Honda), 27 p.; 18. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 24 p.; 19. Dean Ferris (AUS, Kawasaki), 22 p.; 20. Matteo Bonini (ITA, KTM), 21 p.; 21. Marcus Schiffer (GER, Suzuki), 14 p.; 22. Anthony Boissiere (FRA, TM), 12 p.; 23. Milko Potisek (FRA, Honda), 12 p.; 24. Gregory Aranda (FRA, Yamaha), 11 p.; 25. Herjan Brakke (NED, Yamaha), 10 p.; 26. Gert Krestinov (EST, Honda), 5 p.; 27. Alfie Smith (GBR, Yamaha), 3 p.;



The fourth round of the FIM MX1 World Championship will take place on the 13th of May in Guadalajara, Mexico



-Tom Jacobs, photos CDS