Palpable in the 23 year old’s voice was his concern over what would be possible at Uddevalla only six days after dislocating his right shoulder in the fourth round of the Belgian series last Sunday.

The factory Suzuki rider has veered between near-perfection (USA and Portugal) to error-prone (Brazil and Spain) each week. While there is little doubt he is one of the main title contenders (out of a realistic group of just three) the increasingly good form of world champ Tony Cairoli – both are tied on five podiums from seven – means Desalle’s authority on the category that he has fronted since round three has diminished.

The bulk of the conversation appeared in an Suzuki email shot but Desalle also expressed dissatisfaction with the way that his aim to compete this weekend has been misread in the press and he’d be lucky to take to the line at all. This was hinted at in the lines released this afternoon: “It is incredible. It is almost hard to accept it has happened actually. I read on the internet that I am OK to race but moving the arm is one thing and then racing a forty minute grand prix moto is another.”

Desalle did win the 2010 Portuguese GP two weeks after dislocating the same right limb in Holland. On that occasion he had seven more days to recover and get his head around the possibilities of riding in a weakened state. The dislocation also occurred at round three and while the double ‘0’ undoubtedly helped Cairoli towards the title that year Desalle was in his first term as a works Suzuki rider and the pressure was in a different sphere. Maybe it won’t count for all that much but Desalle (who was on the box with 2nd in Sweden in 2010) could also face a stiff challenge from the same awning this weekend with team-mate Steve Ramon having earned four podiums from the last four appearances at Uddevalla…will team orders rear their head at the mid-point stage of the season?

Watch out for Tweets @OntrackOffroad and a Blog update from Sweden this weekend