Will Clement Desalle be World Champion this year? It is not an unreasonable question and while the Belgian’s name will always tend to be included in the small group touted for title success I’d argue that #25 is currently looking in pretty damn good shape.
2017 is the second term for the 28 year old with the factory Kawasaki. Last season was a lot for Desalle to deal with: a change away from Sylvain Geboers’ acutely effective Suzuki unit after six campaigns, a brand new KX450F to develop, fresh working environment for an athlete who has a particular feel and requirement for bike set-up (there was a similar overhaul and period of acclimatisation when he moved from a satellite Honda to ‘yellow’ at after a breakthrough 2009), a broken arm at the end of a promising pre-season period and less than two weeks before the opening Grand Prix at Qatar and then the birth of daughter Emma. Hectic times. Clement salvaged a 2016 that huffed-and-puffed with victory at a rainy Assen for the Dutch round – his twentieth in MXGP (the only GP class he has contested with anger) and with the signs of more to come.
Clement has always touted a manta of needing to find fun on the bike. It was his way of delivering optimum speed and a technique and form of attack that makes him a formidable opponent. Initially he found indifference in the paddock due to a slight shyness, reluctance with his English in the early days, a disregard for elements of the game like social media, handshakes and back slaps and some sly racecraft that often induced criticism of his tactics.
At times in Kawasaki green Desalle has born the facial expression of his struggles, and simply through his riding it was easy to see that he was missing the last final clicks to be able to sprint away from the pack as in his Suzuki heyday. 2017 has been quite different and Clement deserves credit for bringing alternative mentality to his racing. Before, his dissatisfaction with his rivals, the state of some grand prix tracks and the way a weekend would not evolve to his expectations would produce an easy frown. Clement himself said in 2016 that he was adopting a more positive approach to his craft and the presence of his expanded family had a calming effect – the clichéd reorganising of priorities. He had always counted on the counsel and company of his parents, and often his sister but over the last two years girlfriend Andrea and of course Emma.
Desalle appreciates his fans and those around him whom have won his trust. He is a polite and well-educated individual who is very much a homebody with his pet projects and pets (he’s an animal lover and wholly tolerates the bizarre ‘MX Panda’ tag). Parts of being a professional racer may irk him but he obviously cares passionately about motorcycling; whether it is the chance to ride a Superbike with Jonathan Rea, riding Enduro and marshalling at local event with friends or just disappearing into the local woods for some bike time. He has tried triathlon competition and while little is known of his training preferences for motocross he has never been accused of lacking the fitness or preparation to endure an entire calendar of pressure.
And the sport has been particularly cruel. Both shoulders have been battered and operated. The lowest point perhaps being his first corner crash at the 2013 Motocross of Nations that meant he painfully and palely mounted the podium as part of the triumphant Team Belgium but his face wore the look of utter dejection knowing a winter of surgery and recuperation lay ahead.
MXGP rolls onto Italy this weekend with Desalle owning the last two rounds in a row. Perhaps the most promising aspect of his results have been consistency with starts that again hark back to the prolificacy of his time with the RM-Z450 (he was always lively out of the gate) and the boost of confidence to this now experienced and smarter racer. Without waiting to cast a jinx, Clement has kept the errors to a minimum in 2017 and now needs to play old foe Tony Cairoli at his own game. The Sicilian will be eyeing the results sheets in each and every moto and charting his progress and position in relation to the pursing Desalle and Paulin (with one eye also on Jeffrey Herlings). Desalle needs to start doing the same. Not necessarily focussing on race victories but putting the KTM man in his roost at every available opportunity to claw back that 47 point gap. The KRT representative has build an excellent platform of performance and prosperity since Qatar and this could finally be his time to make it all count.
We did an interview four years ago where Desalle felt content and patient with his status in MXGP. He was young and he knew his time would come. Motocross has a tendency to wreck dreams, bodies and minds in an instant and Clement has had his low moments since then, so much so that last summer he questioned the limit-searching of new peers like Romain Febvre and Tim Gajser, the last two world champions who are now weathering the harsh side of the sport. At the age of 28 he is arguably finding something of a peak. It might not be the rapier-ish kind of speed that Herlings or the younger aspirants can turn-in but it is more than enough to forge those overall scorecards.
Clement would be an interesting world champion because he holds the values of an older form of motocross. And of course would be the first golden plate holder for Belgium since 2007. He has morphed from the occasional bad boy of the story to one that neutral fans – especially the media – are hoping lasts right until the end and takes this 2017 narrative to an exciting conclusion. After two seasons of unexpected and surprising title winners it is strange how the older elite have emerged back on top. If Tony Cairoli takes a ninth crown at the age of thirty-one then it will be a great comeback story but if Desalle can finally make it then there will be some reassurance in the force of the sporting gods that talent and application can be rewarded.
Photos by Ray Archer
