Yesterday in Mill, Holland De Dycker rode well to finish a close second to Philippaerts in the opening moto, but suffered from the flu and failed to finish the second moto. We decided to chat with him.

MXlarge: Ken, how you feeling?

De Dycker: I am a little bit sick at the moment.

MXlarge:  You have ridden a few races in the pre-season; can you let me know about your feeling in the races?

De Dycker: Valence was for testing, we tested many things on the bike and it wasn’t working well and we develop more and more, and finally in Mill yesterday in practice it was working better. We need to do more and more things with the ignition and also make the fuel injection better. For all the races I did so far we have some problems.

MXlarge: How is your speed?

De Dycker: My speed has been good, but I’ve had problems with things on the bike, and that makes it difficult. Yesterday in practice I was trying to do my best, but because I am sick I couldn’t breathe really good, then the first moto was okay, not a good start but I came through to first and had a good race with Philippaerts, then at the end he passed me and I was right behind him, so that was good.

MXlarge: How was your second moto in Mill?

De Dycker: The second race I had a really bad pain in my chest and needed to go to the toilet a lot. I didn’t feel good. On the start I put the bike into gear and the bike stopped, the engine stopped and I kicked it and got going, had to come from the back, then I crashed once, came up too short over a jump and just got back on the bike and rode around, but then I stopped because I didn’t feel good.

MXlarge: Mill is a tough circuit, and with the weather we have had it must have been hard work?

De Dycker: The circuit was really rough, Mill is a different circuit, and it’s really black and gets bumpy and really hard. I almost didn’t ride on tracks like that and our suspension was setup for hard pack.

MXlarge: And what do you have coming up now, before Bulgaria?

De Dycker: Maybe I am going to do an Italian Championship round, but I don’t think so, I hope the guys come here and we can do more testing in the sand.

MXlarge: What is your goal for the first Grand Prix?

De Dycker: For Bulgaria I need to be 90% ready, the season is long and it’s best to be prepared for the top five finishes and then build on it. Around the third Grand Prix in Valkenswaard I want to be more 100%.

MXlarge: Guys like Philippaerts, Cairoli and Ramon look strong in the early races. What do you think of their speed?

De Dycker: They are riding good, Philippaerts impressed me how he was riding in the week I was in Italy. I can’t imagine they do the whole season like that he would need to be superman. For me it’s important to be ready for the second or third Grand Prix.

MXlarge: It seems to me like you have done a lot of races so far. Why is that?

De Dycker: I’ve done like six races already, it’s not a lot, the bike wasn’t ready first and was a bit off and we want to do more races, I need the bike to be like when I like it. Maybe I do the second round of the Dutch Championship in Halle next weekend. I’ve raced Mantova, but my feeling was bad because of the engine. Valence I didn’t do well, and now the bike is getting better so I want to go to Halle and get a better feeling before racing the GP’s.