The injury at round three in Holland and his absence in the classification for the Dutch GP means that the 20 year old Belgian would most certainly be chasing Antonio Cairoli hard in the MX1 World Championship point-standings as round seven of the FIM series at St Jean D'Angely looms this weekend.

The Grand Prix of France is set to occur at the impressive venue east of La Rochelle near the coast and Desalle will steer his factory RM-Z450WS in anger for the first time at the hillside circuit, just one week after sealing third position at the USGP in the climes of California.

The close proximity of the flyaway to the meeting in France means that the riders and teams will be fighting fatigue from the long travelling distance heading into the Grand Prix. Desalle will be buoyed by the podium at Glen Helen and indeed the positive results since swiftly returning to fitness after his shoulder mishap. The 2009 Belgian Champion moved up to third in the World Championship after last Sunday and needs 22 to overhaul Max Nagl. "Just one week after the USA this might be a tough GP," said Desalle. "St Jean could be quite different this year. It is a strange track, very narrow in places and the ground is stony with that weird sand section at the top."

Steve Ramon has finished second (2007) and fourth (2008) at the last two Grand Prix events to be held at the hard-pack course of St Jean. The venue itself is set to host the 2011 Motocross of Nations - a competition it entertained in 2000 - and has now undergone modifications thanks to the expert opinion of former Suzuki 250cc World Champion on the RM250, Mickael Pichon.

"I really like St Jean," said Ramon who gained his first moto victory for Suzuki (the fourth of his career) there in 2007. "I don't know why but I have always had some good results there. It is pretty fast with hard ground and could be slippery in the rain. The atmosphere is normally good because the spectators are around the track and they crowd the hill opposite."

Ramon scored a steady a fifth at Glen Helen and is in the process of working up to the excellent speed and form he was enjoying before an unfortunate spill in qualification for the Grand Prix of Portugal last month. The former World Champion and the only rider to give the RM-Z450 an MX1 world title so far is sixth in the standings but only 11 points from fourth.

Hard upon the first flyaway event of the season, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2's Ken Roczen will discover the St Jean D'Angely circuit for the Grand Prix of France this weekend and will be hoping for a reversal of the luck that has plagued him in the last three motos.

The sixteen year old finished fourth at Glen Helen for the USGP last weekend and will now enter the seventh round of 15 in the FIM MX2 Motocross World Championship knowing he must try and reduce the advantage held by World Champion and title rival Marvin Musquin in the Standings.

Roczen was charging towards his first Grand Prix victory of 2010 in Spain three weeks ago until some cruel luck with a mechanical problem halted his plight. In California last Sunday, problems with other riders in the starts of both motos meant that he was struggling to offer Musquin any challenge for the overall triumph.

Now 40 points adrift, the German will have to call on all of his determination and phenomenal ability to reign-in and defeat the Champion on home turf this coming Sunday. Team-mate on the fuel injected RM-Z250, Arnaud Tonus (eighth in the championship), travels to St Jean aiming to get back in the proximity of the top five after some of his own misfortune has led to 14th and eighth positions in the last two events after his bright sixth place in Portugal.

Tonus will at least be able to carry some local knowledge into the French GP thanks to hours spent training on the St Jean hard-pack. The well-established circuit, supported by an enthusiastic and hard-working club, has shared entertaining duties of the World Championship with Ernee (near Le Mans) since the start of the century. The natural valley setting has undergone a facelift with advice from former Suzuki World Champion Mickael Pichon but should still involve the same slippery and stony dirt and numerous climbs up the hillside with the amphitheatre setting providing excellent views to the fans on the opposite side of the gully.

"I like St Jean because it normally has this hard-pack type of dirt, which is my thing," said the Swiss Tonus, whose family have a holiday home relatively nearby in the city of Bordeaux. "The track might have changed a bit but the dirt will be the same. I know St Jean and I think this place will be good for me." In contrast, Roczen is a newcomer: "I have never been there but I think it will be something I will get on with. My luck has to change!"

The weather forecast for the weekend predicts cloudy conditions for Saturday with brighter and sunnier skies for Sunday. At 15-16 degrees, the average temperatures should be half that of the USGP last weekend.