The traditional opening races of the motocross season in Valence and Mantova (Italy) also marked the countdown initiation to the FIM MX1 World Championship. In exactly seven weeks time the highly anticipated 2012 season will begin with the Dutch Grand Prix in Valkenswaard.

For the Honda Europe supported LS Honda squad Valence was the perfect opportunity to embark a test and development programme with their recently signed new suspension partner Sölva Racing Suspensions.

After injuring his left hand in practice last week Barragan arrived at the spectacular hard pack track with doubts over his race fitness. Despite the soreness in his hand the fivefold GP winner managed to get some track time and gain valuable knowledge about his new bike.

However on Sunday morning the Spanish ace decided to pull out of the race in order to avoid complications with his injury. 

Ken De Dycker recorded a solid 10th qualifying time on Sunday morning. The opening MX1 race was a testing event for Keeno who started nearly dead last after some first corner misfortune.

From 27th position De Dycker climbed up to 10th after the twenty minute plus two lap sprint. Another weak start robbed Ken of his chances on a run with the front men in the second moto.

Still the LS Honda Racing showed good speed and advanced from mid-pack to a credible 7th position. With his best start of the day in the superfinal De Dycker was in the hunt for at least a top-five finish.

Unfortunately he hit his knee on the handlebars halfway through the race when sitting in sixth position and couldn’t continue because of the pain. 


Ken De Dycker, 12th overall “I needed some time to adapt to the new suspension and the hard pack track but I got faster as the weekend progressed. In the start of the first moto I was hit by another rider and went down so I got going from a long way back. I could have finished higher than tenth but Valence is so tough to pass with all the stones flying around when you’re right behind someone! We tried some adjustments with the suspension in the second moto but they didn’t work out as we had hoped. In terms of riding this race was my most difficult as well because I was not smooth enough, it took me ages to get around Bill and when I finally managed to pass him the moto was almost over. The Superfinal went pretty good until I lost the front and hurt my knee. Overall I’m quite satisfied with the work we have done allthough the final results were far from stunning. I will continue training and testing in France before racing in Lacapelle this weekend.”



Jonathan Barragan, DNS: “Before the weekend I feared that it would be too tough for my hand to ride all weekend long. So in the end it was not so disappointing that I couldn’t race. For me it was very important at least to get on the track with the new bike. My first impressions are really good though; I like the suspension, the new engine and the way the Dunlop tires performed in the slippery conditions. Of course we need to continue developing the package and there are some small adjustments we need to look into for the engine. but everyone is happy to get the confirmation we are working in the right direction. I had an X-Ray done to my hand last week and now (Monday night) the swelling of the hand is reducing, with three days more rest I will be ready to go for the start of the Spanish championship!”


Race 1: 1. Desalle, 2. Leok, 3. Frossard, 4. Paulin, 5. Schiffer, 6. Potisek, 7. Boog, 8. Kojima, 9. Bill, 10. Ken De Dycker (LS Honda Racing), 11. Pichon, 12. Simpson, 13. Martin, 14. Soubeyras, 15. Martens, 16. Lynggaard, 17. Annelot, 18. Priem, 19. Van Daele, 20. Oldekamp



Race 2: 1. Desalle, 2. Paulin, 3. Boog, 4. Leok, 5. Frossard, 6. Schiffer, 7. Ken De Dycker (LS Honda Racing-BEL), 8. Bill, 9. Soubeyras, 10. Simpson, 11.Potisek, 12. Pichon, 13. Kojima, 14. Martin, 15. Annelot, 16. Priem, 17. Martens, 18. Oldekamp, 18. Van Daele, 19. Lynggaard, 20. Mock


Race 3: Superfinal MX1/MX2 Valence 1.Desalle, 2. Frossard, 3. Paulin, 4. Boog, 5. Schiffer, 6. Tonus, 7. Soubeyras, 8. Potisek, 9. Simpson, 10. Leok, 11. Nicholls, 12. Kojima, 13. Teillet, 14. Martin, 15. Guiullod, 16. Bill, 17. Annelot, 18. Charlier, 19. Kullas, 20. Larsen DNF Ken De Dycker (LS Honda Racing)

Final classification MX1 Valence 1. Desalle 75, 2. Paulin 60, 3. Frossard 58, 4. Boog 51, 5. Leok 50, 6. Schiffer 46, 7. Potisek 35, 8. Soubeyras 30, 9. Simpson 29, 10. Kojima 27, 11. Bill 27, 12. Ken De Dycker (LS Honda Racing-BEL), 23, 13. Martin 19, 14. Pichon 17, 15. Annelot 11, 16. Martens 8, 17. Priem 6, 18. Lynggaard 4, 19. Van Daele 2, 20. Oldekamp 2

NEXT WEEKEND:

Reigning Spanish MX1 champion Jonathan Barragan will start his title defence in Albaida, Valencia. Team mate Ken 
De Dycker heads to the Monster Energy Masters Motocross of Lacapelle-Marival in France.