A consistent Manuel Priem came third overall. Reigning Belgian champ Steve Ramon, was on the loosing end in Nismes, only finishing sixth overall. Ramon still leads the championship although his advantage on the De Dycker has diminished to only 1 point.

Spain’s Jonathan Barragan seemed unstoppable in the opening heat, quickly building up to a five-second lead over Suzuki mounted duo De Dycker and Desalle. First it was De Dycker who made a mistake and leader Barragan followed suit one lap later.

Eventually an eager Desalle raced to his first ever United Telecom Trophy heat win. Manuel Priem came home second after an impressive comeback. Ramon took third ahead of Barragan and Dutchman Bas Verhoeven.

Jevgeni Tyletski crashed out after being fastest out of the gate. Ken De Dycker then took the lead and proved unstoppable. At first Desalle was able to follow De Dycker. Jonathan Barragan had a bit of a moment when he crashed after a step up jump.

Ramon and Priem had a bit of a scrap for third, but in the end it was “The bomb” who prevailed. Kevin Strijbos closed in on Priem to take second. German ace Dennis Scröter reached his best result of the day finishing sixth. Once again Yevgeni Tyletski went to the ground in the opening stages of the race.

This time he took a couple of other riders with him. Ramon led initially but teammate De Dycker was soon able to relegate him to second. Behind them Barragan took it easy while Desalle was making some serious headway after his second turn crash.

The Walloon crowd was behind Desalle all the way, cheering him to the front of the race. Near the end of the race De Dycker let Ramon by. But Ramon wouldn’t lead for long. His chain ran off and Ramon had to adjust it, himself.

De Dycker won in front of Barragan and Desalle, Ramon collected just 3 points while finishing 18th.

HEAT 1 1. Desalle, 2. Priem, 3. Ramon, 4. Barragan, 5. Verhoeven, 6. Strijbos, 7. Salaets, 8. Theybers, 9. De Dycker, 10. Tyletski

HEAT 2 1. De Dycker, 2. Desalle, 3. Ramon, 4. Priem, 5. Strijbos, 6. Schröter, 7. Theybers, 8. Barragan, 9. Salaets, 10. Besonhé

HEAT 3 1. De Dycker, 2. Barragan, 3. Desalle, 4. Priem, 5. Strijbos, 6. Schröter, 7 Columb, 8. Verhoeven, 9. Theybers, 10. Vanderheyden

OVERALL “NISMES” 1. Clément Desalle (BEL-Suzuki) 68 ptn, 2. Ken De Dycker (BEL-Suzuki) 62 ptn, 3. Manuel Priem (BEL-Kawasaki) 58 ptn, 4. Jonathan Barragan (SPA-KTM) 53 ptn, 5. Kevin Strijbos (BEL-Kawasaki) 47 ptn, 6. Steve Ramon (BEL-Suzuki) 43 ptn, 7. Bas Verhoeven (NED-Kawasaki) 39 ptn, 8. Danny Theybers (BEL-Suzuki) 39 ptn, 9. Kristof Salaets (BEL-Honda) 35 ptn, 10. Dennis Schröter (DUIKTM) 30 ptn

POINT STANDINGS UNITED TELECOM TROPHY 1. Steve Ramon 184 ptn, 2. Ken De Dycker 183 ptn, 3.Manuel Priem 157 ptn, 4. Danny Theybers 106 ptn, 5. Kevin Strijbos 105 ptn,6. Sven Breugelmans 86 ptn, 7. Scotty Columb 76 ptn, 8. Kristof Salaets 74 ptn, 9. Josh Coppins 70 ptn, 10. Jurgen Van Nooten 70 ptn

Quotes

Clément Desalle, winner (Inotec-Suzuki)

“I’m really happy obviously, to win in front of my home crowd was really nice! Honestly I didn’t expect to win here today, but I pushed hard and I made it happen. My first heat went really well with a great start and I was able to take advantage of the mistakes the others (note: Barragan and De Dycker) made. In the second race, De Dycker was going just a little bit to quik, although I was able to run with him for some laps. As the day continued my starts got worse and I was hit by Tyletsky at the start of the last heat, but I felt strong and I was able to come back. It was a great day and I wasn’t even that tired afterwards!”

Ken De Dycker, second (Teka-Suzuki)

“Unfortunately I crashed in the first heat, otherwise things might have been different. My riding was okay and I had some good lines out there. Even this morning when I was fastest in qualifying. Also we have been working on the bike set-up, with things like different sprockets and so on. That really helped me with the starts. I made up quite a lot of ground in the championship on Steve today, that’s why I’m even more bummed that I will have to miss the Orp-le-Grand round, because I really want to win the Belgian title!”

Manuel Priem, third (Kawasaki Racing Team)

“This is my very first podium in the United Telecom Trophy this season and overall it’s been a really good day. I was consistent and I get the feeling that I’m gaining momentum again. The next race in the series is the “Keiheuvel” race and I’m really looking forward to that one, because it’s in the sand and I should do well there. I have narrowed the gap with Ramon down to 27 points, so that’s a promising prospect for the coming races.”

The fourth race of the United Telecom Trophy takes place on August 15th at the Keiheuvel in Balen.

More info about the event on: www.unitedtelecomtrophy.com