420 lights splashed the motocross Grand Prix circuit at Losail, Qatar for the first round of nineteen in 2017 MXGP and Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Clement Desalle was crackling among the vibe of electricity to post third position overall and release his account for a strong crack at the title with a podium trophy. Monster Energy Yamaha’s Romain Febvre was also a top three runner in the second moto when the wide, quick and jumpy track was at its roughest and most treacherous. In the MX2 class Kemea Yamaha’s Benoit Paturel contributed to an entertaining ‘duel’ with Pauls Jonass and the Frenchman missed out on the chequered flag by just over a second in both dashes; #6 posted a solid second to also prize-open the long campaign in the right way. MXGP continues to move east and for the first time this century will land into the motorcycle-racing-crazed territory of Indonesia and the brand new facility at Pangkal Pinang next weekend.
Clement Desalle, 3rd in MXGP: “It is really good to start the year on the podium. I was not happy with how things were going on Friday. It was hard to pass, it was not easy riding out there and I wasn’t pleased! It was much better today. I had a good feeling on the bike and that is very important for me and I had some good starts. I changed my mentality a little bit but so much depends how and where you are after the second corner! Today I could make a difference. The first race is done now and we can look ahead.”
Romain Febvre, 5th in MXGP:  “I think third was my place today. Tony and Gajser were really fast and I couldn’t fight with them yesterday. It was a shame in the first moto because I made two mistakes and lost the chance for third place on the podium. I was not feeling so sharp on the track or the bike…so I’m happy to take that third in the second race.”
Benoit Paturel, 2nd in MX2: “It’s good to start the season like this…but I pushed so hard to win! It was hard to pass because just one line was good and fast. Pauls was a little bit better than me but I will try to beat him in the next race. I think it will be very close between us this year. We have worked really hard for this speed.”
Author

Dan Lamb is a 12+ year journalist and the owner of MotoXAddicts.