Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Clement Desalle will have further checks on his left knee upon returning to Europe this week after stretching the joint in qualification for the Monster Energy Grand Prix of USA last Saturday.

The 27-year-old commented that the problem felt similar to the injury that he suffered at the Grand Prix of France last summer but the severity was less and he was optimistic over any ligament damage.

The ailment was enough to discount the Grand Prix of the Netherlands winner out of the motos on Sunday and bookended a frustrating first term with the factory Kawasaki crew that began with a lot of promise but was affected by a broken arm two weeks before the GP season kicked off at Qatar.

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Depending on the outcome of further scans Desalle could well be out of the Belgian team for the Motocross of Nations and Kemea Yamaha’s Brent Van Doninick has been put on standby for the MX2 slot allowing Jeremy Van Horebeek to switch back to his Yamaha YZ450F. Clement was also announced last weekend to represent Kawasaki at the new SMX Rider’s Cup at the Veltins Arena on October 8.