Rockstar Energy Suzuki’s Kevin Strijbos, Clement Desalle and Glenn Coldenhoff swept the podium in their first International race of the season at the Hawkstone Park International Motocross in the UK on Sunday.
The 2015 Factory RM-Zs dominated practice, qualifying and all three races; World MXGP number three Strijbos winning the two main races, plus the Superfinal as Desalle raced-to runner-up slot in each. MXGP class rookie Coldenhoff also impressed with a 4-3-5 result in his first international debut aboard the Factory RM-Z450 after moving-up from the MX2 class.
The Suzuki International Europe-supported rider was the fastest rider out of the gate in both motos – taking the holeshot – and he continued to lead for several laps until arm-pump forced him to slow, but fourth and third positions rewarded him third overall on the podium in his first-ever international outing on the powerful Suzuki RM-Z450.
Kevin Strijbos: “I went to the race without expecting too much as I had been a bit sick the last week and didn’t ride much in the sand after I got back from training in the US. It was always a bit difficult in the beginning of the races, but I gained momentum as the races went on and this turned out good. I’m stoked for the team to have such a good start to the season and I’m looking forward to the next races!”
Clement Desalle: “It was a good day; a bit cold in the morning but good in the afternoon. I’m not such a big fan of the start on the concrete at Hawkstone, but still did ok in the race with three second-places. Strijbos was pretty-strong in the sand here, but I didn’t lose too-much time there either. The racing was good – and there were no crashes – so it’s been a good training race!”
Glenn Coldenhoff: “I got good starts in the races, but went-in a bit-too aggressive. The consequences were that I almost immediately got arm-pump, that didn’t really go away in any of the heats. I had to slow down, but still had a good finish. In the Superfinal I had a bad start when someone took my line, but like (Shaun) Simpson I rode through the pack and put-in great effort in the last two laps and managed to pass him. So all-in-all, I’m quite happy with the result!”
Race 1: Kevin Strijbos (Rockstar Energy Suzuki), 2 Clement Desalle (Rockstar Energy Suzuki), 3 Shaun Simpson, 4 Glenn Coldenhoff (Rockstar Energy Suzuki).
Race 2: 1 Strijbos,2 Desalle, 3 Coldenhoff, 4 Simpson.
Superfinal: 1 Strijbos, 2 Desalle, 3 Jordi Tixier, 5 Coldenhoff.
