Clement Desalle gets a lucky break
By Sean Lawless on 3rd Mar 16
Clement Desalle flew into Qatar on Wednesday evening having been given clearance by his own medical advisors to contest the opening GP despite breaking his left radius two weeks before in Valence.
"Clement has a clean break,” explained KRT team manager François Lemariey, "and Doctor Claes considers that it's similar to a collarbone injury and he can recover faster than expected.
"He did some cycling last weekend and has been working daily to recover.
"He will ride the practice sessions and, depending on how he feels and the results, we will then decide whether or not he will race the GP.
"There is no pressure on any parties but we also don't want to have any regrets later – if it's possible for him to race safely we just want to collect some important points for the series during the first two GPs.
Maybe these points will be important at the end of the championship.”
Desalle was all smiles at Doha airport and again at the Thursday press conference.
"I remain positive,” he said. "We will see how it goes and hopefully I will be able to race for victories again in a few weeks.”
Desalle has a metal plate and screws to support the fracture of the radius and will wear a special support when racing.
Having passed the FIM medical – 10 press-ups – the Belgian rode five slow laps, the fastest 23 seconds off the pace, in free practice before sitting out the timed session.
"Clement will start the qualification race,” said team owner Thierry Chizat Suzzoni.
"But the aim is to finish the GP motos tomorrow.
"There are only 21 riders here so every DNF is a point which could prove
crucial at the end of the season.”
Desalle went through the motions in the qualifying race, letting the pack go and riding two laps at the pace of fellow backmarkers before pulling off.
On race day he hung on to the back of the pack despite discomfort.
"I was in a lot of pain,” he said.
"I couldn't do the big jumps and the acceleration bumps were also agony.”
He got two points at the expense of Alex Snow and one when Paulin DNF'd before returning to Belgium for further treatment before Thailand.
