Clement Desalle took a solid sixth place overall finish in the 450 Class at Thunder Valley. Image: Simon Cudby.

FIM Motocross World Championship MX1 regulars Clement Desalle and Kevin Strijbos both landed themselves impressive top 10 overall finishes in their first of two appearances in the 2013 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing.

With a break in the world championship schedule, the duo packed their bags and made their way to the US to join the Rockstar Energy Racing team at Thunder Valley’s round two in Lakewood, Colorado.

Desalle, currently sitting third overall in the world championship standings, put together two solid 30-minute motos to take away a satisfying sixth overall in the stacked 450 Class.

“I’m quite satisfied with this race, I got a good qualifying time and a reasonable start in the first moto,” said Desalle. “I was trying to get hold of the first guys to follow this rhythm but made a small mistake which allowed [Trey] Canard to pass.

“I worked to pass him back since I felt I was faster than him, but it wasn’t so easy to get by him. In the second moto my start was not as good as the first moto, but I didn’t have the strength to push forward. I think all the travelling to and from Brazil might have taken its toll there.”

Although the Belgian rider enjoys the US race day format, he admits that it does take some time to get used to the fast pace of the event.

“The format takes some getting used to with just two timed practice runs and everything put into one day,” Desalle added. “But I don’t think it’s bad, in the end it’s the same for everyone.”

Rockstar Energy Suzuki teammate Strijbos admits that he was unsure of what to expect entering the Colorado event, but with strong qualifying results he quickly gained confidence against his competition.

“It’s a great experience,” Strijbos said “I didn’t know what to expect but after the qualifying sessions I felt comfortable on the track and felt my speed was good in opposition to the others.”

Strijbos took a fall in moto one, forcing himself to push his way back to 10th place and use up valuable energy. He then returned for moto two where he earned himself an eighth place finish for ninth overall on the day.

“I’m a little bummed about falling in the start of moto one,” he added. “I managed to come back to 10th which in the end was good, but also took a lot of energy.

“So for the second race I felt after a few laps that I had to settle for a slightly lower pace to get through the race, which in the end wasn’t bad either with an eighth position. It’s good working with the guys from Rockstar Energy Racing – we’re learning in both ways here!”

Both Desalle and Strijbos will head to Corona in California to continue testing before they head to round three of the series at the Muddy Creek Motocross track in Tennessee next weekend.