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Third podium in a row for Romain Febvre
Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP's Romain Febvre pulled himself back into contention in his defense of the FIM World MXGP Motocross Championship title with his third podium in a row in the British round of the series at Foxhills Moto Parc.
The Frenchman immediately slotted into fourth in the long run to Turn 2 in the first moto. The front four were so fast that they had dropped the remainder of the field by more than 20 seconds by half-distance, but such was the pace that none could make a pass until four laps from the end when the rider in third finally succumbed to the pressure from Febvre. The Kawasaki rider then closed down second but ran out of time to mount an attack and had to be satisfied with third at the finish. The second moto was even more tense as Febvre again gated fourth but was third within half a lap and engaged in a titanic chase as the leading trio matched each other's tempo. At 20 minutes, he started to apply the pressure and reaped the reward as the rider ahead was forced into a mistake. Continuing to lap faster than his rivals, he was in the wheeltracks of the leader through the closing stages and went into the final lap less than a second back, but there was no way through, and he had to be satisfied with second in the moto and overall. With the points leader experiencing a difficult GP and the Frenchman claiming 51 points over the weekend, he has nearly halved the gap to the red plate heading into the final seven rounds of the series.
"I'm feeling good at the moment, and we are building every weekend. The track was a little different each day; yesterday the dirt was deeper, but it packed hard today so it was good for the race. The starts are coming now so I can run at the front with the other guys from the word go; there were some options for different lines today, but it was still difficult to pass because we had similar speed. I still didn't take a moto on race day yet, but I'm trying to stay consistent. I'm feeling strong physically, I'm getting closer to the win every week, and I'm excited for the next races as I really like both Loket and Lommel."
- Romain Febvre
It was a traumatic day for his KRT teammate Pauls Jonass, who experienced a frustrating first moto and an even more unfortunate Race 2. The Latvian moved into the Top 6 through the first few turns of race one, but was desperately unlucky when a rider ahead of him dislodged a tuff-bloc directly into his rut on the second lap, and the resultant fall demoted him to 22nd. With three laps remaining, momentum had taken him to within sight of the Top 10 until he clipped the rear wheel of the rider who eventually finished 10th in a rut and fell again. 17th at the finish was a meager reward for such speed and effort. A superb opening lap in Race 2 saw him quickly move from outside the Top 10 to seventh, and he was looking at further advances until a heavy crash at the bottom of a long steep descent left him needing on-track medical assistance. He retains 10th in the series standings.
"It was a big crash for Pauls. It is never nice to see these things, but it is better than we feared initially; now we need further checks during the coming days, and then he needs to rest. We will take it day by day before we make any decisions for the next races. On the positive side, Romain [Febvre] was so strong and solid, both his riding and the starts all weekend, and it was really good for the championship.”
- Antti Pyrhönen (KRT team manager):
Dixon Racing Team Kawasaki's wild card entry Taylor Hammal rode an outstanding first MXGP moto. Gating 13th, amongst the GP regulars, he remained calm and error-free, his lap times hardly fluctuating from start to finish; he even held 10th for a while before a more experienced rival eased past halfway round the final lap. But 11th was still an impressive performance. Unfortunately, he was eliminated on the opening lap of Race 2 in an incident with others.
The first FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship moto was a heartbreak for DRT Kawasaki's Kay Karssemakers. A midfield start saw him 18th at the first timing split but was already 11th after one lap and had advanced to ninth before the bike ground to a halt and cost him another Top 10 finish. Determined to rebound in Race 2, the Dutchman gated just inside the Top 10 and even held seventh for three laps after an aggressive first half lap. He maintained eighth for a quarter of an hour before an incident cost four positions, but he fought back to regain 10th four laps later and hold it until he was pushed back to 11th on the penultimate lap. He is now 11th in the series standings.
