Romain Febvre handed the Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP a stunning result in Qualifying for the Dutch round of the FIM World MXGP Motocross Championship at Arnhem as he charged up the leaderboard to finish runner-up, less than a second behind the race-long leader.
The Frenchman remained cool despite a heavy fall through a hectic Timed Practice to earn the seventh gate-pick as mere fractions separated the leaderboard placings but he was immediately in electrifying form as the gate dropped for the Qualifying race. Fourth through the tricky opening left-right turns, he soared through the rugged waves to take over third entering turn three and, setting the fastest lap of the race, he closed down the two leaders as the trio fought a pulsating high-speed battle. With just over three laps remaining he showed his track craft to perfection to mount an enthralling pass for second and homed in on the leader to miss victory by less than a second.
Romain Febvre: “I had a good Qualifying race, despite having a pretty big crash during the Timed Practice session! We have been working on the starts and my jump out of the gate was OK as I was leading after five meters but I shifted a little bit too early to third gear and lost some momentum. I was fourth at the first corner, but I could quickly pass for third and raced almost all the race behind Glenn and Jorge. I was a little faster but there were not so many lines to pass; finally I could pass Prado and tried to catch Coldenhoff on the last lap but I couldn’t quite make it. It was a good race; I’m just a little disappointed as I felt that I could have won it!”
KRT teammate Jeremy Seewer also showed excellent pace through the early laps to hold fifth for three laps before a fall pushed him back to tenth at the chequered flag.
Jeremy Seewer: “I actually like this track and have a good feeling for it but I just didn’t ride as I can today; it’s a sketchy kind of sand here but we train a lot in these conditions so we are all used to it. I got pushed wide from P3 at the first turn but stayed top-five for three laps; perhaps I could have finished seventh but then I had a small crash in the middle of the race. I think with good starts I can do two good motos tomorrow and finish top-six.”
Bike It Kawasaki MX2 Racing Team’s Jack Chambers had a solid ride to finish twelfth in Qualifying for the FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship after challenging for top-ten throughout the race, while France’s Quentin Marc Prugnières qualified another KX250 in tenth position.
Jack Chambers: “I was happy with my riding today; fourteenth in Timed Practice and twelfth in Qualifying. It was a positive day taken that a lot of these riders race sand all year while I trained in sand for two days this week for the first time since we raced Sardinia the first week of April. The track definitely developed well for racing as you could jump the bumps better and play with the track in Qualifying. I got a decent start and could concentrate on riding my own race. It’s gonna be tough tomorrow but I’m looking forward to two solid starts and making the top-ten.”
Photocredits – Fullspectrum Media
