Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Romain Febvre raced to an overwhelming victory at the fourth round of the 2025 FIM World MXGP Motocross Championship in the unrelenting sand of Riola Sardo on Sardinia.
The Frenchman already gave notice of his intentions by posting the fastest lap-time during morning Warm-up to dispel the previous day’s frustration and he used KX450-SR traction superbly in both motos, sweeping around the outside of turn one to emerge top-six each time from the disadvantageous outside-gate handed to him by his misfortune in Qualifying. In the first moto he surrendered a couple of positions on the opening lap as he sought to settle in traffic but by mid-moto he was on the charge, an immaculate pass on the series leader securing fourth on lap eleven. A series of 1-48 laps saw him close down the leading trio before running out of time to mount a final assault for the moto podium. He wasted no time in race two to move into third already on the opening lap and could patiently wait for the race to settle before launching two superbly-timed passes to take the lead on lap seven of eighteen and confidenty maintain a slender but secure advantage to the chequered flag around the rugged track for the twenty-second overall GP win and fiftieth GP moto win of his illustrious career. It was also his third podium in four GPs this season and consolidates second place in the world championship series standings.
Romain Febvre: “This was a very emotional win. We had an issue yesterday in Qualifying but today I regrouped. I was fast and could make the difference. I was so happy at the way I could secure this victory from P20 at the gate. I made good starts from there but my first lap was not so good in moto one; I got passed by a couple of guys and by the time I got to fourth the first three were quite far. I knew I couldn’t make the same mistakes in race two so I pushed the first two laps to third and then settled into my rhythm with no risks and a good flow. I took my time to pass Gifting and once I had taken the lead I avoided mistakes; I knew Tim was not far behind but I was riding comfortably. This is one of the two toughest tracks of the year so my victory shows that we are working in a good way.”
In addition to Febvre’s personal career landmarks the success also marked the three-hundredth motocross GP victory by a French rider. It was Febvre’s ninth success in Green; other Kawasaki riders to have stood proudly on the top step of the podium whilst La Marsellaise was played have been Sébastien Tortelli (20 GPs), Livia Lancelot (15), Mickael Maschio (7), Christophe Pourcel (6), Sébastien Pourcel (5) and Dylan Ferrandis (2) with one win each for Yves Demaria and Steven Frossard.
Photocredits Full Spectrum Media