Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Romain Febvre qualified third for tomorrow’s ninth round of the FIM World MXGP Motocross Championship at Ernee in his native France.
The series-points leader, who had posted the second-fastest lap in Timed Practice, lost traction after touching with his neighbor at the gate in the Qualifying race but rode a tight line through turn one to emerge sixth and was quickly fifth. He was already fourth at the end of the opening lap but progress proved more difficult after that until he sliced inside his next rival for third in the final turn of lap three to set his sights on the leaders. He gradually closed the gap but the rider ahead was resolute in defending the inside line at every turn; on occasions the Kawasaki leader was able to pull alongside but could not quite execute the final pass and after a slight error as he tried to turn tight in a corner on the final lap he eventually had to settle for third.
Romain Febvre: “I felt good on the bike all day but my start in the Quali was not so good; I touched with Fernandez out of the gate, had to brake and lost my speed. I turned well on the inside at the first turn, was able to pass to third and was battling for second but the track was really fast today so there were not many options to try to pass. I just hope there will be more options tomorrow.”
KRT teammate Pauls Jonass, eleventh in Timed Practice, was unable to make advances through the pack during the Qualifying race as a recent bout of sickness took its toll physically; he had to settle for seventeenth at the chequered flag.
Pauls Jonass: “It was a tough day; I was sick all of last week. I was happy with my speed in both practices but I could really feel it in the Quali race; already from the first lap I felt cooked as though we were racing in the heat of Indonesia. The main focus now is to try to recover for tomorrow.”
Kawasaki Racing Team MX2’s Mathis Valin posted a strong sixth-fastest time in Timed Practice for the FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship and shot through the first few turns of the Qualifying race in sixth before being relegated to the back of the field after being dragged to earth as another rider fell in his wheel tracks halfway round the opening lap. A decisive ride brought him back to fourteenth at the finish.
Mathis Valin: “I didn’t make the best start out of the gate but I rode a good first corner to come out in the top six through the valley. Everts crashed in the rut as we started to go up the hill. I was just behind him and could do nothing to avoid him so he took my rear wheel and I fell down too. I had good speed through the pack but I lost time to pass McLellan. It wasn’t the best result but tomorrow is another day and the French crowd were amazing; they push us so much and it feels great to respond to their support.”
Team Venum Bud Racing Kawasaki’s Francisco Garcia maintained his challenge in the European EMX250 Motocross Championship with a fourth place in the first moto of the weekend. After posting second-fastest lap time in Timed Practice the Spanish youngster sprinted through the first turn third but an over-cautious opening lap saw him pushed back to fifth, a position he held for half the race before a solid pass on lap six took him back to his eventual fifth. Bud teammate Jake Cannon battled on the edge of the top-ten throughout the moto to eventually advance to ninth with a late charge.
Photocredits Full Spectrum Media
