Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Romain Febvre opened his defence of the FIM World MXGP Motocross Championship title with a hard-fought second place at Bariloche in Argentina to head to round two in Spain just two points off the championship pace.
The Frenchman quickly moved into fourth from a top-six start in race one and on lap six of sixteen made an enthralling outside pass to take over third, six seconds from second. He halved the deficit to three seconds but could not quite close the gap to mount a final challenge and had to be satisfied with third at the chequered flag. A stunning start in race two saw him take the KX450-SR to a clear holeshot and he immediately opened up a commanding lead, only for the race to be red-flagged for an unsatisfactory start elsewhere on the grid. At the restart he again moved into the lead on lap two and quickly built a seven-second lead, which he maintained until the final four laps, and which would have ensured the overall victory. However broken tear-offs on his goggles as he negotiated a back marker disturbed his concentration as the film flapped around his helmet and his closest chaser took advantage to close the gap, passing for the win two-and-a-half laps from the finish.
Romain Febvre: “We made some adjustments to the bike since yesterday and we got much better starts; I even got the holeshot in race two before they red-flagged it. At the re-run I was just behind Tom off the start and had a better flow; that’s always easier when you’re in front and can ride your own lines. I was in a good spot but I didn’t see Jeffrey had also passed Tom so I thought I had a huge gap. I rode one good lap to keep the distance when I saw Jeffrey with ten minutes to go, but then I broke the roll-offs on my goggles and I knew it would be difficult when he was on my wheels. My goal coming here was to be on the podium and I did that; now I have someone to chase and it’s only two points.”
Teammate Pauls Jonass showed his best form since joining KRT last season with a series of top-six starts and good speed throughout both motos. A dramatic pass through the waves at two-third distance in race one earnt fifth at the chequered flag and an even better result looked probable when he swept into fourth on the second lap of race two before the race was red-flagged for an incident involving other riders at the gate. The Latvian was more affected by the red flag than any other as he came together with another rider at turn two of the rerun and had to charge from last to thirteenth at the finish. He holds ninth in the series standings heading to round two.
Pauls Jonass: “I showed good speed all weekend – my best since I joined Kawasaki last year; we put in a lot of work during the winter – riding and training – and it seems to be paying off, but the restart in race two cost me. I was in fourth when the race was red-flagged, then at the restart I came together with another rider at turn two and had to come from dead last to thirteenth. I was happy with my riding all weekend but of course I am disappointed with the final result. But that’s how it goes sometimes so we will just keep working for higher results.”
Antti Pyrhönen (KRT team manager): “To start the season with a podium is always welcome so we are happy with that. We also found some areas which we still need to work on. That’s normal; you always discover that at the first GP and we will get even stronger from here. Pauls also showed good speed; he was riding smooth and strong, and it was unfortunate for him that the second race was red-flagged; that was tough as he was fourth at the time but he regrouped well after the crash at the second corner of the restart.”
