Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Romain Febvre earnt pole for the German round of the FIM World MXGP Motocross Championship at Teutschenthal with his first victory of the season in Qualifying.
Fifth-choice of gate from Timed Practice gave the Frenchman the ideal line through the long sweeping left-hand first turn after the Frenchman put the KX450-SR power to the ground on the downhill run out of the start and he immediately put his head down to keep the chasers off his rear wheel. There were a few tense moments as the leaders hit traffic through the closing laps but the Kawasaki leader remained calm to sweep home victorious, punching the air in delight, and consolidate his third place in the series standings.
Romain Febvre: “It was an intense race but it feels so good to have finally taken my first GP win of the season. I took the holeshot, which always makes life easier on this track, but I was under pressure from Tim all race. He had some sectors and I had others, I could hear him behind me. It was difficult to try new lines as Tim was so close; he could see my lines but I couldn’t see his and there are so many ruts in the corners so I wasn’t sure which ones he was using. But I won the race and now I have the good inside gate-pick for tomorrow.”
KRT teammate Pauls Jonass had an outstanding first lap, making a number of telling passes to move forward to fifth, a position he held comfortably for three laps before tightening up to surrender three places in a single lap before regaining his rhythm to finish strongly in eighth.
Pauls Jonass: “My speed was decent and I managed to come out good of the first lap in P5. I felt comfortable there but after a few laps I tightened up and had three bad laps before I found my flow again. The track is so different to in the past; some parts are hard-pack and other are like a sand track; it was not easy for set-up but I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Kawasaki Racing Team MX2’s Mathis Valin charged up the leaderboard to finish fifth in Qualifying for the FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship round. The French teenager was tagged by his gate neighbour out of the start but regrouped well, cutting inside through turn one to emerge ninth. He was already making moves throughout the opening laps and made a classic pass on the defending champion for seventh on lap three. Continuing his charge he took his eventual fifth on lap eleven of thirteen.
DRT Kawasaki’s Kay Karssemakers was another making early advances and was into the top-ten before an errant rival ran into him on lap two and he faced a hard charge back to twelfth at the chequered flag.
Venum Bud Racing Kawasaki’s Jake Cannon charged to fourth in a dramatic first moto of the weekend at round five of the European EMX250 Motocross Championship. The Australian found himself in seventh on the opening lap but was already fourth on lap three and, setting a series of fastest laps, reeled in the race-long leaders. On lap ten of fifteen he swept into third and as the two-lap board was shown he was on the rear wheel of second; too close in fact as he clipped the rear wheel when his rival bobbled in a turn and tipped over to surrender third before he could regain his balance. Bud teammate Francisco Garcia, the championship leader, had a turbulent day. After setting fastest time in his Qualifying group the Spanish teenager had issues in the point-scoring moto as he had to abandon the race already on the opening lap. He maintains a series lead of twenty-five points and Kawasaki continue to head the Manufacturers’ standings by third-three points.
Courtney Duncan, a four-time title-holder with Kawasaki in the FIM WMX Women’s World Championship, took her stock KX250 from DRT Kawasaki to third in the first moto of the German WMX round; the event is her second race back in action after missing the entire 2025 season due to health issues. After a quick getaway she was pushed back to eighth on the opening lap when a rival clipped her front wheel but then dug deep to fight her way back up the leaderboard for a moto podium.
Courtney Duncan: “That was a pretty good moto so soon after getting back into racing. I got a good rip off the gate but I was a little hesitant through the first few turns to leave the door open; I got taken down but I made a good comeback to finish third. My speed is coming back and we are building.”
