Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Romain Febvre had a frustrating Qualifying for the Belgian round of the FIM World MXGP Motocross Championship at Lommel to finish seventh.
The Frenchman had confirmed his speed in the deep Flemish sand during Timed Practice to post third-fastest time, headed only by the two acknowledged “kings of sand” but was again closed down on the run to turn one to emerge seventh. He suffered a further disappointment on lap two as the bike stalled in deep sand to cost two positions. Adding further frustration he needed four laps to repass a particularly awkward rival and then faced a long chase to move further up the leaderboard. A series of podium-pace laps saw him advance to what appeared to be a secure sixth on the penultimate lap but a slip on the final lap saw him take the chequered flag a frustrated seventh.
Romain Febvre: “I really enjoy riding the sand and I felt good in practice, but the starts are killing me at the moment. Then the bike stopped in a turn on the second lap. I felt I could ride faster than everybody except the front two but I was just so far back. I came back to sixth and I thought I might even be able to catch Vialle, but I tried to push just too much and made a mistake which cost me one position again on the last lap.”
The KRT team and Pauls Jonass made a mutual decision to delay the Latvian’s return to action as neither rider nor team felt that he had recovered sufficiently from his crash at the British GP two weeks ago.
DRT Kawasaki’s Kay Karssemakers raced to eighth in Qualifying for the FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship. Choosing a gate just outside the box the Dutchman carried tremendous speed through the long first turn in fifth and within a few corners he had swept into third. Matching the pace of the factory riders around him he held the position for nearly three laps before the eventual winner pushed him back to fourth. A small slip two laps later cost two further positions but he quickly regained his composure to post consistent laps and was looking at a career-equaling seventh until he fell to another hard-charging factory rider on the very last lap.
Kay Karssemakers: “I touched with the rider next to me directly out of tbe gate but then I found really good drive and went to third after a couple of turns. I was riding well and could hold third for some laps; I was really enjoying it, just doing what I needed to do, until I chose the wrong line after the finish jump, went off track and crashed. I got back on quickly and soon found my rhythm again until the last couple of laps when I got a little arm pump. I hope for the same pace tomorrow and fight to the end.”
It was a disappointing day for Venum Bud Racing Kawasaki in the European EMX250 Motocross Championship. Series leader Francisco Garcia is sitting out this round of the series as a precaution after sustaining a minor injury to his left leg in training during the week. The Spanish teenager retains a ninety-six point lead in the series with seven motos remaining and confidently expects to return to action at the next round in Sweden in two weeks’ time. Bud teammate Jake Cannon knew this round would be his toughest round of the season against the local sand experts and had to be satisfied with fourteenth choice of gate after Timed Training. He was just outside the top-ten at the first timing split in the first moto of the weekend, but his race soon went from bad to worse; a collision at turn three left him last and, as he recovered quickly through the pack, another crash on lap two when he buried the front wheel in soft sand meant he was nearly thirty seconds off the final championship point while his closest rival for second in the series was making headway in the top-ten. With little hope of a championship score Cannon pulled out to prepare for tomorrow’s second moto.
