At May’s Portugal round of the 2025 MXGP Championship, Romain Febvre took the lead in the FIM MXGP Motocross World Championship points standings meaning that in Lugo, Spain, the Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP rider enjoys the honour of mounting the prestigious “Red Plate on his KX450-SR for the eighth round of the series.
It’s not the first time in his racing career that Romain has led the championship but it has been four years since he was in this position! In 2021 he was leading the series on his factory Kawasaki for two rounds at the end of season before being edged out by the narrowest of margins for the title by Jeffrey Herlings at a nail-biting finale in Italy.
Romain has won twelve motos and six GPs during the past three seasons, and added a further FIM silver medal in 2023 to that earnt in 2021, but he had never had the opportunity to again be the series leader.
Nearly thirty-six months after last holding high the red plate on the MXGP podium he had the pleasure in Portugal to be presented with the red plate as leader of the world championship.
“It felt good to have the red plate; I’ve been chasing it for so long! It doesn’t matter that we were only at the seventh GP with a lot of races left; I wanted to have it and I have it! I had two good starts in Portugal – an important aspect that we have worked on meticulously with the team – and personally I’ve never felt as strong as this season.
This plate doesn’t place any pressure on me; in fact it gives me more confidence for the rest of the season. I know that the season is long and I just want to continue to ride well and be consistent,” said Romain, who has already enjoyed the podium ceremony at six of the seven GPs until the Portugal round in 2025 with one victory and five second places.
Romain also brought the red plate to current Kawasaki Racing Team manager Antti Pyrhönen for the first time in nearly ten years. The season is long, but the red plate is a fitting reward for the KRT staff who have working relentlessly to provide their riders with the very best machinery and support.
Photocredits Full Spectrum Media
