Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Romain Febvre retained the points-lead in the FIM World MXGP Motocross Championship with his tenth podium of the season at Kegums in Latvia. Kawasaki continue to head the Manufacturers’ Championship.
The Frenchman surged to his best start for several weeks in race one before two incidents through the first few turns proved costly. A decisive move into second was negated when the leader faltered at the next turn, causing the Kawasaki rider to touch his rear wheel, and two turns later he was pushed back to fourth as he lost drive exiting a soft turn. There followed ten frustrating laps as each effort to pass for third was denied on the single-line racing surface and he was pushed back to seventh as a berm broke away. He regained sixth with an impressive outside sweep two laps later but all efforts to take fifth during the final two laps were foiled. He again turned tight at turn one to emerge third and spent the entire racing looking for an opening to pass; he exerted tremendous pressure throughout the final laps of the race, almost drawing alongside at times, but to no avail. His efforts earnt the tenth podium in eleven GPs and he now leads the series points-standings by twenty-six points heading to the next round of the series at Matterley Basin in England in two weeks’ time.
Romain Febvre: “It was a tough weekend but that’s how it is; The racing was just a train and whenever you went off the main line it got too soft. I was running fourth in the first race and looking for a way past into third when I fell. The second race was better and I was battling with the guys at the front but I couldn’t get past. I am again on the podium and now we head to Matterley. Everybody enjoys that track; it’s wide and fast and normally with many lines so we will see.”
Photocredits – Pascal Haudiquert
