Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Romain Febvre rebounded from his Saturday misfortune to earn a strong moto second in the Trentino round of the FIM World MXGP Motocross Championship at Pietramurata.
The Frenchman’s KX450-SR gave him perfect traction as he swept to a clear holeshot in the first moto and confidently controlled the race from the front, maintaining a comfortable advantage over the chasers for half-an-hour. The race became ever more hectic in the closing stages as the leaders were continually confronted with lapped riders and his closest chaser was able to take advantage, finding the opportunity to pass on the penultimate lap so Febvre had to settle for second. The unfavourable gate-pick from Qualifying proved his downfall in race two as, despite gating well, there was no chance to sweep across the pack from the outside of the grid and he found himself mid-pack. A fall as he tried energetically to make quick passes put him even further back outside the top-twenty and, despite a strong charge, he had to be content with twelfth at the chequered flag. This earnt sixth overall, just off the podium, and he has maintained fifth in the series standings.
Romain Febvre: “We had an issue yesterday which cost me everything today. I had some luck in the first moto that I could find a gate on the inside so I could make the holeshot and lead for most of the race, but I made a mistake with five laps to to and that cost me the win. There was no gate free in the second moto so I was completely outside at the gate. I took another good start but I was too far outside to make it across before the first turn. I tried to push too hard on the first lap and made a mistake and then it was too far to catch the leaders.”
KRT teammate Pauls Jonass had showed top-six speed in practice but faced a difficult first moto as he was closed down at the first turn of race one. He maintained his lap times throughout the race to finish eleventh and showed gritty resistance to deny the points-leader through the last two laps. A solid sixth throughout most of race two the Latvian surrendered two positions in the closing laps but eighth was enough to earn tenth overall and maintain eleventh in the series points standings.
Pauls Jonass: “My speed was good in both practices but I’m just lacking a bit of confidence in the longer motos. I don’t get physically tired but you need to be on your top game to battle up front at this level; sometimes you just need to pin and not be scared in sketchy moments. The second moto was a step in the right direction and now we have one month to regroup and come back swinging for the rest of the season.”
