The Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP duo of Romain Febvre and Paul Jonass each qualified top-three for the South African round of the FIM World MXGP Motocross Championship at the Terra Topia MX track on the outskirts of Johannesburg.
Both KRT teamsters were in a top-five covered by less than half-a-second during practice and they confirmed their pace at altitude with each taking a top-three start in the Qualifying race, holding their positions throughout the moto. Febvre maintained second, pressuring the leader throughout and closing onto his rear wheel several times but he was denied the final challenge on an ultra high-speed track with few opportunities to overtake. Jonass could not quite match the lap times of his teammate but handsomely out-distanced the rest of the field for his best Qualifying result of the season in third.
Romain Febvre: “The team had found excellent solutions with the bike this weekend and both Pauls and I made really good starts. It was not easy to learn the track during Free Practice as it was still a little muddy but I already found a good flow and felt comfortable in Timed Practice. I wheelied a little out of the gate in Qualifying but I could still make it happen and had a good ride together with Lucas at the front. We could pull a good gap and I felt really comfortable at that pace; I could also figure out some good lines for tomorrow when hopefully the track will have developed a little more.”
Pauls Jonass: “Finally I got a good Quali to start the weekend on a high-note; I might even have taken the holeshot but I think I shut off a fraction too early for turn one. I couldn’t quite match Romain’s times but I felt good with my pace and kept consistent laps all race to control third; nobody else was even coming close. The result shows how well the team has worked on the configuration of the engine to meet the needs at altitude this weekend.”
Photocredits – Full Spectrum Media
