Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Romain Febvre raced to a deserved fifth in Qualifying for the Dutch round of the FIM World MXGP Motocross Championship at Arnhem.
After a frustrating Timed Practice when he never found a free lap in traffic and was restricted to thirteenth-fastest time the Frenchman rode a remarkable first few turns in Qualifying to emerge sixth. He battled solidly throughout the twenty-five minute race to bring home a fifth-placed finish, within sight of third; three of the four riders ahead of him were local sand experts who have spent their entire careers riding in these unique track conditions.
Romain Febvre: “Today was pretty hard. I didn’t feel too comfortable on the track this morning and we tried something different for Timed Practice; it didn’t work so we went back to my initial settings for Qualifying but I just didn’t feel confident enough to push for passes and I stayed around fifth or sixth all race.”
KRT teammate Pauls Jonass again showed his revived form-curve during Timed Practice to post sixth-fastest lap and launched his KX450-SR top-five into the first turn of Qualifying only to slide to the ground and be hit from behind. Despite the discomfort the Latvian pushed from the very back of a thirty-two rider field for twenty-five minutes to finish seventeenth.
Pauls Jonass: “I got a really good jump at the start and I was third or fourth going into turn one but Jeffrey came in hard from the inside, I had to brake and tucked the front wheel. Several guys hit me but luckily I just suffered a few scratches. It took me a few laps to settle but I found my rhythm again as the race went on. Now I just need to regroup and get two good starts again tomorrow.”
