Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Romain Febvre rounded out his silver-medal year in the FIM World MXGP Motocross Championship with his thirteenth podium of the season in the British GP at Matterley Basin.
Words & Images: Kawasaki Motors
The Frenchman, fastest in Warm-up, was sporting iconic 1990 graphics for the final GP of the season as Kawasaki celebrates fifty years of the KX range. Entering turn one in the front line he lost momentum slightly as his machine was touched by a rival to emerge sixth and, with overtaking almost impossible on the ultra-fast surface, he had to frustatingly wait until lap six before he could eventually make a telling move for fifth. The leading group were still bunched together but a small slip cost him eight seconds before he displayed outrageous speed, setting the three fastest laps of the race as he reeled the leaders back in before running out of time to make a challenge so he had to settle for fifth, less than six seconds behind the winner. An untidy jump out of the gate in race two saw him tagged again entering turn one but the immaculate stylist found his way to sixth within a few corners and advanced one more position already before the completion of the opening lap. Attacking with a vengeance he made a neat pass for fourth on lap three, went third on lap six and forced his way into a hard-fought second on lap nine to secure his thirteenth podium from eighteen GP starts during the season, thus confirming his runner-up placing in the series.
Romain Febvre: “I was feeling really comfortable today and I had a really good start in race one but I touched with someone in the first turn and dropped to sixth. A few laps later the back wheel slipped out in a turn and I lost some time but I came back to finish less than six seconds from the winner so I was happy with my speed. In the second moto I passed the other guys to finish second; Tim was too far away but I was pleased to end the day on the podium again. My results were OK in the first quarter of the year but I was just missing the podium each week; then from mid-season I was really consistent with GP wins and podiums nearly every week. I had more GP wins than anybody else, including five-in-a-row. I now have two silver medals with Kawasaki so let’s keep working to go one better next year.”
F&H Kawasaki Racing Team’s Kevin Horgmo ended his FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship career with eighth overall at Matterley Basin in England to seal seventh in the final series standings.
A fall on the second lap of race one put the Norwegian back to eleventh after his sixth-placed start. By lap seven he made a neat pass for tenth and by the finish had closed down the riders ahead but was unable to make a further pass on the ultra-fast raceway. In the final race of his MX2 career – the championship has an age-cap of twenty-three years of age – the F&H Kawasaki again railed the outside of turn one to race past pit-lane sixth before an unfortunate choice of lines during the ever-hectic opening lap saw him relegated to tenth. Digging deep he jumped to eighth on the ninth of fourteen laps and continued to push, nearly catching seventh. However his efforts were already sufficient to secure eighth on the day and seventh in the final championship standings.
Kevin Horgmo: “I made a good start around the outside of turn one in the first race to hold sixth but I made a small crash on the second lap when the front wheel slipped away. It took me a few laps to find my rhythm again after that; I was strong again at the end with eighth and ninth just ahead of me but it was difficult to pass and I couldn’t get by. I made another good start around the outside in race two but I was making too many mistakes on the first lap as the surface was so slippery after they watered the track and I lost my confidence for a few laps. I eventually got into my rhythm again to finish eighth but I felt my speed was good enough for better. That was the last race of my MX2 career; we had some up-and-downs during the year but we never gave up and a huge thanks to the team; the highlight was definitely Turkey with the moto win. It was also my last GP with F&H so a big thanks for the last two years to everyone; we had some fun times together so let’s end it strong now at the Motocross des Nations.”
Big Van World MTX Kawasaki’s Jack Chambers had a frustrating GP at the track just thirty minutes drive from the team workshop after missing his usual good starts. The young American was sixteenth throughout race one but was looking at his first top-ten GP moto until the final corner when a slip cost him two positions to finish eleventh. Despite only contesting nine of the nineteen rounds of the series he completed his first world championship campaign nineteenth.
Jack Chambers: “It was tough coming back after breaking an ankle in Germany and missing three months of the season; I only took eight days off from physical training but you lose a little of the feeling with the bike during a long break like that. I only live thirty minutes from here during the season so this was like my home GP but I didn’t get my starts this weekend. I ran eighth for most of race two and was ninth until the last corner when I made a mistake and lost two positions. It would have been nice to finish ninth but eleventh isn’t bad. Now I’m looking forward to the Nations where I will race for Puerto Rico; when I went to watch last year I told myself I wanted to race the event one day.”
F&H Kawasaki’s David Braceras did not race; the Spaniard was suffering pain in his left elbow after crashing on the opening lap of Qualifying on Saturday and it was considered wiser not to risk further injury. Despite only contesting fourteen of the nineteen-race series he was ranked seventeenth in his rookie GP season.
BUD Racing Kawasaki’s Quentin Marc Prugnières rounded out the FIM European EMX250 Championship sixth in the series standings; the Frenchman charged hard from ninth in the final moto of the season, two strong passes during the second half of the race lifting him to sixth. Teammate Benjamin Garib had finished eighth in the first moto on Saturday despite a mid-moto fall which had cost him three positions. WMX world number three Lotte van Drunen thoroughly enjoyed her EMX250 wild card debut with two solid rides to creditable twenty-eighth and twenty-fifth-placed finishes.
GTCI Revo Kawasaki’s Billy Askew made his EMX250 debut at his home round following a dominant season in the British 250cc Youth Championships. After a difficult first race which saw him finish 24th, he scored his first points with a consistent ride to 13th in race two, putting him in 17th overall.
