Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Romain Febvre twice chased through the pack to finish runner-up in France as the hillside track at St Jean d’Angely hosted the GP d’Europe, third round of the 2025 FIM World MXGP Motocross Championship. Pauls Jonass made it two KX450-SR in the top-five.
Fastest in morning Warm-up, Febvre took a clean start in the first moto and moved swiftly from sixth at turn one to third a few corners later. The leading trio quickly moved relentlessly clear of the pack and the Kawasaki rider executed a clean pass to move into second on lap six; the leader was already five seconds clear and the gap remained static until the last four laps when the home crowd erupted as their hero started to reduce the gap dramatically. Entering the final lap he was less than two seconds behind and closing visibly but he just ran out of time to mount the final challenge. There was a dramatic start to race two as a wayward bike touched the Kawasaki’s rear wheel; the incident cost him momentum through the uphill first turn but he was already seventh at the end of the first lap and continued to make a succession of enthralling passes to move into third on lap six. Four laps later he swept into second along the main straight to the delight of the main gallery but a short rain shower rendered the racing line treacherous and he had to again accept second place. But he is now a secure second in the series standings as the championship heads to the Sardinian sand dunes of Riola Sardo in two weeks’ time.
Romain Febvre: “It was nice to bounce back after last week. Yesterday the track was like a highway but today it was more challenging so I could make the difference even though I didn’t get the best starts. The first moto I was really charging and came quite close to Tim at the end, but in race two I got hit from behind by someone at the first turn and almost went over the bars; I was eighteenth going up the hill so I am happy with second at the finish. But I need better starts to fight with Tim because he is getting away a little in the points.”
KRT teammate Pauls Jonass, third fastest in Warm-up, was also in exhilerating form in the first moto as he forced his way from eighteenth past the timing beam at turn one to claim fifth within half-a-lap and he maintained that speed in a high-speed leaderboard. By lap eleven he had closed down fourth but, as he cut inside to make the pass, he clipped the rear wheel of his rival and was thrown to the ground. The incident cost him a position and the tough Latvian was showered with dirt in his face for the remainder of the race as the impact had broken off the front fender, but he battled resolutely to sixth at the chequered flag. A thrilling charge up the leaderboard in the first two laps of race two took Pauls to sixth; that placing at the chequered flag after a series of thrilling duels ensured fifth overall on the day and he has now moved up to sixth in the championship standings.
Pauls Jonass: “It was a very positive weekend. P5 overall was not bad; it was just a little unfortunate about the collision with Mattia in the first race. Perhaps I tried to rush it too much for P4 and it was difficult to ride after I lost the front fender. But we are progressing in every way with bike set-up, physically and mentally; we know what we still have to work on and we are getting there step-by-step.”
Words and Images by Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP
