Romain Febvre claimed second overall for the Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP at the opening round of the FIM World MXGP Motocross Championship at Villa La Angostura in Argentina.
The Frenchman emerged fourth from a hectic opening lap in race one and was soon on the move as the outstanding handling stability and power delivery of the KX450-SR enabled him to cut under two rivals on consecutive laps. The race leader was already five seconds clear but the Kawasaki rider halved that deficit by two-thirds race-distance; the gap between the leaders then remained constant until Febvre – a twenty-two point championship haul secure – rolled back the throttle through the final couple of laps.
Choosing the inside gate for race two he was leaned on by his gate neighbour off the start but elegantly held a tight line through turn one to emerge fourth. On the next lap he surged around the outside for third and set his sights on the two leaders. At one stage the trio was covered by just three seconds but such was their pace that only a mistake by the front man could lead to a switch of placings. Second overall in both the GP overall and the world championship standings, he heads to round two just three points shy of the red plate.
Romain Febvre: “I’m happy to start the season like this; I didn’t have any specific expectation coming here. I tried to close the gap to Jorge five laps from the end of the second moto but the track was getting really rough by then and I nearly went over the bars; a lot of guys got hurt this weekend and experience told me “it’s enough”. I didn’t win a moto but I was fast both days; this is the first time I’ve been on the podium here and I have ended the weekend just three points from the red plate. It’s important to stay consistent all year and not make any mistakes. I’ve been trying a few new things the last few weeks and I think I have found the best way to work; now we fly back to Europe and I’ll continue to work on my physical condition for Spain.”
Jeremy Seewer, eighth on the opening lap of race one, was soon making inroads on the leaderboard to take over seventh two laps later and sixth on lap five. The newcomer to the KRT team then closed down the rider in fifth, exerting immense pressure for several laps before the red-plate holder emerged out of nowhere to slip inside and he settled for a solid seventh at the chequered flag. The Swiss rider quickly took over fifth in race two but faced a lonely ride, within sight of fourth but not quite close enough to mount a challenge. It was a solid debut in Green to clinch sixth overall.
Jeremy Seewer: “This weekend was better than any other on the 450 since we’ve been coming here so that alone is a really positive start to the season. I started quite slowly yesterday but the second moto today was good. I was good out of the gate but I got squeezed a little at the first turn or I might even have taken the holeshot. I came here looking for my rhythm, nothing crazy, and the first three were gone, but I was right there on speed for top four. I still have plenty to learn on the new bike but I made no mistakes, no crashes, just steady so I’m happy to go home with this result and look forward to the tracks in Europe where we set up the bike. We have a lot more to show with this bike!”
Words and Images by Kawaski EU – Haudik57
