Touching first victory for Febvre on home soil

What a treat for the thousands of extremely enthusiastic French fans that packed the hillside here at the traditional French style circuit of Villars sous Ecot to witness round eight of the FIM Motocross World Championship. The atmosphere was absolutely electric as Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube’s Romain Febvre put in one of the most hair-raising performances of the year to claim his first ever MXGP overall victory.

Meanwhile in MX2, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings bounced back from his brief dip in results to claim his first double victory since his home grand prix in Valkenswaard, The Netherlands, a month ago.
 
Winning a home grand prix must be the ultimate feeling for any MXGP rider and for Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube’s Romain Febvre it would have felt like all his Christmases came at once this weekend when he claimed his first ever MXGP overall here on home soil. When he mounted the top step of the podium, there was a ground shaking uproar from the completely stoked French crowd, Romain said when asked how it felt to be in that position and surrounded by so many people who are genuinely pumped for him: “It’s so nice! I hope it’s not the last time, I will work for it!”

“For me it feels like the first time I have stepped on the podium because I have had so many injuries over the last few years,” were the words of Team HRC’s Evgeny Bobryshev who also admitted he didn’t feel like he had a good flow around the rock hard, super rutty hillside track here in Villars sous Ecot. Nevertheless, Bobby is still on the climb and is consistently moving in the right direction.

This weekend seemed strange for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli who struggled in qualifying yesterday, but showed us what champions are made of with his win in race one earlier this afternoon. In race two TC didn’t get off to the best of starts, but managed to make the best of a crumby situation to claim his third consecutive podium finish.

The red plate holder Red Bull IceOne Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Nagl lost two points to the defending champion Antonio Cairoli today with his fourth place finish. On the flipside, the German totally shook off his closest rival Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MXGP’s Clement Desalle who only completed one lap today in an attempt to race after crashing in timed practice yesterday and dislocating his shoulder.

Rounding out the top five, Wilvo Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Dean Ferris put his name back on the map with two amazing starts and two solid performances for his best overall finish of the season.
Meanwhile MXGP of France didn’t quite go in favor of the other French riders. Team HRC’s Gautier Paulin had a mechanical failure while hounding Cairoli for the lead in the first race, while in the second race the number 21 just didn’t get a good start. 24MX Honda Racing’s Christophe Charlier finished thirteenth overall while Wilvo Forkrent KTM’s Steven Frossard finished fifteenth.

MXGP Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 34:07.793; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:03.893; 3. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:25.131; 4. Dean Ferris (AUS, Husqvarna), +0:30.105; 5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:32.380; 6. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:37.604; 7. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:42.512; 8. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:43.953; 9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Suzuki), +0:52.376; 10. Gregory Aranda (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:57.131

MXGP Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), 34:41.009; 2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:03.574; 3. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:25.199; 4. Dean Ferris (AUS, Husqvarna), +0:27.686; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Suzuki), +0:31.461; 6. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:38.026; 7. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:43.190; 8. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:47.747; 9. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:52.688; 10. Tyla Rattray (RSA, Kawasaki), +0:54.542.

MXGP Overall Top Ten: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 47 points; 2. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 40 p.; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 39 p.; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 37 p.; 5. Dean Ferris (AUS, HUS), 36 p.; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, SUZ), 28 p.; 7. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 28 p.; 8. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 26 p.; 9. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 24 p.; 10. Todd Waters (AUS, HUS), 17 p.
MXGP Championship Top Ten: 1. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 332 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 313 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, SUZ), 291 p.; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 282 p.; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HON), 252 p.; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 247 p.; 7. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 169 p.; 8. Todd Waters (AUS, HUS), 138 p.; 9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, SUZ), 134 p.; 10. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 133 p.

MXGP Manufacturer: 1. Husqvarna, 339 points; 2. KTM, 330 p.; 3. Suzuki, 319 p.; 4. Honda, 289 p.; 5. Yamaha, 287 p.; 6. Kawasaki, 229 p.; 7. TM, 70 p.