Febvre on the podium again and celebrates first moto win
  |  | MXGP UNITED KINGDOM - ROUND 7 | |  Matterley Basin | | MXGP | Race Report - 24/05/2015 | | | Febvre on the podium again and celebrates first moto win | Earlier this evening a previous release was sent out as opposed to the MXGP of Great Britain Race Report. Our apologies for any confusion caused by this mishap. The fast and spectacular circuit of Matterley Basin was the scene of the Grand Prix of Great Britain and the maiden MXGP chequered flag for Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube's Romain Febvre. The seventh round of eighteen on the 2015 MXGP slate was a busy one with 35,000 spectators filing in through the entrances at the popular venue in southern England. Febvre walked the podium for the second meeting in a row and sprinted to the front of the premier class to win the second moto.
Febvre immediately felt at home around the wide English course, enjoying the freedom to pick lines and attack the long jumps that stepped the layout up and down the slopes in the 'Basin'. Even a poor start in the Qualification Heat could not dent his progress and he repeatedly set the fastest lap on a trawl back to the top five.
On Sunday the weather conditions started bright but light rain fell during the second MXGP sprint. The opening MXGP moto was stopped before mid-race distance due to a crash by Italian Davide Guarneri. After a ten minute spell to prepare for a full re-run, still Febvre didn't get away from the line with the leaders and used almost all of the second half of the moto to try and pass Todd Waters, which he achieved with two circulations to go to capture seventh. The second moto was much better and even though the inclement weather complicated demands of the track Febvre rode superbly on his YZ450FM to pick off his peers one-by-one and hit the front with seven of the seventeen laps ahead. '461' pulled away from Clement Desalle and then managed his cushion to the flag; his 7-1 proving good enough for the third step of the podium and follows hard upon his first trophy taken in Spain a fortnight ago.
Jeremy Van Horebeek was welcomed back into the fold after missing five weeks of action due to a broken bone in his left foot. The Belgian had been active on his YZ450FM for only a week but felt strong enough to attempt his first Grand Prix since round four in Italy.
The Belgian was hard-hit by the first moto re-run. Already struggling for race fitness the extra fifteen minutes at pace meant a tough day of work for the 2014 MXGP Championship runner-up. Van Horebeek's starts were not poor however and he set about running his own steady speed to pick up an encouraging tenth and ninth positions for ninth overall.
DP19 Yamaha Racing's David Philippaerts was searching for feeling around the Matterley mud on Saturday and made some changes to his set-up to find more traction and speed on Sunday. The Italian set a speed just outside the pace of the top ten and his 12-15 on the day was enough for thirteenth overall.
Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube will head across the English Channel and through France this week to arrive at Villars sout Ecot. The hillside circuit will entertain MXGP for the first time this century and the French fixture will take place on May 31st. |
| | | 7th and 1st for 3rd overall, Championship position: 5th | | "I'm really happy and it is an amazing feeling to win a moto. When I crossed the finish line I didn't think I was on the podium again and it was another great feeling. I struggled a bit with my start in the first moto and was behind Waters for a long time. It was so difficult to pass but I managed it with two laps to go and I set my fastest time then because I was free. Seventh was not so good and I was looking for better; I thought my speed was better than that. The second race was more like it and I passed all the guys to win. The rain made the track sketchy in some places because it was really hard and slippery. I decided to slow down a little bit in the last few laps so to not make a mistake." | |  | |
 | | | | 10th and 9th for 9th overall, Championship position: 13th | | "I feel tired! I'm happy to be back but its tough. We had a red flag in the first moto and it was fifteen minutes in. To come back from injury usually you need all your energy in those first races. It was not too bad today and my starts were decent. I fought for what I got and I had some speed out there. I was out for five weeks and have only been on the bike for a week so I'm happy. My foot didn't hurt this weekend so it means I'm healed-up. I will work to get back as soon as possible but I'm happy with what I did." | | | 12th and 15th for 13th overall, Championship position: 14th | "Not a great weekend. We were searching for a solution with the bike to give me a bit more speed but I think it was more about the rider! Those guys were very fast today and I just tried to run at the best speed I could. Not good results but we will keep working to get back into the top ten." |
| | | Matterley Basin 24/05/2015 | | | | race I | | 1 | Antonio Cairoli | KTM | ITA | 34'01.346 | | 2 | Clement Desalle | Suzuki | BEL | 0'03.020 | | 3 | Maximilian Nagl | Husqvarna | DE | 0'04.067 | | 4 | Evgeny Bobryshev | Honda | RUS | 0'13.676 | | 5 | Shaun Simpson | KTM | GBR | 0'16.369 | | 6 | Gautier Paulin | Honda | FRA | 0'17.680 | | 7 | Romain Febvre | Yamaha | FRA | 0'19.284 | | 8 | Tyla Rattray | Kawasaki | ZAF | 0'34.863 | | 9 | Todd Waters | Husqvarna | AUS | 0'38.855 | | 10 | Jeremy Van Horebeek | Yamaha | BEL | 0'41.855 | | 11 | Ken De Dycker | KTM | BEL | 0'45.908 | | 12 | David Philippaerts | Yamaha | ITA | 0'48.961 | | 13 | Dean Ferris | Husqvarna | AUS | 0'51.892 | | 14 | Jose Antonio Butron | KTM | ESP | 0'52.256 | | 15 | Alessandro Lupino | Honda | ITA | 0'55.525 | | 23 | Lewis Gregory | Yamaha | GBR | -1Laps | | race II | | 1 | Romain Febvre | Yamaha | FRA | 34'18.842 | | 2 | Clement Desalle | Suzuki | BEL | 0'02.087 | | 3 | Antonio Cairoli | KTM | ITA | 0'09.664 | | 4 | Evgeny Bobryshev | Honda | RUS | 0'13.390 | | 5 | Maximilian Nagl | Husqvarna | DE | 0'23.149 | | 6 | Shaun Simpson | KTM | GBR | 0'27.787 | | 7 | Gautier Paulin | Honda | FRA | 0'30.814 | | 8 | Ken De Dycker | KTM | BEL | 0'39.725 | | 9 | Jeremy Van Horebeek | Yamaha | BEL | 0'41.970 | | 10 | Steven Frossard | KTM | FRA | 0'43.350 | | 11 | Tyla Rattray | Kawasaki | ZAF | 0'45.823 | | 12 | Jose Antonio Butron | KTM | ESP | 0'49.457 | | 13 | Alessandro Lupino | Honda | ITA | 0'55.174 | | 14 | Glenn Coldenhoff | Suzuki | NLD | 0'58.753 | | 15 | David Philippaerts | Yamaha | ITA | 1'01.969 | | 26 | Lewis Gregory | Yamaha | GBR | -13Laps |
| | | | Rider Standings | After Race 7 of 19 | | | 1. | Maximilian Nagl | Husqvarna | DE | 295 | | 2. | Clement Desalle | Suzuki | BEL | 291 | | 3. | Antonio Cairoli | KTM | ITA | 274 | | 4. | Gautier Paulin | Honda | FRA | 237 | | 5. | Romain Febvre | Yamaha | FRA | 235 | | 6. | Evgeny Bobryshev | Honda | RUS | 207 | | 7. | Shaun Simpson | KTM | GBR | 145 | | 8. | Ryan Villopoto | Kawasaki | USA | 124 | | 9. | Todd Waters | Husqvarna | AUS | 121 | | 10. | Tyla Rattray | Kawasaki | ZAF | 118 | | 11. | Ken De Dycker | KTM | BEL | 107 | | 12. | Glenn Coldenhoff | Suzuki | NLD | 106 | | 13. | Jeremy Van Horebeek | Yamaha | BEL | 98 | | 14. | David Philippaerts | Yamaha | ITA | 91 | | 15. | Kevin Strijbos | Suzuki | BEL | 78 | | 16. | Davide Guarneri | TM | ITA | 70 | | 28. | Paul Coates | Yamaha | GBR | 7 | | 33. | Cedric Soubeyras | Yamaha | FRA | 4 | | 38. | Lewis Gregory | Yamaha | GBR | 0 |
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. Last Years Winner:
Clement Desalle | | | |  | | | Guillod thrills British Grand Prix for second MX2 success | An amazing spectacle of racing took place at Matterley Basin for the British Grand Prix and the seventh round of eighteen in the FIM Motocross World Championship today. 35,000 fans were treated to two fantastic exhibitions in the MX2 class as Valentin Guillod, Jeffrey Herlings and Max Anstie put on a gripping display through the motos run across the fast, wide course and over the big jumps near England's south coast. Guillod would run out the winner for the second time in as many weeks and Grands Prix. The event was also memorable for Kemea Yamaha duo Maxime Renaux's overall victory in the third round of the EMX125 European Championship and Damon Graulus' second moto triumph and third place overall in EMX250.
Matterley was well prepared for a six category programme for Grand Prix number seven of 2015. The track was hosting the British MXGP appointment for the fifth season in a row and provided a contrast of conditions compared to the tight and limited hard-pack found recently in Italy and Spain.
Standing Construct Yamaha's Guillod transferred his speed and confidence on the YZ250F from debut Grand Prix spoils two weeks ago at Talavera in Spain to the English mud. The first moto saw a thrilling chase with top native rider Max Anstie and had the immense crowd leaning over the fences in support and also creating a tense atmosphere. Guillod continued to push but both leaders were unaware of the closing Jeffrey Herlings and when the Swiss finally relegated Anstie to second then Herlings struck at the same moment and pulled away to win on the penultimate lap with Guillod in close attendance.
Anstie started badly in the second race so it was left to Guillod to set the pace. Herlings kept the Yamaha man close company and briefly hit the front only for '92' to immediately retaliate. The duel went down to a grandstand finale but Guillod's courage and proactivity with his lines and speed meant he earned the chequered flag by less than a second. His victory lifted the Standing Construct representative to second place in the MX2 championship.
Team-mate Julien Lieber was eleventh overall with two twelfth positions and just couldn't find the feeling or starts at Matterley.
There were bittersweet emotions under the Kemea truck awning. Benoit Paturel had a positive weekend of improvement, bettering his classification every time he took to the track from a thirteenth in the opening practice session on Saturday all the way to a ninth and eighth in the two motos (in spite of a left index fingernail almost split in two) for what was his first overall top ten in just his rookie Grand Prix season.
Disaster struck for team-mate Brent Van Doninck. The young Belgian crashed on the first lap of the Qualification Heat on Saturday and injured his right knee. BVD tried to stand while trackside but struggled to do so. Scans and checks will be made in Belgium early this week to determine the extent of the damage but Sunday evening '172' was already feeling more optimistic.
Also in action were the EMX125 and EMX250 classes. Kemea's Maxime Renaux scored a brilliant first race victory in EMX125 by beating home favourite Conrad Mewse on his YZ125 and by weathering a lot of pressure by the Brit. On Sunday morning and in the second outing the French teenager didn't get the best of starts but raced to third and was later awarded the overall win after Mewse was alleged to have jumped while yellow flags were waved. Renaux is now second in the championship standings and just five points from the lead.
Damon Graulus was third overall on his Kemea YZ250F in EMX250. The Belgian ran away with the second moto late Sunday afternoon - for his first '25 points' of the year - but a crash earlier on in the first race meant that he was not in contention for the overall triumph. Damon has made good ground in the title chase though and is third in the list; ten points from the red plate and is one of three YZ250F riders in the top six.
EMX250 was also notable for Spaniard Ander Valentin taking his Auscio Yamaha YZ250 into an intense battle for third place in the second moto from which he emerged with fifth and his best classification since making the podium at Arco di Trento for the opening meeting of the series last month.
Matterley Basin was home to the third round of six in the FIM Women's Motocross World Championship and defending number one Kiara Fontanesi took a best result of second place in the second moto. The Italian crashed in the opening sprint and could only recover her YZ250F to sixteenth. Brand-mate Nancy Van de Ven was third overall with a 3-4 but Fontanesi was left ruing her spill which means she trails principal rival for her crown, Livia Lancelot, by 23 points at the midpoint stage of the campaign.
MXGP heads straight onto Villars sout Ecot for the Grand Prix of France next weekend and the final event in the month of May. Trips to Italy and Germany lay ahead in June. |
| | | 2nd and 1st for 1st overall, Championship position: 2nd | | "It was a great weekend and started well from Saturday. I felt good on the bike straightaway. I was aiming for a good result and make points but the race with Max was very nice and clean. I finished second when Jeffrey came up to our rear wheel so that was OK. I made a good start in the second moto, took the lead and didn't make a mistake. It was my best race and it was really cool to fight with Jeffrey. I had fun and I think my team and all the fans had fun; it was motocross and a nice show." | |  | |
 | | | | 9th and 8th for 8th overall, Championship position: 13th | | "I'm really happy with this weekend and progressed step-by-step. I was thirteenth and then twelfth in the practices, eleventh in qualification and then ninth in the first moto. I was eighth in the second moto! I've worked hard every day for improvement like that. Today is my first top ten and I'm pleased to have done that for the team. I want to thank them, my sponsors, my mechanic…next week is my home GP and I'm happy to go to Villars sout Ecot; it is a good track. I'm learning so much every GP in my first season." | | | 1st and 3rd for 1st overall, EMX125 Championship position: 2nd | "The first moto was fantastic! I got off to a good start and had a nice battle when Conrad [Mewse] made a mistake I got some breathing room and at first I didn't know where he was. Near the end I could hear the crowd cheering him on and luckily managed to hold him off. The second moto I was outside the top ten after the first corners and I used a lot of energy to get forward as soon as possible. Once in third I tried to push to close the gap to second but I was tired and had to rush instead to keep third. After the penalty from Mewse I won the race, which is extra nice, especially for the championship. I was 19 points behind at one stage and now I'm heading into my home race five points behind the leader. I really look forward going to Villars, I like the track and the extra support from the fans will give me extra motivation." | 11th and 1st for 3rd overall, EMX250 Championship position: 3rd | "In the end it was a disappointing weekend. I came here to win the overall but that didn't happen. At the start of the first moto I tangled up with a couple of riders and crashed. It took a while to get going again and I got back to 11th. In the second moto I had a good start. When Kouwenberg made an error I got in the lead and tried to open a gap. I could not push as hard as I wanted as my wrist hurt pretty bad from the first moto crash. Luckily it was enough to get some breathing space and to get the win. I didn't expect to be on the podium but in a way I'm happy to have ended the weekend on a positive note. I'm now ten points behind in the championship, so that's still open too." |
| | | Matterley Basin 18/05/2015 | | | | race I | | 1 | Jeffrey Herlings | KTM | NLD | 34'26.799 | | 2 | Valentin Guillod | Yamaha | CHE | 0'05.515 | | 3 | Max Anstie | Kawasaki | GBR | 0'10.678 | | 4 | Pauls Jonass | KTM | LVA | 0'29.783 | | 5 | Jordi Tixier | Kawasaki | FRA | 0'36.055 | | 6 | Jeremy Seewer | Suzuki | CHE | 0'42.085 | | 7 | Thomas Covington | Kawasaki | USA | 0'44.125 | | 8 | Aleksandr Tonkov | Husqvarna | RUS | 0'58.139 | | 9 | Benoit Paturel | Yamaha | FRA | 1'01.738 | | 10 | Ivo Monticelli | KTM | ITA | 1'11.618 | | 11 | Petar Petrov | KTM | BGR | 1'12.725 | | 12 | Julien Lieber | Yamaha | BEL | 1'14.211 | | 13 | Henry Jacobi | KTM | DE | 1'25.610 | | 14 | Roberts Justs | KTM | LVA | 1'25.934 | | 15 | Kevin Fors | Yamaha | BEL | 1'35.209 | | 23 | Yannis Irsuti | Yamaha | FRA | -1Laps | | race II | | 1 | Valentin Guillod | Yamaha | CHE | 34'48.889 | | 2 | Jeffrey Herlings | KTM | NLD | 0'00.865 | | 3 | Jordi Tixier | Kawasaki | FRA | 0'29.243 | | 4 | Pauls Jonass | KTM | LVA | 0'38.510 | | 5 | Jeremy Seewer | Suzuki | CHE | 0'43.357 | | 6 | Max Anstie | Kawasaki | GBR | 0'54.396 | | 7 | Aleksandr Tonkov | Husqvarna | RUS | 1'08.337 | | 8 | Benoit Paturel | Yamaha | FRA | 1'10.771 | | 9 | Petar Petrov | KTM | BGR | 1'11.839 | | 10 | Thomas Covington | Kawasaki | USA | 1'21.065 | | 11 | Roberts Justs | KTM | LVA | 1'27.526 | | 12 | Julien Lieber | Yamaha | BEL | 1'36.806 | | 13 | Vsevolod Brylyakov | Honda | RUS | 1'40.655 | | 14 | Henry Jacobi | KTM | DE | 1'43.496 | | 15 | Jens Getteman | Honda | BEL | 1'46.120 | | 26 | Kevin Fors | Yamaha | BEL | -13Laps | | 27 | Yannis Irsuti | Yamaha | FRA | -17Laps |
| Alvaro Aguilar | KTM | MEX | '00.000 | | | | Rider Standings | After Race 7 of 19 | | | 1. | Jeffrey Herlings | KTM | NLD | 308 | | 2. | Valentin Guillod | Yamaha | CHE | 216 | | 3. | Pauls Jonass | KTM | LVA | 213 | | 4. | Dylan Ferrandis | Kawasaki | FRA | 205 | | 5. | Aleksandr Tonkov | Husqvarna | RUS | 189 | | 6. | Jordi Tixier | Kawasaki | FRA | 189 | | 7. | Jeremy Seewer | Suzuki | CHE | 182 | | 8. | Tim Gajser | Honda | SVN | 169 | | 9. | Julien Lieber | Yamaha | BEL | 167 | | 10. | Max Anstie | Kawasaki | GBR | 158 | | 11. | Thomas Covington | Kawasaki | USA | 141 | | 12. | Petar Petrov | KTM | BGR | 123 | | 13. | Benoit Paturel | Yamaha | FRA | 110 | | 14. | Brian Bogers | KTM | NLD | 109 | | 15. | Roberts Justs | KTM | LVA | 79 | | 16. | Jens Getteman | Honda | BEL | 78 | | 18. | Brent Vandoninck | Yamaha | BEL | 72 | | 27. | Kevin Fors | Yamaha | BEL | 11 | | 37. | Damon Graulus | Yamaha | BEL | 2 | | 40. | Yannis Irsuti | Yamaha | FRA | 0 |
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Hot Last Years Winner:
Jeffrey Herlings | | | | | | | |  |
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