Febvre sets career highlight with resilient home Grand Prix win

MXGP FRANCE - ROUND 8     Villars sous ecot MXGP Race Report - 31/05/2015 Febvre sets career highlight with resilient home Grand Prix win 45,000 people packed into the Villars sous Ecot circuit and helped create one of the most vibrant events from the 2015 FIM Motocross World Championship so far and Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube's Romain Febvre sent them all home happy by taking his very first MXGP victory. The Grand Prix of France represented round eight of eighteen in the MXGP series and saw the YZ450FM again one of the protagonists in the premier class as Febvre rode to second and first positions in the two motos around one of the trickiest tracks of the series to-date. The achievement was his first for Yamaha, first in just eight meetings in MXGP and the first for team since the Grand Prix of Czech Republic last August.   One week after winning his maiden moto in MXGP in his rookie season since moving from MX2, Febvre continued his positive momentum by holeshotting the qualification heat and running to his maiden Pole Position on Saturday. With the tight and narrow trajectory of the Villlars course, a prime slot in the gate and a decent launch in the motos were essential for podium contention and Febvre did a good job at both times of asking.   In the first moto he harried Antonio Cairoli for the lead after Gautier Paulin had a mechanical problem. Performing in front of public that cheered his every move Febvre came close to challenging the world champion but finally had to settle for second. The track by the second moto was more technical with long, hard ruts in some of the softer corners and bumpy take-offs and landings meant that the terrain punished any mistake.   Febvre had a new target in the second moto as Max Nagl took the holeshot. '461' tracked the German for twelve of the twenty laps before making his move and immediately began to stretch a comfortable five second advantage. Romain saluted the crowd a few jumps before the finish line and completed a memorable few weeks for himself and also the team. The results of late have pulled him to within nine points of Clement Desalle and third place in the MXGP standings; the Belgian was injured and did not add to his championship in France.   Jeremy Van Horebeek was buoyed by fourth position on Saturday through the Qualification Heat and after having recovered from a demanding reintroduction back to Grand Prix in Great Britain the previous weekend. The Belgian couldn't enjoy the best of starts in either moto on Sunday and his 5-9 result card was good enough for seventh overall. JVH was content with his day's work, particularly after having suffered with Flu in the build-up to Villars.   DP19 Yamaha Racing's David Philippaerts notched sixteenth position overall. The Italian weathered some pain in his lower back to ride to moto finishes of 11th and 19th for some encouraging points ahead of his home round in two weeks. In particular the former world champion was pleased with his first moto where he managed to turnaround a poor feeling on the track and finish on the verge of the top ten. In the second race he was unlucky to crash on the first turn and had to restart in last place.   For the factory team the Grand Prix of Italy at Maggiora in two weeks time will represent a busy home event. The venue northeast of Milan is set for the 2016 Motocross of Nations and has been a popular site for Italy's premier MXGP fixture for the last two years. Romain Febvre 2nd and 1st for 1st overall. Championship Position: 4th "It is so crazy to win a Grand Prix at home. I will enjoy this moment for sure. Last week I won my first heat. It has also been good for the championship. I'm sorry for Clement and his injury; it is not so nice but it is part of racing. It has been good for me and I'm close to third place now. A big thanks to the team for all their work; we've done this together." Jeremy van Horebeek 5th and 9th for 7th overall. Championship Position: 12th "It was good today…but if you didn't have the starts then you could forget it, especially on tracks like this. Twice today I don't think I was in the top fifteen around the first turn so I had to work my way back. It is not what I wanted but it is my second GP back and I didn't ride a bike this week because I have been sick. Perhaps it was not a bad GP really…I will keep working now and head to Kester for the Belgian Championship next weekend."         2015 MXGP France Villars sous ecot 31/05/2015 race I 1 Antonio Cairoli KTM ITA 34'07.793  2 Romain Febvre Yamaha FRA 0'03.893  3 Evgeny Bobryshev Honda RUS 0'25.131  4 Dean Ferris Husqvarna AUS 0'30.105  5 Jeremy Van Horebeek Yamaha BEL 0'32.380  6 Maximilian Nagl Husqvarna DE 0'37.604  7 Shaun Simpson KTM GBR 0'42.512  8 Ken De Dycker KTM BEL 0'43.953  9 Glenn Coldenhoff Suzuki NLD 0'52.376  10 Gregory Aranda Kawasaki FRA 0'57.131  11 David Philippaerts Yamaha ITA 1'02.960  12 Todd Waters Husqvarna AUS 1'06.689  13 Mike Alessi Suzuki USA 1'09.943  14 Alessandro Lupino Honda ITA 1'10.798  15 Cedric Soubeyras Yamaha FRA 1'11.855  race II 1 Romain Febvre Yamaha FRA 34'41.009  2 Maximilian Nagl Husqvarna DE 0'03.574  3 Evgeny Bobryshev Honda RUS 0'25.199  4 Dean Ferris Husqvarna AUS 0'27.686  5 Glenn Coldenhoff Suzuki NLD 0'31.461  6 Gautier Paulin Honda FRA 0'38.026  7 Antonio Cairoli KTM ITA 0'43.190  8 Ken De Dycker KTM BEL 0'47.747  9 Jeremy Van Horebeek Yamaha BEL 0'52.688  10 Tyla Rattray Kawasaki ZAF 0'54.542  11 Shaun Simpson KTM GBR 0'56.472  12 Christophe Charlier Honda FRA 1'04.769  13 Todd Waters Husqvarna AUS 1'08.736  14 Steven Frossard KTM FRA 1'17.955  15 Gregory Aranda Kawasaki FRA 1'25.377  16 Cedric Soubeyras Yamaha FRA 1'47.180  18 Jeffrey DeWulf Yamaha BEL -1Laps  19 David Philippaerts Yamaha ITA -1Laps  MXGP World Standing Rider Standings After Race 8 of 19 1. Maximilian Nagl Husqvarna DE 332 2. Antonio Cairoli KTM ITA 313 3. Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 291 4. Romain Febvre Yamaha FRA 282 5. Gautier Paulin Honda FRA 252 6. Evgeny Bobryshev Honda RUS 247 7. Shaun Simpson KTM GBR 169 8. Todd Waters Husqvarna AUS 138 9. Glenn Coldenhoff Suzuki NLD 134 10. Ken De Dycker KTM BEL 133 11. Tyla Rattray Kawasaki ZAF 130 12. Jeremy Van Horebeek Yamaha BEL 126 13. Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki USA 124 14. David Philippaerts Yamaha ITA 103 15. Dean Ferris Husqvarna AUS 101 16. Steven Frossard KTM FRA 80 27. Cedric Soubeyras Yamaha FRA 15 32. Paul Coates Yamaha GBR 7 36. Jeffrey DeWulf Yamaha BEL 3 41. Lewis Gregory Yamaha GBR 0 Circuit Length: 1550 Crowd: 45000 Weather: Dry Guillod shines again but is denied podium in France Yamaha enjoyed another exciting MX2 Grand Prix as the eighth round of the FIM Motocross World Championship took place at a 45,000-strong Villars sous Ecot in France and saw Standing Construct Yamaha's Valentin Guillod ride to second position in the first moto and recover from a heavy crash in the opening moments of the second to claim thirteenth place for fifth overall.   The daunting hillside circuit was hard-pack, slippery and difficult for overtaking due to the windy nature and narrow trajectory. Guillod began the weekend with confidence and form derived from two victories back-to-back on his YZ250F in Spain and Great Britain and ran away with the Qualification Heat on Saturday to confirm his second consecutive Pole Position.   On Sunday Guillod was again fizzing with energy and zest. He capitalised on a mistake by Jeffrey Herlings to close up to new leader Jordi Tixier and again lead the world…cheered by a vast section of the crowd waving Swiss flags. Herlings would recover his composure and put Valentin back to second place but it was another fascinating duel between the pair.   The second moto sadly nullified a sequel. Tixier slid away on the approach to the uphill wave section that force Guillod to move across on the opening lap and when the pack is at its tightest. Kemea Yamaha's Damon Graulus was in the same spot as '92' and they crashed together. Graulus was unable to continue after the smash but avoided any significant injury. Guillod had to bash his handlebars into shape and rode with other damage to the bike not to mention a sore right foot and badly scraped shoulders. He made great progress to rescue thirteenth in the circumstances.   Team-mate Julien Lieber is enduring a groin injury but is still trying to push as hard as he can on the YZ250F. The Belgian scored thirteenth position overall in France, which he achieved thanks to eighth and seventeenth in the two motos. The second race was tough with two crashes, the first coming on the start straight and putting him in last place before the first corner.   Kemea Yamaha Racing's Benoit Paturel was dealing with the expectation and hype of his first home Grand Prix as a full-time rookie in MX2. The youngster had an unfortunate accident on Saturday when a rock smashed his goggles and ended up knocking out six of his teeth; Benoit still managed to ride to twentieth place! In the first moto he crashed with Jeremy Seewer on the slowest corner of the track - that was also the worst rutted - and managed one point for twentieth. The second moto was much stronger and ninth place was just reward for his perseverance and bravery.   Team-mate Brent Van Doninck will have another opinion on his right knee injury at the beginning of the week and then make a decision over a damaged ligament and whether to continue participating or seek corrective surgery and step away from the sport for the rest of the season. Damon Graulus occupied the MX2 race bike and although his second moto ended prematurely he rode to a thirteenth in the first sprint.   France was also the setting for the fifth outing from eight in the EMX125 European Championship and Maxime Renaux took his Kemea YZ125 to another podium finish with third place. The fifteen year old Frenchman now trails Jorge Prado and the series leader by just five points with the sixth fixture due to take place when the Grand Prix paddock next forms-up in Italy. In the fourth round of six in the FIM Women's World Championship Kiara Fontanesi ran out as winner on her YZ250F. The defending number one was surprisingly beaten by the narrowest of margins by Livia Lancelot in the first moto on Saturday but profited from her rival's poor start and race crash to win the second dash on Sunday. 'Fonta' actually headed a Yamaha 1-2-3 with Dutch lady Nancy Van De Van in second and Australian Madison Brown in third. Fontanesi only has to reduce an eight-point gap to Lancelot in the standings with two rounds and four motos remaining. The girls are next in action at the Grand Prix of Germany in three weeks time.   Maggiora, Italy is actually the ninth port of call for MXGP as the 2015 schedule is half way into the history books. The Grand Prix of Italy will travel to the steep hard-pack in two weeks time and take place on June 13-14 just before a trip to Germany. Valentin Guillod 2nd and 13th for 5th overall. Championship Position: 2nd "For sure I am a bit frustrated because I had the speed to fight at the front but with that big crash I was lucky I could get back on the bike. I made some laps but then crashed again. I then said to myself "come on try and get one point". I rode and rode but I was making mistakes because the bike was so bent. I lost a lot of time on that first lap because my front brake was blocked. I then rode as I could. I'm a bit worried about my foot so will have an x-ray now." Benoit Paturel 20th and 9th for 14th overall. Championship Position: 13th "I was really looking forward to get a good result in front of my home crowd but it didn't work out like I wanted… It started with a first lap incident in the qualifying moto, I finished 20th but felt good on the track. In the first moto I got a good start and I was riding 9th when I crashed in the third lap. I dropped to 30th and could only come back to 20th. In the second moto I started in 12th. Near the halfway point I got to 9th position and I was feeling better but by then the gaps had been made and I couldn't move up anymore. The riding seems to be ok, but I must work on being consistent." Maxime Renaux "I wanted to be on the highest step on the podium here for my home race. It was so nice to have the whole crowd behind me and cheering me on and I wanted to give them something back. In the first race I made a small mistake that allowed the leader to check out. The second moto I had a great start but I made some mistakes again and wasn't able to catch the first two. In the championship everything stays the same for me, so it's time now to regroup and work hard towards the next race." 2015 MX2 France Villars sous ecot 31/05/2015 race I 1 Jeffrey Herlings KTM NLD 33'57.744  2 Valentin Guillod Yamaha CHE 0'01.656  3 Jordi Tixier Kawasaki FRA 0'11.411  4 Tim Gajser Honda SVN 0'39.499  5 Petar Petrov KTM BGR 0'51.998  6 Aleksandr Tonkov Husqvarna RUS 0'55.459  7 Pauls Jonass KTM LVA 1'00.416  8 Julien Lieber Yamaha BEL 1'10.927  9 Roberts Justs KTM LVA 1'14.420  10 Jeremy Seewer Suzuki CHE 1'15.450  11 Vsevolod Brylyakov Honda RUS 1'18.582  12 Max Anstie Kawasaki GBR 1'23.425  14 Jens Getteman Honda BEL 1'32.857  15 Jorge Zaragoza Honda ESP 1'33.190  16 Adam Sterry KTM GBR 1'39.075  19 Kevin Fors Yamaha BEL -1Laps  20 Benoit Paturel Yamaha FRA -1Laps  race II 1 Jeffrey Herlings KTM NLD 35'02.442  2 Tim Gajser Honda SVN 0'05.221  3 Jordi Tixier Kawasaki FRA 0'26.294  4 Pauls Jonass KTM LVA 0'32.167  5 Max Anstie Kawasaki GBR 0'33.357  6 Jeremy Seewer Suzuki CHE 0'41.292  7 Aleksandr Tonkov Husqvarna RUS 0'46.956  8 Petar Petrov KTM BGR 0'52.817  9 Benoit Paturel Yamaha FRA 1'02.015  10 Jorge Zaragoza Honda ESP 1'05.226  11 Vsevolod Brylyakov Honda RUS 1'09.006  12 Pascal Rauchenecker Husqvarna AUT 1'21.041  13 Valentin Guillod Yamaha CHE 1'22.274  14 Ivo Monticelli KTM ITA 1'34.558  15 Roberts Justs KTM LVA 1'48.821  17 Julien Lieber Yamaha BEL -1Laps  MX2 World Standing Rider Standings After Race 8 of 19 1. Jeffrey Herlings KTM NLD 358 2. Valentin Guillod Yamaha CHE 246 3. Pauls Jonass KTM LVA 245 4. Jordi Tixier Kawasaki FRA 229 5. Aleksandr Tonkov Husqvarna RUS 218 6. Tim Gajser Honda SVN 209 7. Jeremy Seewer Suzuki CHE 208 8. Dylan Ferrandis Kawasaki FRA 205 9. Julien Lieber Yamaha BEL 184 10. Max Anstie Kawasaki GBR 183 11. Petar Petrov KTM BGR 152 12. Thomas Covington Kawasaki USA 141 13. Benoit Paturel Yamaha FRA 123 14. Brian Bogers KTM NLD 109 15. Roberts Justs KTM LVA 97 16. Vsevolod Brylyakov Honda RUS 97 19. Brent Vandoninck Yamaha BEL 72 28. Kevin Fors Yamaha BEL 13 34. Maykal Grisha Ivanov Yamaha BGR 6 39. Damon Graulus Yamaha BEL 2 44. Yannis Irsuti Yamaha FRA 0 Circuit Length: 1550 Weather: Dry

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