Febvre extends championship lead with Latvian MXGP podium
  |  | MXGP LATVIA - ROUND 12 | |  Kegums | | MXGP | Race Report - 13/07/2015 | | | Febvre extends championship lead with Latvian MXGP podium | Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube's Romain Febvre raced his way to third overall and his seventh consecutive podium finish (the highest tally of any rider this season) at a temperate Kegums for the Grand Prix of Latvia and the twelfth outing of eighteen in the 2015 MXGP FIM Motocross World Championship. Team-mate and also on the YZ450FM, Jeremy Van Horebeek, was seventh overall in front of 23,000 spectators.
After two Grands Prix across hard-pack the loose terrain and sandy texture of the Kegums soil was a welcome change and heavy showers on Saturday night and through Sunday morning helped create a rough, bumpy and technical course. The hard areas of the track still caught out many for grip. On a drier Saturday afternoon Febvre chased Gautier Paulin closely to finish second in the qualification heat and earn the same pick in the gate for Sunday. Van Horebeek could not make the best of starts and also had a small crash to finish seventh; unfortunately for the Belgian it would set a trend on Sunday.
Sunday dawned wet and cool and Kegums was a different prospect. The layout dried quickly but only narrowed the principal racing lines. Febvre tangled with Tommy Searle at the beginning of the first moto and went down. The championship leader then had to embark on a race-long fight back through the pack and his progress was fantastic. He reached eighth position after the thirty minutes and two laps distance. Van Horebeek had Steven Frossard for company for most of the sprint but comfortably kept the French Motocross of Nations winner at bay to make sure of fifth place.
Belated sunshine had arrived by the time of the second motos but the stiff breeze kept a moody sky blowing across the venue. In the next launch Febvre was superb and seized the lead on the second corner to open a seven second margin towards his seventh moto win from the last seven Grands Prix (he is now the most successful MXGP racer this term). Van Horebeek was again frustrated out of the sandy gate and while straining for ground and positions in the top ten suffered a fall that dropped him to thirteenth. '89' rode hard to recover to ninth.
The MXGP classification in Latvia means that Febvre has increased his cushion behind possession of the red plate to 41 points with trips to Czech Republic, Belgium, Italy, Holland, Mexico and the USA still to go. Van Horebeek is eighth and closing on Shaun Simpson in seventh spot.
DP19 Racing Yamaha's David Philippaerts could only take fifteenth place overall after encountering a recurring problem with his exhaust silencers that restricted the performance of the YZ450F and permitted no better than a 17-16. The former world champion is twelfth in the MXGP table.
With back-to-back events in the bag Yamaha's MXGP athletes will now be able to take a week to recover and prepare for the sand with three races in August set to take place at Lommel, Mantova and Assen. First up is the slick, hard surface of Loket for the Grand Prix of Czech Republic on July 25-26. |
| | | 8th and 1st for 3rd overall. Championship Position: 1st | | "I was maybe second or third on the straight but going into the turn somebody hit me and some of us crashed together. I lost some time restarting the bike and when I was looking at the pack going over one of the jumps I could see that they were really far! I knew it would be difficult to come back but I managed it to eighth. I was really happy with my riding – but not with the result – and I knew with a good start in the second moto I had the speed to lead and made it happen." | |  |
 | | | | 5th and 9th for 7th overall. Championship Position: 8th | | "I have the speed to be in the top three, easily, but if you don't get the start then you need to take risks on the first laps. I rode good today – except for that small crash in the second moto – but I'm always having to come through from the back. Like I said, my pace is good, but something is not clicking at the moment. I'm feeling good and fit. We'll work hard and make some changes." | | |
| race I | | 1 | Glenn Coldenhoff | Suzuki | NLD | 34'26.145 | | 2 | Kevin Strijbos | Suzuki | BEL | 0'05.257 | | 3 | Gautier Paulin | Honda | FRA | 0'45.698 | | 4 | Antonio Cairoli | KTM | ITA | 1'00.847 | | 5 | Jeremy Van Horebeek | Yamaha | BEL | 1'08.496 | | 6 | Steven Frossard | KTM | FRA | 1'12.170 | | 7 | Jose Antonio Butron | KTM | ESP | 1'18.466 | | 8 | Romain Febvre | Yamaha | FRA | 1'19.095 | | 9 | Filip Bengtsson | Honda | SWE | 1'24.412 | | 10 | Dean Ferris | Husqvarna | AUS | 1'27.896 | | 11 | Evgeny Bobryshev | Honda | RUS | 1'31.278 | | 12 | Christophe Charlier | Honda | FRA | 1'34.136 | | 13 | Nathan Watson | Husqvarna | GBR | 1'35.471 | | 14 | Todd Waters | Husqvarna | AUS | 1'36.755 | | 15 | Tanel Leok | Kawasaki | EST | 1'40.702 | | 17 | David Philippaerts | Yamaha | ITA | 1'54.384 | | race II | | 1 | Romain Febvre | Yamaha | FRA | 35'49.255 | | 2 | Glenn Coldenhoff | Suzuki | NLD | 0'02.389 | | 3 | Gautier Paulin | Honda | FRA | 0'03.218 | | 4 | Antonio Cairoli | KTM | ITA | 0'24.352 | | 5 | Evgeny Bobryshev | Honda | RUS | 0'31.334 | | 6 | Kevin Strijbos | Suzuki | BEL | 0'42.152 | | 7 | Shaun Simpson | KTM | GBR | 0'44.601 | | 8 | Steven Frossard | KTM | FRA | 0'46.418 | | 9 | Jeremy Van Horebeek | Yamaha | BEL | 0'48.018 | | 10 | Todd Waters | Husqvarna | AUS | 0'49.190 | | 11 | Filip Bengtsson | Honda | SWE | 1'05.120 | | 12 | Dean Ferris | Husqvarna | AUS | 1'08.173 | | 13 | Tommy Searle | KTM | GBR | 1'11.166 | | 14 | Christophe Charlier | Honda | FRA | 1'12.688 | | 15 | Davide Guarneri | TM | ITA | 1'46.058 | | 16 | David Philippaerts | Yamaha | ITA | 1'52.087 |
| | | | Rider Standings | After Race 12 of 19 | | | 1. | Romain Febvre | Yamaha | FRA | 457 | | 2. | Antonio Cairoli | KTM | ITA | 416 | | 3. | Gautier Paulin | Honda | FRA | 391 | | 4. | Maximilian Nagl | Husqvarna | DE | 360 | | 5. | Evgeny Bobryshev | Honda | RUS | 345 | | 6. | Clement Desalle | Suzuki | BEL | 291 | | 7. | Shaun Simpson | KTM | GBR | 276 | | 8. | Jeremy Van Horebeek | Yamaha | BEL | 260 | | 9. | Glenn Coldenhoff | Suzuki | NLD | 243 | | 10. | Todd Waters | Husqvarna | AUS | 242 | | 11. | Kevin Strijbos | Suzuki | BEL | 223 | | 12. | David Philippaerts | Yamaha | ITA | 185 | | 13. | Dean Ferris | Husqvarna | AUS | 184 | | 14. | Tyla Rattray | Kawasaki | ZAF | 159 | | 15. | Ken De Dycker | KTM | BEL | 155 | | 16. | Jose Antonio Butron | KTM | ESP | 130 | | 31. | Cedric Soubeyras | Yamaha | FRA | 15 | | 37. | Matevz Irt | Yamaha | SVN | 9 | | 39. | Paul Coates | Yamaha | GBR | 7 | | 41. | Pier Bertuzzo | Yamaha | ITA | 6 | | 44. | Jeffrey DeWulf | Yamaha | BEL | 3 | | 51. | Lewis Gregory | Yamaha | GBR | 0 |
| |  | | |  | | | Graulus lights up a hard day for MX2 crew at Latvian MXGP | The Grand Prix of Latvia brought the FIM Motocross World Championship up to round twelve of eighteen of the 2015 campaign and Standing Construct Yamaha's Valentin Guillod managed to keep third place in the MX2 standings despite a hard day at Kegums and twelfth position overall. Yamaha were able to enjoy some success thanks to Kemea Yamaha's Damon Graulus taking overall victory in the seventh appointment of nine in the EMX250 European Championship.
Periods of heavy rainfall on Sunday morning and then changeable conditions during the programme meant that the loose terrain at Kegums – with a hard base of rippling bumps – was rough, technical and difficult. Not a traditional sand track by any means (although many riders opted for sand scoop tyre profiles) Kegums provided a mix of demands from mud, soft berms and long ruts as well as areas of hard-pack.
The first moto was a difficult one for the Standing Construct duo with Guillod and Lieber both hitting the deck. It was left to Kemea's Benoit Paturel to earn the highest classification in eleventh with Guillod twelfth and followed by Lieber. Brent Van Doninck was fifteenth and couldn't find the best feeling around the fast layout.
In the second race British Grand Prix winner Guillod made a great start and was almost first coming down the hill into the third turn when he lost control of the front end of the bike and crashed. The Swiss picked up, but was luckless after being hit by Jordi Tixier while regaining positions later in the moto. It meant another trawl from deep regions of the pack. He managed to claw back some points by taking thirteenth spot. Julien Lieber was frustrated by his start and another mistake but with tenth place was the best YZ250F runner in the moto. A crash for Paturel and slightly improved speed for Van Doninck meant the Kemea boys were reduced to twenty-second and twelfth positions respectively.
The MX2 championship points table shows that Guillod is only ten points from Tim Gajser in second position. Lieber is eighth, Paturel twelfth and Van Doninck sixteenth, although the rookie has missed two Grands Prix due to his knee injury.
In EMX250 Damon Graulus conquered motos in contrasting conditions. The fast, dry ground of Saturday was a happy hunting ground for the Belgian as he escaped to post his fourth moto victory of the campaign (and fourth from the last four meetings). Sunday morning and the second race was a wetter and bumpier test – one hour before the first MX2 moto exited the gate – and Graulus was still carrying good speed. He chased Lars Van Berkel for much of the race before Brian Hsu closed up and started a three man dispute for first position. In a chaotic final two laps Damon managed to reach the flag with fourth, which was still enough for the top step of the podium. He is now fifteen points from Nick Kouwenberg and the red plate with races in Lommel and Assen left to go.
The Grand Prix of Czech Republic will make its traditional stop at the hillside circuit of Loket towards the end of the month for round thirteen. |
| | | 12th and 13th for 12th overall. Championship Position: 3rd | | "Yesterday was OK. My riding was not perfect but today I had a lot of problems. To ride here and in those conditions you have to clutch-it a lot and ride on high rpm and that's not really my style. In the first moto I was tenth and a rider crashed right in front of me in a corner. I had nowhere to go. I was really motivated for the second race because I wanted to do much better and I made the start I needed but in the third corner I came alongside Anstie and lost the front wheel; I really don't know why that happened. My riding after that was not so bad but Tixier hit my rear wheel coming out of a corner and I crashed again. A weekend to forget really." | |  | |
 | | | | 13th and 10th for 11th overall. Championship Position: 8th | | "I crashed in each race…so at least I was consistent with those. We struggled a lot with the start again and we need to find a solution so I am not always stuck in the top fifteen. I need to push too much on tracks that are difficult for overtaking. Not a good weekend but at least I'm healthy. Now we need to work more on the starts…" | |
| | | 15th and 12th for 15th overall. Championship Position: 16th | | "I had an off weekend… I had the same feeling as in Germany, the pace and speed weren't there and only in the last 15 minutes of the final moto I felt alright. Maybe I put too much pressure on myself. When you get top six finishes you want to be there every weekend but when it already went wrong on Saturday I started riding too tense. It makes me realize I still need to learn a lot and although bad days do not feel good you still have take something from them." | |  |
 | | | | 11th and 22nd for 16th overall. Championship Position: 12th | | "I had a really bad weekend. The starts were bad and I could not find a good pace. In the second moto I crashed twice and lost a lot of time to get started again. I already want to forget this weekend but in another way it motivates me to work harder for the next one..." | |
| | | 1st and 4th for 1st overall. Championship Position: 2nd | | "Yesterday was good and I liked the track. It was a good win. Today was difficult with the mud and the rain and it was hard to pass. I made a couple of mistakes and ended up fourth; I wasn't happy with that but still took the overall after two difficult races in Germany and Sweden. Now we'll look to Lommel and one of my practice tracks…so I'm really excited." | |  | |
| race I | | 1 | Max Anstie | Kawasaki | GBR | 35'51.424 | | 2 | Pauls Jonass | KTM | LVA | 0'07.869 | | 3 | Davy Pootjes | KTM | NLD | 0'13.274 | | 4 | Jeremy Seewer | Suzuki | CHE | 0'14.611 | | 5 | Harri Kullas | Suzuki | FIN | 0'23.594 | | 6 | Jordi Tixier | Kawasaki | FRA | 0'29.166 | | 7 | Tim Gajser | Honda | SVN | 0'55.725 | | 8 | Ben Watson | KTM | GBR | 0'57.750 | | 9 | Roberts Justs | KTM | LVA | 0'58.728 | | 10 | Brian Bogers | KTM | NLD | 0'59.584 | | 11 | Benoit Paturel | Yamaha | FRA | 1'04.767 | | 12 | Valentin Guillod | Yamaha | CHE | 1'05.192 | | 13 | Julien Lieber | Yamaha | BEL | 1'12.809 | | 14 | Thomas Covington | Kawasaki | USA | 1'13.535 | | 15 | Brent Vandoninck | Yamaha | BEL | 1'26.810 | | 26 | Kevin Fors | Yamaha | BEL | -14Laps | | race II | | 1 | Max Anstie | Kawasaki | GBR | 34'44.364 | | 2 | Pauls Jonass | KTM | LVA | 0'13.123 | | 3 | Harri Kullas | Suzuki | FIN | 0'21.819 | | 4 | Tim Gajser | Honda | SVN | 0'24.819 | | 5 | Jeremy Seewer | Suzuki | CHE | 0'28.107 | | 6 | Brian Bogers | KTM | NLD | 0'30.405 | | 7 | Jens Getteman | Honda | BEL | 0'33.825 | | 8 | Jordi Tixier | Kawasaki | FRA | 0'36.567 | | 9 | Thomas Covington | Kawasaki | USA | 0'44.559 | | 10 | Julien Lieber | Yamaha | BEL | 0'47.071 | | 11 | Davy Pootjes | KTM | NLD | 0'53.525 | | 12 | Brent Vandoninck | Yamaha | BEL | 0'58.362 | | 13 | Valentin Guillod | Yamaha | CHE | 1'11.293 | | 14 | Ben Watson | KTM | GBR | 1'12.307 | | 15 | Samuele Bernardini | TM | ITA | 1'16.382 | | 22 | Benoit Paturel | Yamaha | FRA | -1Laps | | 26 | Kevin Fors | Yamaha | BEL | -4Laps |
| | | | Rider Standings | After Race 12 of 19 | | | 1. | Jeffrey Herlings | KTM | NLD | 423 | | 2. | Tim Gajser | Honda | SVN | 377 | | 3. | Valentin Guillod | Yamaha | CHE | 352 | | 4. | Pauls Jonass | KTM | LVA | 351 | | 5. | Jeremy Seewer | Suzuki | CHE | 345 | | 6. | Jordi Tixier | Kawasaki | FRA | 334 | | 7. | Max Anstie | Kawasaki | GBR | 312 | | 8. | Julien Lieber | Yamaha | BEL | 278 | | 9. | Aleksandr Tonkov | Husqvarna | RUS | 256 | | 10. | Brian Bogers | KTM | NLD | 205 | | 11. | Dylan Ferrandis | Kawasaki | FRA | 205 | | 12. | Benoit Paturel | Yamaha | FRA | 202 | | 13. | Petar Petrov | KTM | BGR | 194 | | 14. | Thomas Covington | Kawasaki | USA | 172 | | 15. | Roberts Justs | KTM | LVA | 162 | | 16. | Brent Vandoninck | Yamaha | BEL | 153 | | 29. | Kevin Fors | Yamaha | BEL | 27 | | 32. | Damon Graulus | Yamaha | BEL | 13 | | 50. | Yannis Irsuti | Yamaha | FRA | 0 |
| | | | | | | | |  |
|
| Please ensure to credit the source for this material as www.yamaha-racing.com. We would also respectfully request that the content remains unaltered. Yamaha Motor Europe N.V. Join us on
    © Yamaha Motor Europe N.V. 2011 | Unsubscribe | |
