Romain Febvre and Jeffrey Herlings have won their respective classes at the Grand Prix of France.
By Hayden Gregory
Monster Energy Yamaha’s Romain Febvre was no doubt the most popular rider on track for round ten of the World Motocross Championship. In the opening moto it was a two rider race with Febvre going toe to toe with rookie Tim Gasjer, the pair trading blows for the entire moto.
Coming right down to the final corner, the crowd could not get their hometown hero across the line with Gasjer scoring victory by the smallest of margins.
In the second moto the pair would come together again, this time the Frenchman moving into the lead and firing all the way to the finish line to take with him not only the race win but also the GP.
“To celebrate my new contract by winning at home makes me very happy. I’d like to thank Yamaha with this victory today. To win a GP, especially the home GP, in front of the crowd is awesome,” Febvre said,
“We had a good feeling in the morning and worked hard on the start for the track here at Saint Jean d’Angély. The mechanics and directors saw every detail in the paddock and every turn on the course and we won this all together.”
Gasjer finished on equal points with Febvre yet was relegated to second due to the result in the second moto. Despite the standing the Slovenian retains the leader’s red plate by 24 points. Evgeny Bobryshev recorded third place for the round just edging out KTM’s Antonio Cairoli.
In MX2 racing, Red Bull KTM’s Jeffrey Herlings was once again unstoppable. The two time world champion was clinical on the French track. He fought hard in both moto’s to score come from behind victories highlighting his ability to win not just from the front of the pack. The win marked Herlings’ 57th career grand prix victory, equalling Joel Smets record.
Frenchman Benoit Paturel took a leaf out of Febvre’s book, almost winning the first moto before claiming third in the second. A 2-3 result gave him second place for the round, a fantastic effort in front of his home fans.
“After Spain I am on a good path. I hope I can continue, and I’m really happy about my riding this weekend. The public was incredible here, and even though I am from far away in Lyon, France is France!,” Paturel said.
“I had good starts today and a good rhythm. To lead the first moto for 25 minutes makes me very happy and I am grateful to the team for having all the professional preparations to take this result.”
Suzuki rider Jeremy Seewer rounded out the MX2 podium. Amazingly he sits second place in the championship some 134 points behind Herlings.
MXGP Overall Top Ten:
1. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 47 points
2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 47 points
3. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 38 points
4. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 34 points
5. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 31 points
6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 28 points
7. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 28 points
8. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 25 points
9. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KAW), 21 points
10. Dennis Ullrich (GER, KTM), 19 points
MXGP Championship Top Ten:
1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 432 points
2. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 408 points
3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 372 points
4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 342 points
5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 333 points
6. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 293 points
7. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 210 points
8. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 208 points
9. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 204 points
10. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 184 points
MX2 Overall Top Ten:
1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points
2. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 42 points
3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 38 points
4. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 32 points
5. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 29 points
6. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, YAM), 29 points
7. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 27 points
8. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), 24 points
9. Max Anstie (GBR, HUS), 22 points
10. Petar Petrov (BUL, KAW), 20 points
MX2 Championship Top Ten:
1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 497 points
2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 363 points
3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 332 points
4. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 293 points
5. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, YAM), 269 points
6. Petar Petrov (BUL, KAW), 230 points
7. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 229 points
8. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), 228 points
9. Max Anstie (GBR, HUS), 227 points
10. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, KAW), 209 points
