FEBVRE AND LOKET

Red plate man, Romain Febvre is known to love hard pack and while he doesn’t love the design of the Loket circuit, in the Czech Republic, it is a circuit where he has had a lot of success. Three wins around the old school facility shows that he goes into this weekends Grand Prix with high hopes of adding another GP win to his name at Loket.

In 2015 Febvre went 1-1 for victory and as we all know, went on to become World MXGP champion. Second in 2015 was Evgeny Bobryshev with 2-2 and third Clement Desalle with 3-3 scores. Interestingly, only Glenn Coldenhoff and Febvre are still racing in the MXGP class from that field of riders a decade ago.

“It was a really good weekend for me,” Febvre said of his first Loket victory. “I knew I had the speed to win the GP from Saturday, and the goal was to make good starts. In the first moto I had a sketchy moment together with Jeremy but passed Evgeny quite soon and it was an easier race than the second. We had a nice battle with Clement, and he was really strong. Evgeny came back as well, and I could not rest even for a little bit; I had to push all the moto. I'm really happy and I'm excited about what we are doing but there is still a long way to go.”

Febvre won again in 2019 with 1-1 finishes, ahead of Gajser 2-2 and Jeremy Seewer 3-3 and in 2023, Febvre raced to his third win at Loket and his third consecutive GP victory in that season. It was in a hot run of form, with Loket being his third GP win in a row, and it was a turning point in the season for the Frenchman.

“I hadn’t won three GPs in-a-row since 2015. I'm happy to win the GP; it's the third time I have won here at Loket. I can’t say that it’s my favourite track, but my riding style seems to suit the layout. I do know that I have good speed there and have the confidence on that type of surface.”

Now, we arrive once again at Loket, and once again, Romain Febvre will be looking to try and stop the momentum of his main rival, Lucas Coenen, who has taken points out of the series points lead of Febvre, at nearly every GP since round five.

Febvre knows it won’t be easy, and many championships have been lost at this circuit, from Josh Coppins in 2007, to Jeffrey Herlings on a couple of occasions and many more. Febvre will want to make a statement at one of the tracks that has been kind to him, but he will also want to come out of this tough GP in one piece.

Romain Febvre – Loket Results

2012 MX2 8-6 5th overall

2013 MX2 12-11 10th overall

2014 MX2 2-6 4th overall

2015 MXGP 1-1 First Overall

2016 MXGP 3-3 Third Overall

2017 MXGP 6-7 sixth overall

2018 MXGP 6-4 Fourth overall

2019 MXGP 1-1 First Overall

2020 NO GP Covid

2021 MXGP 3-10 Fifth Overall

2022 MXGP 15-DNS 19th Overall