MXGP

Frenchman Romain Febvre sure enjoyed some big success last weekend. The Yamaha Factory rider put together a very consistent 2-1 result for the second Grand Prix victory of his career and the first in the MXGP class. The former European 250cc champion is without question the surprise of the 2015 season.

Febvre was excited and a little surprised by his victory last Sunday, but the surprise didn’t stop him from celebrating with his countrymen.

“It was amazing to win the Grand Prix of France,” Febvre said. “Last week at Matterley Basin I win my first moto in this class, and now to win the GP, it is unbelievable, I will enjoy this moment for a long time. This win is better than my first GP win in the MX2 class last year, to win at home is so good. The crowd was amazing and for sure they enjoyed the racing.”

Febvre didn’t have it all his own way though as he fought with both the current world number one and number two in Antonio Cairoli and Max Nagl  in the Sunday moto’s.

“The first moto I was behind Tony (Cairoli) but I couldn’t get the win. The second moto I started really well, I was behind Max, and then he made a mistake and I closed the gap. I tried to pass him straight away and that was possible and I won the GP, beautiful for me.”

Despite winning the Saturday qualification race the Yamaha rider enjoyed Sunday much more as the circuit was more to his liking.

“The track was better on Sunday for me. On Saturday it was so hard and there was a lot of water on the track (because of the dust). On Sunday they worked well on the track and it was better, more lines on Sunday and I enjoyed it much more.”

The weekend ended with the massive crowd standing in front of the MXGP podium and singing the countries national anthem. For Febvre it was the perfect end to the perfect weekend.

“It is so nice when the crowd sang the national anthem at the end, to win your home GP with that type of crowd is unbelievable.”

Febvre now heads to Maggiora, Italy in a little more than a weeks’ time to try and build on what is already a special season for the MXGP rookie.

“I like places like Maggiora, always a big crowd and I think we will see some good racing. The season has been very special for me and I could never have imagined that I would achieve so much in this first year in MXGP. We worked really hard in the winter for this and I want to thank the team for their work.”

The Fox Holeshot award runs across the entire MXGP season. The way it works is 1 point is awarded for each race holeshot. He who has the most points in MXGP at the end of the season will win the grand prize of €10,000 while he with the most points in MX2 will win the grand prize of €5,000.

At the MXGP of France in Villars sous Ecot,  Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli took the holeshot in race one while RedBull Husqvarna Factory Racing's Max Nagl took it in race 2.

Meanwhile in MX2 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Jeffrey Herlings claimed the Fox Holeshot in both races.

Watch MXGP of France ‘Fox Holeshot’ films here below.

MXGP of France FOX Holeshot - MXGP class

MXGP of France FOX Holeshots - MX2 class

The gates dropped for round eight of the FIM Motocross World Championship at the MXGP of France in Villars sous Ecot, France. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli set the fastest lap time for the weekend in MXGP while his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing teammate Jeffrey Herlings set the fastest time in MX2.

Both riders have added one point to their TAG Heuer fastest lap score sheets. Cairoli logged his second point in the TAG Heuer fastest lap competition in MXGP, while Herlings continues to extend his lead over teammate Pauls Jonass.

If you don’t know about this competition, the way it works is; he who sets the fastest lap time in each MXGP or MX2 over the weekend at each round of MXGP this year will be awarded 1 point towards the TAG Heuer sponsored ‘fastest lap’ competition. At the end of the season, the rider who has the most points will be awarded an elegant gift of prestige, a TAG Heuer watch.

If you scroll down on the main page at MXGP.com you will see the TAG HEUER Fastest Lap results grid which is situated directly underneath the FOX Holeshot results grid

VILLARS SOUS ECOT (France), 31 May 2015 – What a treat for the thousands of extremely enthusiastic French fans that packed the hillside here at the traditional French style circuit of Villars sous Ecot to witness round eight of the FIM Motocross World Championship. The atmosphere was absolutely electric as Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube’s Romain Febvre put in one of the most hair-raising performances of the year to claim his first ever MXGP overall victory.

Meanwhile in MX2, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings bounced back from his brief dip in results to claim his first double victory since his home grand prix in Valkenswaard, The Netherlands, a month ago.

Winning a home grand prix must be the ultimate feeling for any MXGP rider and for Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube’s Romain Febvre it would have felt like all his Christmases came at once this weekend when he claimed his first ever MXGP overall here on home soil. When he mounted the top step of the podium, there was a ground shaking uproar from the completely stoked French crowd, Romain said when asked how it felt to be in that position and surrounded by so many people who are genuinely pumped for him: “It’s so nice! I hope it’s not the last time, I will work for it!”

“For me it feels like the first time I have stepped on the podium because I have had so many injuries over the last few years” were the words of Team HRC’s Evgeny Bobryshev who also admitted he didn’t feel like he had a good flow around the rock hard, super rutty hillside track here in Villars sous Ecot. Nevertheless, Bobby is still on the climb and is consistently moving in the right direction.

This weekend seemed strange for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli who struggled in qualifying yesterday, but showed us what champions are made of with his win in race one earlier this afternoon. In race two TC didn’t get off to the best of starts, but managed to make the best of a crumby situation to claim his third consecutive podium finish.

The red plate holder Red Bull IceOne Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Nagl lost two points to the defending champion Antonio Cairoli today with his fourth place finish. On the flipside, the German totally shook off his closest rival Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MXGP’s Clement Desalle who only completed one lap today in an attempt to race after crashing in timed practice yesterday and dislocating his shoulder.

Rounding out the top five, Wilvo Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Dean Ferris put his name back on the map with two amazing starts and two solid performances for his best overall finish of the season.

Meanwhile MXGP of France didn’t quite go in favor of the other French riders. Team HRC’s Gautier Paulin had a mechanical failure while hounding Cairoli for the lead in the first race, while the second race the number 21 just didn’t get a good start. 24MX Honda Racing’s Christophe Charlier finished thirteenth overall while Wilvo Forkrent KTM’s Steven Frossard finished fifteenth.

MXGP Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 34:07.793; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:03.893; 3. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:25.131; 4. Dean Ferris (AUS, Husqvarna), +0:30.105; 5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:32.380; 6. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:37.604; 7. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:42.512; 8. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:43.953; 9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Suzuki), +0:52.376; 10. Gregory Aranda (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:57.131

MXGP Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), 34:41.009; 2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:03.574; 3. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:25.199; 4. Dean Ferris (AUS, Husqvarna), +0:27.686; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Suzuki), +0:31.461; 6. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:38.026; 7. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:43.190; 8. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:47.747; 9. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:52.688; 10. Tyla Rattray (RSA, Kawasaki), +0:54.542.

MXGP Overall Top Ten: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 47 points; 2. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 40 p.; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 39 p.; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 37 p.; 5. Dean Ferris (AUS, HUS), 36 p.; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, SUZ), 28 p.; 7. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 28 p.; 8. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 26 p.; 9. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 24 p.; 10. Todd Waters (AUS, HUS), 17 p.

MXGP Championship Top Ten: 1. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 332 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 313 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, SUZ), 291 p.; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 282 p.; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HON), 252 p.; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 247 p.; 7. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 169 p.; 8. Todd Waters (AUS, HUS), 138 p.; 9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, SUZ), 134 p.; 10. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 133 p.

MXGP Manufacturer: 1. Husqvarna, 339 points; 2. KTM, 330 p.; 3. Suzuki, 319 p.; 4. Honda, 289 p.; 5. Yamaha, 287 p.; 6. Kawasaki, 229 p.; 7. TM, 70 p.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings is back to his wicked ways. The Bullet finally returned to the top of the box in his traditional double race victory style. Herlings said, “It wasn’t easy today. These tracks are not my favorite. I am from Holland, so you know it is sand and flat,” he laughed, “and then here it’s hills and really hard and rocky. So it was tough but I did it.”

Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser wrapped up second overall. The Slovenian said he just wanted to stay on the bike this weekend after having a few crashes in recent times. This approach was evidently the best way to tackle the demanding, slick and edgy circuit as it still caught a lot of people out.

It was a pretty epic day for the fastest Frenchman in MX2 Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jordi Tixier who took two consistent thirds for third overall. Tixier smiled, “I don’t know about you guys, but for me this was definitely the best crowd we have had. When I took the lead in race one I couldn’t hear anything, just the people, it was amazing!”

Meanwhile it was another smooth and consistent day for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pauls Jonass who has been feeling under the weather lately. Jonass got off to a couple of good starts and rode smart for fourth.

Rounding out the top five was the next big thing in MX2, Standing Construct Yamaha Racing Yamalube’s Valentin Guillod. Guillod’s result doesn’t reflect the way he rode this weekend. The super Swiss kept the crowd raging in race one when rode the wheels off of his Yamaha YZ250F to take a close second behind Herlings’. Unfortunately in race two, VG92 and Kemea Yamaha Yamalube’s Damon Graulus whipped into each other and went down hard. Despite bending his bike in about five directions, he knuckled down and managed to get back to an impressive thirteenth.

MX2 Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 33:57.744; 2. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:01.656; 3. Jordi Tixier (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:11.411; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:39.499; 5. Petar Petrov (BUL, Kawasaki), +0:51.998; 6. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Husqvarna), +0:55.459; 7. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +1:00.416; 8. Julien Lieber (BEL, Yamaha), +1:10.927; 9. Roberts Justs (LAT, KTM), +1:14.420; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +1:15.450.

MX2 Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 35:02.442; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:05.221; 3. Jordi Tixier (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:26.294; 4. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:32.167; 5. Max Anstie (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:33.357; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:41.292; 7. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Husqvarna), +0:46.956; 8. Petar Petrov (BUL, Kawasaki), +0:52.817; 9. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +1:02.015; 10. Jorge Zaragoza (ESP, Honda), +1:05.226.

MX2 Overall Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 40 p.; 3. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KAW), 40 p.; 4. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 32 p.; 5. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 30 p.; 6. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, HUS), 29 p.; 7. Petar Petrov (BUL, KAW), 29 p.; 8. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 26 p.; 9. Max Anstie (GBR, KAW), 25 p.; 10. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, HON), 20 p.

MX2 Championship Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 358 points; 2. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 246 p.; 3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 245 p.; 4. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KAW), 229 p.; 5. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, HUS), 218 p.; 6. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 209 p.; 7. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 208 p.; 8. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 205 p.; 9. Julien Lieber (BEL, YAM), 184 p.; 10. Max Anstie (GBR, KAW), 183 p.

MX2 Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 380 points; 2. Kawasaki, 329 p.; 3. Yamaha, 282 p.; 4. Honda, 242 p.; 5. Husqvarna, 221 p.; 6. Suzuki, 208 p.

Click here to obtain the complete results.

All the photos of the MXGP of France will be available here

MXGP FRANCE – QUICK FACTS

Circuit length: 1550m

Type of ground: Clay

Temperature: 24°C

Weather conditions: sunny

Crowd Attendance: 45,000

MXGP was available across the board in high definition and is also globally available to view live and in HD on MXGP-TV.com. Click here for the complete list of countries and cooperating MXGP broadcasting networks.

NEXT MXGP

Next MXGP will be held in Maggiora, Italy in 2 weeks time on the 14^th June weekend.

LINKS

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MXGP of France

Following the press conference here in Villars sous Ecot for MXGP of France, the jersey that will be proudly worn by the three riders selected to represent France at the highly anticipated 2015 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations was presented.

With France being the defending MXoN champions and this years edition of the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations taking place on French soil in Ernee late September, President of the FFM Mr. Jacques Bolle, Director of Team France Mr. Philippe Thiebant, Trainer of Team France Mr. Pascal Finot and the commentator Mr. Francis Magnanau were extremely proud to present the jersey to the local and international media.

VILLARS SOUS ECOT (France), 30 May 2015 – The steep, blue groove, tight and technical surface of Villars sous Écot was painted well and truly blue today with the domination of Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube’s Romain Febvre and Standing Construct Yamaha Yamalube’s Valentin Guillod as they power slid their way to pole position here at MXGP of France, round eight of the FIM Motocross World Championship.

Also making the atmosphere extra special today was the epic victory of Frances own Livia Lancelot who won the opening race here at round four of the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship. Meanwhile KTM Factory Juniors thunder from down under Josiah Natzke took his third race win of the season here at round five of the European Championship EMX125.

Coming from a super motard background, Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube’s Romain Febvre was right in his element out on the slick surfaced circuit of Villars sous Ecot. The Frenchman who seems to be hitting milestone after milestone every time he races put in yet another astonishing performance to pick up his first ever MXGP qualifying race victory.

While Febvre claimed the holeshot and went on to blitz everyone in front of his rowdy home crowd, fellow Frenchman Team HRC’s Gautier Paulin backed him up. Paulin was inside the top three around turn one along side teammate Evgeny Bobryshev but stalled it on lap two. After a couple of kicks GP21 managed to fire his machine back up and charged from outside the top five to put in a crowd pleasing performance for second ahead of Bobby.

Also up front around turn one was Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MXGP’s Clement Desalle and Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Tyla Rattray but both of them ended up binning it early on and pulled out of the race.

With Rattray and Desalle down and out, Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube’s Jeremy Van Horebeek put the move on the red plate holder Red Bull IceOne Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Nagl to take over fourth which inspired fellow Belgian Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Ken De Dycker to follow in his wake.

After a ton of bar bashing out on the typical French style circuit, the Frenchies Febvre and Paulin lathered the atmosphere in happy dust with their first and second place performances while Bobryshev, Van Horebeek and De Dycker rounded out the top five respectively. 

MXGP Qualifying Race Top Ten: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), 24:33.984; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:06.508; 3. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:12.993; 4. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:15.117; 5. Ken De Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:19.711; 6. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:21.794; 7. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:26.732; 8. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:26.864; 9. Todd Waters (AUS, Husqvarna), +0:36.365; 10. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Honda), +0:36.887

The hottest name in MX2 right now is without a doubt Standing Construct Yamaha Yamalube’s Valentin Guillod. The extremely flamboyant Swiss rider looked so smooth and fluid out on the track today as he put in yet another awe-inspiring performance for his second consecutive qualifying heat win.

Meanwhile the holeshot was actually snapped up by an ill Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pauls Jonass. With a fever and a stomach bug being an extra challenge for the KTM rider, Guillod followed by Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser, Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jordi Tixier and Bud Racing Kawasaki Monster Energy’s Maxime Desprey were quick to barge their way through.

As Guillod checked out, Tixier hounded Gajser for second which he claimed with three laps to go after scrubbing his way through the jump section at the top of the hill.

Gajser took the pass on the chin and settled for third while the battle for fourth between Desprey, Jonass and Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe’s Jeremy Seewer raged on. Desprey, who is a MX2 wild card with his main series being the European Championship EMX250, put in an extremely impressive performance to finish fifth after being passed back by Jonass late in the race.

Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe’s Jeremy Seewer ended up finishing seventh after high siding on the final turn while trying to pin it up the inside of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings.

Speaking of Herlings, the man leading the championship crashed out of fourth on the opening lap while trying to pass Tixier for third. Once he got going again he was buried way back but managed to charge his way into sixth. Putting a dramatic end on an already theatrical race, Herlings bike stopped and wouldn’t restart less than ten meters from the checkered flag.

MX2 Qualifying Race Top Ten: 1. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), 24:08.603; 2. Jordi Tixier (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:11.205; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:13.741; 4. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:30.070; 5. Maxime Desprey (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:31.260; 6. Julien Lieber (BEL, Yamaha), +0:38.583; 7. Jeremy Seewer (BEL, Yamaha), +0:40.931; 8. Damon Graulus (BEL, Yamaha), +0:41.651; 9. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Husqvarna), +0:44.614; 10. Jorge Zaragoza (ESP, Honda), +0:57.784.

Click here to obtain the complete results.

All the photos of the MXGP of France will be available here

MXGP FRANCE – QUICK FACTS

Circuit length: 1550m

Type of ground: Clay

Temperature: 19°C

Weather conditions: cloudy

TIMETABLE

Sunday: EMX125 Warm-up 09:10; WMX Warm-up 09:25; EMX125 Race 2 10:30; MX2 Warm up 11:10; MXGP Warm up 11:30; WMX Race 2 12:00; MX2 Race 1 13:15; MXGP Race 1 14:15; MX2 Race 2 16:10; MXGP Race 2 17:10.

LINKS

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FIM

MXGP of France