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Romain Febvre Secures Fourth Podium of the Season in Trentino
Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Romain Febvre strengthened his hold on second place in the FIM World MXGP Motocross Championship with another impressive performance at Pietramurata in Italy’s Trentino region, earning his fourth podium in five rounds this season.
Febvre got off to a flying start in the opening moto, grabbing a clear holeshot aboard his KX™450SR. What followed was a tense cat-and-mouse battle with his main championship rival, as the duo pulled away from the field, never separated by more than a couple of seconds. A pair of yellow flags around the 20-minute mark cost Febvre the slight advantage he had built through lapped traffic, and a rare line choice error five laps from the finish gave his rival the opening to slip by. Febvre fought back with the fastest laps of the race, setting up a thrilling finale, but a late crash on the final lap—caused by his front wheel washing out in a soft rut—ended his charge. Despite the fall, he comfortably held onto second, with the leading pair more than 30 seconds ahead of the rest of the pack.
In race two, Febvre again launched well, but his momentum was disrupted when a rider on the inside went straight at turn one, forcing the Kawasaki rider wide and back to eighth place. By the end of the first lap, he had climbed to sixth, and by lap four he was into fifth. With passing opportunities limited on the tight circuit, he made little headway until a decisive charge around the 20-minute mark vaulted him up to second. A string of sub-1:50 lap times cut the leader’s advantage in half, but time ran out for a final push, and Febvre had to settle for another second-place finish. The result solidifies his second-place position in the championship standings.
Romain Febvre:
“These last two weekends have really been a battle between Tim and me—last week I came out on top, this week it was his turn. I took the holeshot in the first moto, which always makes things easier, and I felt confident even though the gap was tight. The yellow flags for fallen riders maybe slowed me a bit too much, and then I made a strange decision to go outside in a corner where I had gone inside the lap before—that’s where he got by. I was the fastest on track and tried everything to come back, but I lost the front in a soft rut and went down on the final lap. My second start was also strong, but Fernandez came from the inside and pushed me wide—it was chaos in the first few corners and I dropped to about tenth. I knew I had to move quickly because Tim was already ahead, but it’s tough to pass here. By the time I got into second, it was too late to catch him. I’ll take another second-place overall, but I know I need to win more races to close the points gap.”
