Due to injury, French former world champion Romain Febvre was a late starter in the 2022 edition of the FIM Motocross World Championships, but he’s fast making up lost ground.
Looking back to the 2021 series and it was clearly was one for the books, as we all bared witness to one of the most disputed title fights in the history of the World Championship that went down to the very last race at the MXGP of Città di Mantova.
One of the main protagonists for this championship battle and vice world champion of the previous year was none other than Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP rider Febvre.
Last season, Febvre was by far in the best shape of his career and quickly became a title threat as he fought closely with Jeffrey Herlings (KTM) and Tim Gajser (Honda).
At the 2021 MXGP of Garda, we saw Febvre take the championship lead and he held onto the red plate until the very last race of the year, as he and Herlings lined-up for MXGP race two level on points.
Ultimately a small mistake cost the Frenchman the title, no doubt a tough pill to swallow in the moment, but what would come later was nothing in comparison.
While it was no doubt tough mentally, for Febvre, the team, his close friends and family to accept defeat but dwelling on that fact would not have been productive either and instead shifting the focus onto winning the title in 2023 became the goal.
As the off-season kicked-off, a number of Grand Prix riders, which also included MX2 world champion Maxime Renaux, and the 9-time world champion Antonio Cairoli entered the iconic Paris Supercross event.
For Febvre it was an opportunity to enjoy the event and race in front of the French crowd, but a big crash ended his 2023 season, before it even had the chance to start.
Numerous problematic surgeries came next followed by more complications that took Febvre out for more than six months which was not only difficult physically, but even more mentally.
With just two weeks on the bike, Febvre made his much-anticipated return in Germany and the results were very positive, considering the circumstances.
In timed practice, the Frenchman posted the seventh fastest time and followed it up with a strong qualifying heat where he placed sixth, which gave him a fairly good gate pick for the races.
Starts were key in Germany and in the opening race, Febvre was able to start in front. He battled with Jeremy Seewer before being passed by the Swiss rider to finish in fourth.
Then, in the second race, he managed to bring it home in seventh to place fifth overall – which was impressive since he had very limited bike time coming into the race.
He’s obviously a long way behind in the 2022 title chase, but giving up is not in Febvre’s vocabulary and he’ll continue to fight as the remainder of this year’s series unfolds.
With only two of the 12 GPs thus far run under his belt, Febvre is currently only 21st overall, but who would bet against him pinching a race win or two by season’s end?
Photo courtesy Kawasaki
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