It’s official! Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser and Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Romain Febvre are from another planet. It’s obvious these two have raised the bar in motocross globally and what they are bringing to the 2016 MXGP world championship is nothing short of incredible.
An exuberant crowd was treated to some of the best racing of the season today as their home soil hero Romain Febvre threw everything but the kitchen sink at Gajser for the win in race 1. There wasn’t a lot in it at the checkers as the duo went hand in hand across the finish line, but it was the championship leader, Gajser who was deemed the winner by a very narrow margin.
Fired up, the Frenchman and defending world champion, Febvre, some how turned it up a notch in race two when passed Gajser for the lead and got his head down. On the fence line, Febvre Fever was spreading like wildfire as the 461 laid it all on the line in bid for victory here at his home grand prix.
No words will do the racing today any justice as it was just unreal with Febvre getting the job done to have the national anthem played for his nation as the winner of the MXGP of France.
As for the Slovenian… or maybe we should say ‘Fast-venian’? The nineteen-year-old rookie sensation was nothing short of incredible today as he tied on 47 points with Febvre and maintained his 24-point championship lead.
Team HRC’s Evgeny Bobryshev had to fly the flag for HRC after his teammate Gautier Paulin withdrew from racing this morning after his ridiculously massive crash yesterday. The Russian, Bobryshev, was the top qualifier here in France but couldn’t quite work out how the youngsters were riding so fast “I don’t know how those young guys were riding so fast, I have to check because I tried to follow them but I couldn’t, they were really quick.” He said, “but I’m really happy to be on the podium, it was important to me to do well here because I thought that I could, so I am really happy.”
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli looks hungry for wins but he seems to be just left scratching his head at the pace the youngsters are running. The eight-time world champ put in a solid ride in race one, but didn’t have anything for the young guns, Febvre and Gajser. who stormed away for the top two spots. The day was made a little more frustrating for the Italian in race two when he hit the deck at turn one and then dumped it again while trying to pass Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Max Nagl for tenth. TC222 battled back to seventh in that race, which was enough for fourth overall.
Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Clement Desalle is slowly but surely gaining momentum. The Belgian is starting to look more comfortable on the green machine as he inches closer to the box.
Adding to the atmosphere, Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s French rookie Jordi Tixier cracked the top ten for the first time in the premier class with his ninth place overall, while fellow Frenchmen Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Christophe Charlier and Tip Top MP32 Racing’s Milko Potisek finished thirteenth and fifteenth respectively.
