Frenchman Romain Febvre of the Factory Kawasaki team continued to be in the battle for the 2024 MXGP championship, scoring yet another podium finish in Spain last weekend. Being in third place in the series points, just 31 points behind series leader Jorge Prado means that at any time now, the Frenchman can close that gap and show us similar form to his 2023 run of six GP wins in a row.

Febvre had earnt fourth gate-pick after he had posted third-fastest time during practice and then quickly moved into fourth to track down the leaders in the qualifying race. On lap six he moved into third, a position he held until a momentary slip in a left-hand turn three laps from the close pushed him back to fourth at the finish.

On Sunday Febvre started well in the opening moto to keep the leader in sight throughout the race for second and confidently joined his KRT teammate Jeremy Seewer in a Kawasaki 1-2 holeshot in the first attempt to start moto two, only to be brought back to the grid at the end of lap one as the race was red-flagged after a couple of gates had not fallen cleanly. On the re-start he again started well in fourth.

Surrendering a position temporarily mid-race, he quickly regained fourth to secure his fifth GP podium of the season from six starts and edge a point closer to the series pace-setter as he retains third in a tight points-chase and heads to his home GP at St Jean D'Angely, just over an hour north of Bordeaux, next weekend.

MXLarge: How did you feel on the Saturday?

Febvre: I immediately had a good feeling on the track, even in the morning when it was wet after the storm, and the timed practice session went well with a third position, only half a second from the pole position. In the quali race I had a pretty good start in fourth position; I passed Herlings for third and was close to Gajser with good lap times at mid-race, but with three laps to go I lost my balance in a rut and crashed so Herlings could pass me back and I finished fourth. Everything is there for a good result with a good start; I have good speed, but I must avoid any mistakes. The track is technical with many ruts and lines so it's nice for passing opportunities."

MXlarge: Four out of five podiums this year. That is consistency for you right?

Febvre: Yes, consistent for me.

MXLarge: How was your first moto:

Febvre: The first moto, I felt pretty good, I had a good start, and I was right behind Jorge, I tried to watch what he was doing. Maybe I was like three seconds behind for a long time. I made a few mistakes at the end, and I just lost my rhythm a little bit. It was really tricky, easy to make a mistake, we saw a lot of small crashes, also yesterday. I tried to keep it safe. Because it was really tricky yesterday, the goal of myself and the team, after seeing the big crashes yesterday, it was just kept it safe this weekend. You know, if you push too much and it is only the fifth or sixth rounds. I don’t want to crash and lose everything. To finish on the podium, I am really pleased with that.

MXLarge: How was the second moto?

Febvre: I had a pretty good start and came, I was second or third I think, and then got passed by Gajser, again I lost my rhythm a bit and finished fourth. I am happy with this. Next weekend is the home GP, so let’s go for it there.

MXlarge: Are you confident going to France, for the win?

Febvre: Yes, I mean, I try every weekend, like I feel I am close to putting everything together. We are battling between me, Prado, Herlings and Gajser and it is always a big fight every round. It is hard, that is how it is. We need to combine everything, starts, strategy, don’t make mistakes, be aggressive when we need to be. I am happy, four or five podiums, so I am happy with this.

MXlarge: What do you think of St Jean d’ Angely?

Febvre: Yes, we have so many nice tracks in France, it has always been St Jean, Ernee, or even Villa. All three of those tracks are good, St Jean is a little bit bigger, also for the public it is better, and I will try my best. A busy week, but with the age I like more and more, before I didn’t like doing media things and try and hide somewhere, but with my age now, I like it more and more and the fans. Even here, even though it is a Spanish crowd, it is nice to see, and they are following our sport. I think even if it is muddy (In St Jean), the crowd will come.

Pascal Haudiquert image