Probably the most important moment in this years MXGP championship came last weekend in Lommel. When Lucas Coenen breezed past Romain Febvre for the lead in the opening 450 moto, it looked like the young Belgian was again on the way to another 1-1 performance.

Having handed the Frenchman a handy lead, the 18-year-old reeled in the green Kawasaki of Febvre and in a moment of sheer determination made the pass to take the lead. With the huge Belgian crowd screaming for French blood, the always tough, always reliable and always motivated Febvre pulled up alongside of the local boy and pushed him slightly off the track.

It was for me (the editor), aggressive, but not dirty, but it was without question, sending a statement to the KTM man, and while it might have handed Febvre the moto win, it won’t be known if it handed him a win in the mental battle, that will be known when we arrive in Sweden and The Netherlands in the coming weeks. Coenen wasn’t happy with the move and felt it was a little too close, as he told us this week.

“I have never been an aggressive rider,” Coenen told us. “Like in moto one, in front of pit-lane, I was in front of him, but I backed off. If I wanted, I could have gone straight and he would have gone into the pit lane, but I am not that type of rider, maybe I need to learn to be like that. The pass he did, if I didn’t jump out of the track, for sure I would have been on my ear. For me, it is good he started it, because, when you start it, you know you can get it back. It won’t be my fault, if I give him the business back, you know. He started it, so I can also do it now. It is something he has unlocked. I have patience and I know if I get an opening, I will go for it and I won’t be shy, you know. We are racing for the championship, and he started with an aggressive pass, and he didn’t touch me, but now it’s on.”

Febvre gave his view on the incident and made it clear; he cannot give the young lion and momentum and needs to break his rhythm and maybe even his spirit. As I said early, for me, it wasn’t dirty, but it was very aggressive and as Coenen said, maybe he would have ended on his ear if he hadn’t run off the track to protect himself.

“I knew Lucas would try everything here,” Febvre said. “But I also know I can win when I get a good start like in race one. He passed me once, but I attacked back straight away. It was important to react immediately, pass him back and break his rhythm as soon as possible. He tried again on the last lap, but I guess he made a mistake as suddenly he was no longer there.”

What that move created was a little tension maybe and a world motocross championship doesn’t come easy, and nobody knows that better than Febvre, who has battled four of the best riders the sport has seen in Antonio Cairoli, Jeffrey Herlings, Tim Gajser and Jorge Prado. He has beaten them on occasions but is yet to beat them in a championship.

He came close in 2021, losing the championship by just five points to Herlings and pipping Gajser for second in the World. Febvre ended that 21 season with 2-3-1-2-2-3, showing that he can deal with the stress of a tight battle, but it was Herlings in the final two rounds in Mantova, who went 2-1-1-1 and passed Febvre in the points, to win the championship.

That 2021 title fight was one of the best in the sports history and going into the final two rounds, Febvre held the red plate, by a point over Tim Gajser with two rounds to go and by three points over Herlings with one round remaining.

The question is, did that experience in Mantova in 2021 teach the veteran something, or did it haunt him? For me, that move in Lommel told me Romain Febvre knows he has to unsettle the young Belgian, who has all the momentum with three GP wins in a row and from the comments of Coenen, it might have just made him mad and maybe more ready for what is coming next.

What the outcome will be in Uddevalla and Arnhem will tell us who really gained the upper hand last weekend. Whatever happens, we are in for one hell of a fight in August and September and I hope the final round in Australia is where we will crown our World MXGP champion.