Romain Febvre did a great job on Saturday with a move up to second place in the qualification for the British round of the championship at Matterley Basin. Herlings was a bit too strong, but Romain is slightly ahead of Lucas Coenen.
The Frenchman immediately confirmed his love of the vast, rolling circuit in the south of England with the fastest time in free practice, before earning fifth place on the grid in timed practice. Fifth after the pit lane on the straight out of turn one, he took fourth place in the next few corners before making a decisive move on his nearest championship rival. He built up an exhilarating pace through the final corner and built momentum down the straight. Grip on the hard surface was minimal, but the combination of Febvre's subtle throttle control, the smooth power delivery of the KX450-SR and the excellent grip of the Dunlop tyres saw him make another superb move for second place on a long downhill section, putting the leader in his sights. Their pace gave them a lead of fifteen seconds and the Kawasaki rider was able to pass the leader again and again without being given the chance to make the final move. But second place extends his championship lead to twenty-nine points ahead of tomorrow's two GP rounds.
Romain Febvre: “Overall it was a good day and I felt very comfortable on the bike. The start is always a bit different here, with the downhill right at the start; I didn’t have a really good start but I was able to compensate through the corner to finish in the top six and then climb up to second place. It was a nice battle with Jeffrey the last five or six laps and I was able to overtake him but there was just too much dust to overtake him; I couldn’t see when I was getting close and had to wait. Too bad, but second place was okay.”
Kawasaki Racing Team MX2’s Mathis Valin got the weekend off to a good start with a second round of free practice before claiming eighth on the grid in timed practice for the FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship. A slow start in qualifying saw him take the lead from the start and he was fourteenth on the grid. He was up to eleventh after the first lap but needed four more laps to break into the top ten. Two laps later, after another overtaking move, the French teenager secured his eventual ninth place.
Mathis Valin: “I felt good in both practices, but I had a really bad start in qualifying. It was quite dusty, but I was able to overtake a few drivers for P9; tomorrow is more important and I learned where I can overtake today.
