[Features]

MXGP Insider No.29: Febvre Wins

9 years ago | Words: David Bulmer

Transmoto’s weekly web-exclusive column, the MXGP Insider, penned by David Bulmer, presented by KTM Australia. 

Well, Romain Febvre is your new MXGP World Champion and he did it, just as he has the whole second half of this year; by winning races. Sure he finished behind Gautier Paulin in that first moto but when he needed it most, he stepped up his game and closed out the title two rounds early. It was good news for all his friends and family as a trip to the Netherlands is a lot cheaper than tickets to Mexico, although it did mean the podium was a little overcrowded. A couple of guys who made an appearance were the two big chiefs of Monster Energy who signed up Romain Febvre and the team officially on Friday – yes, two days before the races. If you ever want to see an example of “buying a championship” this was it. I just hope Romain got the same sort of money that got thrown at Mr Villopoto for his 2015 effort.

In fact, it was actually a very happy podium (you’d be surprised how often that isn’t the case) as Glenn Coldenhoff came third and Shaun Simpson won it. Coldenhoff was obviously pumped to do well in front of his home crowd while Simpson was obviously pumped to win another Overall. It may have been another sand race but he once again proved that his speed isn’t a fluke and that when it comes to the loose stuff, he’s the man to beat.

Speaking of the track, I was actually pretty happy with what they’d done with it and most of the riders seemed to agree. It probably should have been a little wider but in terms of creating a challenging and tough track, they succeeded. Everyone was impressed with the whole layout and organisation and just the general structure of the place and I think it’d be great if they come back next year. Apparently they needed 10,000 people there to break even and the numbers they gave out after the race said 25,000 so we shall see. For a one-off break from the “typical” motocross tracks, this was a good one and a shining beacon for any facility looking to do the same (cough, Qatar).

Now we head to Mexico and while the MXGP class has been decided, the MX2 class is well and truly alive with a new red-plate holder in the form Honda’s Tim Gajser. He took over from Pauls Jonass who suffered some bad luck as his front brake got snapped off in a first turn crash. It’s now just down to those two really as Max Anstie also dropped a whole load of points when he crashed whilst in second, which leaves him over 40 points back with just four races left. Honestly, I couldn’t pick between Jonass or Gajser for the victory as both have been slightly unpredictable this year. Both have left points on the table but both are cool kids and deserve the glory that’d come with the crown.

On a completely different note, Coldenhoff has just signed with KTM for 2016 in another twist to the whole Suzuki/KTM shift of personnel. Now we just need Big Ken to go Yellow and it’d make pit-lane thoroughly confusing.

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