FEBVRE, HERLINGS VICTORIOUS
AT MXGP OF FRANCE
T
he slick and technical hillside
track in Villars sous Ecot at
the MXGP of France, May 31,
saw Romain Febvre claim his
career-first victory. In the MX2
ranks, Jeffrey Herlings got back
to his winning ways, celebrat-
ing a perfect 1-1 victory despite
some stiff competition.
Antonio Cairoli snatched the
holeshot in the first MXGP moto
ahead of Gautier Paulin, Dean
Ferris and Yamaha's Febvre.
The battle for the lead began to
unfold between Cairoli and Pau-
lin, but it promptly ended when
Paulin pulled out of the race on
lap six. That left the Frenchman,
Febvre, who had made his way
around Ferris, move into second
place. Febvre soon had Cairoli
in his sights, but despite his best
efforts, he couldn't reel in the
Factory Red Bull KTM. Rus-
sian rider Evgeney Bobryshev
finished third aboard his HRC
Honda.
Nagl grabbed the holeshot in
the second moto—the red-plate
holder was looking to improve
on his sub-par sixth-place finish
in the opening moto, and quickly
ran away with the lead.
Febvre seized the opportunity
to move into second place and
stalked race leader Nagl for 12
laps before making his move.
Febvre held on to capture the
moto win and the overall victory.
Nagl's 6-2 tally garnered
him fourth on the day ahead of
Cairoli, who carded third with his
1-7 score. Second place went to
Bobryshev with two third-place
finishes. Clement Desalle had a
rough weekend in France. The
Rockstar Energy Suzuki rider
crashed in practice and dislocat-
ed his shoulder. Desalle made an
attempt to race, but only made it
one lap in the first moto.
In the first MX2 moto, Jef-
frey Herlings had the early
lead but crashed, giving way to
Jordi Tixier. Valentin Guillod of
IN
THE
WIND
P28
Romain Febvre
celebrates his
first-ever MXGP
overall victory in
front of 45,000
French fans.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
YAMAHA
RACING
