VOL. 52 ISSUE 39 SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 P85
Briefly...
"It has been an amazing year for me
and I cannot expect anything more
than this," said new Motocross World
Champion Romain Febvre who cer-
tainly took the MX world by storm this
year. "Firstly, to win some GPs, then
to get the title with two rounds to go
was unbelievable. To come here with
a lot of pressure from the crowd was
something special and I have never
had it before. I'm really pumped that
we won again. In the second moto
Cooper [Webb] and I were just a bit
faster than everyone else and had
a nice battle. For me the third race
was a little more difficult with Ben
Townley because he was riding really
good. I tried to get away but he was
sticking to my rear wheel. I'm really
happy that we won."
"Everything today was about fighting
to try and keep our title with all the
best countries and their best riders
here," said French team member
Gautier Paulin. "To defend the title
here in France in front of all the home
fans is amazing. They were reaching
for us—it's amazing the feeling they
give us when we ride and even in the
paddock. I definitely want to thank
my teammates for their great job,
and the team and the French federa-
tion who did an awesome job to give
us the best material for this event.
The hardest thing after winning last
year was to keep it again here in front
of the home crowd, on home soil, so
I don't have words to describe the
feeling of winning again."
What happened to the champ? Just
seven days after winning the MX2
World Championship, Tim Gajser
was sitting on the sidelines watching
the rest of the fastest riders on the
slack as the main man. He had
the unfortunate record of never
having won the race in his previ-
ous two attempts, so he truly
hoped third time would be lucky.
Joining him was the obvious 250
candidate Jeremy Martin who
won his second outdoor title at
the last round in Indiana. In fact,
the only spot that was really up
for debate was the Open class
rider, but as Barcia and Martin
were both Yamaha guys, it made
sense that Cooper Webb got
the nod ahead of Blake Baggett
or Trey Canard, even if his 450
experience was limited. At the
time, it was seen as a risky
move, but after his impressive
showing at the U.S. GP a week
before, all doubt was erased and
main Febvre, the runner-up in
the title race Gautier Paulin and
the close runner-up in the 2015
Lucas Oil Pro Motocross 250
class, Marvin Musquin. There
was no disputing their pedigree—
only their mental fortitude to be
able to handle the pressure of
80,000 screaming French fans.
Despite the underdog moni-
ker, America still had the sec-
ond best team with regards to
potential, even if they weren't
as strong as usual. With Ryan
Dungey declaring himself un-
available, Ryan Villopoto being
injured and eventually retiring,
James Stewart not riding out-
doors all year and Eli Tomac
also injuring himself, it was left
to Justin Barcia to take up the
Justin Barcia did
the U.S. proud by
winning the first
moto and laying
it all on the line
in his second
moto.
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