MXGP World Champion Romain Febvre punched the air exuberantly after crossing the finish line to win the second race at Valkenswaard – permitting his second Grand Prix success in a row – and in the wake of a sensational climax to the third round of eighteen in the 2016 MXGP series. The twenty-four year old Frenchman flew faster than the hefty gusts of wind that affected action and the 23,000 crowd in Holland and passed Monster Energy Yamaha teammate Jeremy Van Horebeek and former multi world champ Tony Cairoli in the last two laps to triumph in irrepressible style and create a memorable spectacle to end MXGP’s first European stop on the calendar.
Pleasant temperatures and the sweltering conditions of season-opening events in Qatar and Thailand were long forgotten through the torrential rain and strong winds that blasted Valkenswaard and the Grand Prix of Europe on Easter Monday. The long-established Dutch facility saw atmosphere, anticipation and an eager cosmopolitan crowd grace MXGP but the weather brought a degree of adversity for the riders of the premier class, MX2 and a busy support card that involved EMX250, 300 and Women’s World Championship motos. Through the shallow black sand and defying the inclement climate Febvre was sensational. The Yamaha ace struggled to third place in a wearisome first sprint across a wet and technical surface. In the second race he came out with ‘extra inches’ on the throttle cable and after trailing an impressive Van Horebeek (fifth overall on the day) launched his ruthless and indefensible attack.
“I struggled so much in the first moto and everything I tried was not working out. I got arm-pump and just wanted to finish the race and start a new one,” ‘461’ said. “In the second moto I was really angry and wanted to win so bad. I stalled the bike, crashed and then spent most of the race trying to pass my teammate and find good lines. With two laps to go I did it and then got Cairoli on the last lap; I’m really happy. I am getting better every year in the sand and it showed in the second moto.”
Febvre now has a thirteen point lead over Tim Gajser – third in Holland – in the MXGP standings and retains the red plate as the series pace-setter.
Monster Energy Kawasaki duo Tommy Searle and Clement Desalle posted eleventh and fourteenth positions overall. The Brit unlucky to lose a brace of top ten finishes in the second moto when a technical problem saw him run out of fuel and stop on the last lap. The Belgian was suffering from the effects of a cold and lapped to the best of his speed and fitness.
Jeffrey Herlings’ ownership of the MX2 class at Valkenswaard is now an annual tradition; the Dutchman is unbeaten at the circuit since 2010 and continued his sand hegemony at the latest edition of the fixture while also celebrating a fiftieth career win. Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Petar Petrov was a strong third in the first moto but lost hope of an overall podium with a crash in the second in the midst of a titanic six-rider fight for third spot. Dues to Kemea Yamaha duo Brent Van Doninck and Benoit Paturel for just missing the box in fourth and fifth positions respectively. Standing Construct Yamaha’s Alex Tonkov was also lively but the Russian was another member of the ‘ill’ list that was surprisingly long in the MXGP paddock.
The second round of seven in the FIM Women’s World Championship brought some of the best bar-banging of the weekend. The contest is already narrowing into a tussle between four names: Kiara Fontanesi, newcomer Courtney Duncan, Livia Lancelot and Nancy Van der Ven. It was the latter who ruled in front of her home public but Duncan sauntered to victory in the second moto and should have grabbed her second ‘top step’ in a row if a heavy crash in the first race on Sunday hadn’t dropped her out of a comfortable lead and down to fourth place. World Champion Fontanesi took second place on Sunday after a tasty battle until the last lap but a blameless accident and technical problem on Monday put her out of the race and now trailing Duncan by 41 points in the WMX standings.
“The weekend didn’t start well but huge improvements today and I cannot be too disappointed,” Duncan said. “I learnt a lot and it was my first race in the sand and in Europe. I was more smooth and smart today.”
EMX250 saw Conrad Mewse run riot with a double moto haul but Australian rookie on the Monster Energy Kawasaki Hunter Lawrence was also eye-catchingly quick. The teenager rode to a 2-5 scorecard.
MXGP broke down quickly to enjoy the final few hours of the Easter holiday period but it was a busy evening for the mechanics with the teams hurrying to prepare race freight for Tuesday and another trip overseas towards Grands Prix in Argentina and Mexico in the next three weeks.