Romain Febvre’s comprehensive grip on the FIM Motocross World Championship became total and permanent in front of a wall of noise and fans at Assen on Sunday as the Frenchman powered to second position overall to confirm his first MXGP title in what is his rookie term in the premier class. The 23 year old aced an eleventh consecutive podium finish on his factory Yamaha YZ450F and stretched his advantage in the standings to an unsurpassable 102 points with rounds in Mexico and the USA to go.
Monster Energy welcomed the Yamaha factory back into the fold at the Grand Prix of the Netherlands with Febvre and Jeremy Van Horebeek placing the claw onto their helmets and marking a renewal of a relationship that ran between 2008 and 2013. It was a perfectly timed synergy with Febvre in a determined mood to finish a chapter of 2015 for what was the last fixture on European soil.
Assen was amazing. The motocross layout was constructed from fine sand in just four days and was sprawled over the renowned ‘Gertimmer Bocht’ chicane and start straight of the MotoGP course. 37,000 fans filled the grandstand that curved alongside, creating a vast bank of movement and excitement and afforded the GP a unique type of atmosphere. The track was a little short and suffocated for space on top of the asphalt but these were ‘teething’ observations ahead of an undoubted return in 2016.
Febvre has been racking up the numbers: six GP wins, eleven podiums, seven red plates, most laps led. The Frenchman has been unstoppable and Yamaha partied on Sunday night for the first time since 2009. It was some overdue success for Monster Energy in MXGP but the winning combination had been found after again partnering with Yamaha in a replay of David Philippaerts’ triumph in ’08. Romain sealed the deal with performances to fifth and first positions in the two races.
“Gautier had a good first moto and in the second I told myself ‘just ride like you know and we’ll see at the end’,” ‘461’ said. “I knew if it was not this weekend then it would be next weekend. I didn’t put too much pressure on myself. I’m not sure what else to say…but I know I am really happy it is done with two races to go.”
Over in MX2 and Monster Energy DRT Kawasaki’s Max Anstie was second and rued a crash in the first moto while in second place that wrecked another possible 1-1 scorecard. The Brit, who defied some bike set-up issues to take the chequered flag in the second race, lies on the fringe of an intense scrap between Tim Gajser and Pauls Jonass for the crown. Max needs 44 points to overhaul Gajser with just 100 left to win this season.
Credit to Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Thomas Covington for ninth place overall and a result of sixth in the first moto that represented his best since the second round in Argentina. Teammate Petar Petrov was unlucky to DNF with technical problem on a rough sandy course that pushed machine as well as man in the first moto. The strong Bulgarian was fifth in the second.
That’s a wrap for MXGP in Europe. Since mid-April the series has been bouncing around the continent and now – after a free weekend in order for final travel plans to be set – will head off for a back-to-back jaunt to Mexico and the USA. The FIM world championship will cease in California before a frantic dash back to Ernee and France for the 69th annual Motocross of Nations.