Febvre leads fantastic day for Yamaha at Spanish GP

2015-05-10 15:25
Romain Febvre toasted his maiden podium finish with third place overall today under the blue skies and through the hot temperatures of the Grand Prix of Spain at the wavy Talavera de la Reina circuit. The talented Frenchman guided his works Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube YZ450FM to results of fourth and second in front of a 20,000 crowd packed into the spectator zone pockets around the Talavera hills. He fronted five laps of the second moto and led celebrations for the manufacturer with Valentin Guillod savouring victory in MX2 and Damon Graulus making the EMX250 rostrum.

For the second year in a row the winding hard-pack was the site for MXGP's stop in southwest Europe and once again the narrow and relentlessly 'turning' nature of the circuit pushed lap-times close together, increased the difficulty of overtaking and made decent starts almost essential for podium success.

'461' made a decent getaway in the first moto and worked on passing Dean Ferris and Todd Waters to move into fourth place by the third lap. Once there the Frenchman faced a gulf to Antonio Cairoli in third and created a comfortable margin ahead of Gautier Paulin just behind. Romain gathered fourth position and recovered from the heat in the break during the motos.

His second performance was electric. Febvre was the aggressor as he glided past Max Nagl, profited from Clement Desalle's crash and then hunted Cairoli for the lead in the first three laps. The Yamaha man seemed full of confidence and the YZ450FM was handling sweetly across the bumpiest state the terrain had been in all weekend. Sadly a small mistake while out front and negotiating an uphill left hand turn saw him stall the bike and Cairoli regained control but then Febvre was able to keep a steady pace to the flag to register third overall and his first podium finish in just six events in MXGP.

Today's results keep the Frenchman fifth in the MXGP standings and just twelve points away from Paulin in fourth. Febvre's team-mate, Jeremy Van Horebeek is hoping to return to action in the coming week as the Belgian is due to have the cast on his left foot removed tomorrow (Monday).

DP 19 Yamaha Racing's David Philippaerts only picked up points in the first moto. The Italian started just outside the top ten in the first race and struggled to find a rhythm initially among a group of five other riders. He dropped to sixteenth before being able to recover three positions to thirteenth. In the second outing he was hit on his painful left hand - a consequence of his accident two weeks ago in Holland - and was forced into retirement.

MXGP now has time to move north through the continent and cross the English Channel as round seven lands in the vast arena of Matterley Basin for the British Grand Prix on May 24th.

Romain Febvre
4th and 2nd for 3rd overall, Championship position: 5th
"It is an amazing feeling for me and that second moto was almost the same as when I won my first GP last year. In the first race my start was not so good but I made a couple of passes and just held fourth place. The guys ahead were faster than me and Paulin was far behind so I rode to save some energy for the second race. I had a pretty good start in the next heat and passed the guys quickly. When I was in the lead I knew I had to try and pull away from Tony but I made a mistake and stalled the bike. Cairoli closed the gap and got me back. I lost a bit of the feeling for the track but could confirm second place. You know, when you are leading it is not always easy but it was easier today than riding in second because it was so difficult to pass! I kept smooth with my lines… and I need to learn from my mistake. I'm really happy for the team. It is not only my podium but theirs as well because they work so hard everyday to get on the box."

Erik Eggens, Yamaha Motor Europe Off-road Racing Manager
"A fantastic weekend of results. In MX2 the Kemea boys were very unlucky with the crashes at the beginning of the second moto and their classifications do not reflect their speed. Julien improved for the second race and this was really encouraging and of course the Standing Construct guys really gave Valentin what he needed to set that speed and do what he did today. It was fabulous to watch and many congratulations to them. In MXGP Romain was already riding great in the first moto so to see him attacking again and leading in the second was again super-positive. The team are first class and for Romain to get on the podium after just six rounds is a good achievement for everybody. He has shown that he has adapted very quickly from the 250 to the 450 and now we are waiting for Jeremy to get back and team to come to full force so we can get more trophies. In general, results are our goal and I think this weekend showed that we are on the right way. We can rely on great teams with the right mentality and having people like this around you this is the way to work when you want to improve and strive for the best."

Source: Yamaha Motor Europe N.V.

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