Febvre leads fantastic day for Yamaha at Spanish GP

2015-05-24 16:14
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."

Untitled


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."



2015 MXGP United Kingdom
Matterley Basin 24/05/2015
race I
1 Antonio Cairoli KTM ITA 34'01.346
2 Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 0'03.020
3 Maximilian Nagl Husqvarna DE 0'04.067
4 Evgeny Bobryshev Honda RUS 0'13.676
5 Shaun Simpson KTM GBR 0'16.369
6 Gautier Paulin Honda FRA 0'17.680
7 Romain Febvre Yamaha FRA 0'19.284
8 Tyla Rattray Kawasaki ZAF 0'34.863
9 Todd Waters Husqvarna AUS 0'38.855
10 Jeremy Van Horebeek Yamaha BEL 0'41.855
11 Ken De Dycker KTM BEL 0'45.908
12 David Philippaerts Yamaha ITA 0'48.961
13 Dean Ferris Husqvarna AUS 0'51.892
14 Jose Antonio Butron KTM ESP 0'52.256
15 Alessandro Lupino Honda ITA 0'55.525
23 Lewis Gregory Yamaha GBR -1Laps
race II
1 Romain Febvre Yamaha FRA 34'18.842
2 Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 0'02.087
3 Antonio Cairoli KTM ITA 0'09.664
4 Evgeny Bobryshev Honda RUS 0'13.390
5 Maximilian Nagl Husqvarna DE 0'23.149
6 Shaun Simpson KTM GBR 0'27.787
7 Gautier Paulin Honda FRA 0'30.814
8 Ken De Dycker KTM BEL 0'39.725
9 Jeremy Van Horebeek Yamaha BEL 0'41.970
10 Steven Frossard KTM FRA 0'43.350
11 Tyla Rattray Kawasaki ZAF 0'45.823
12 Jose Antonio Butron KTM ESP 0'49.457
13 Alessandro Lupino Honda ITA 0'55.174
14 Glenn Coldenhoff Suzuki NLD 0'58.753
15 David Philippaerts Yamaha ITA 1'01.969
26 Lewis Gregory Yamaha GBR -13Laps

MXGP World Standing
Rider Standings After Race 7 of 19
1. Maximilian Nagl Husqvarna DE 295
2. Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 291
3. Antonio Cairoli KTM ITA 274
4. Gautier Paulin Honda FRA 237
5. Romain Febvre Yamaha FRA 235
6. Evgeny Bobryshev Honda RUS 207
7. Shaun Simpson KTM GBR 145
8. Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki USA 124
9. Todd Waters Husqvarna AUS 121
10. Tyla Rattray Kawasaki ZAF 118
11. Ken De Dycker KTM BEL 107
12. Glenn Coldenhoff Suzuki NLD 106
13. Jeremy Van Horebeek Yamaha BEL 98
14. David Philippaerts Yamaha ITA 91
15. Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 78
16. Davide Guarneri TM ITA 70
28. Paul Coates Yamaha GBR 7
33. Cedric Soubeyras Yamaha FRA 4
38. Lewis Gregory Yamaha GBR 0


Circuit Length:
.
Last Years Winner:
Clement Desalle



Guillod sets career milestone with MX2 victory in Spain
The sunshine beat down on the small hills just outside the town of Talavera de la Reina, south of Madrid, as the Grand Prix of Spain welcomed a decent 20,000 attendance and Yamaha witnessed Standing Construct's Valentin Guillod unveiling a memorable performance to win the first Grand Prix of his career and the first for YZ250F since the GP of Belgium last summer.

The sixth round of the FIM Motocross World Championship brought the paddock to Talavera for the second year in a row and typical weather conditions and a hard-pack and narrow racing course provided a contrasting stage compared to the dark skies and reduced temperatures found in Holland two weeks previously.

Talavera had barely altered form for the 2015 incarnation of the Spanish GP but a new 'waves' section and relocation of the finish line jump offered small novelties. With the winding and continually climbing and descending layout proving difficult in terms of viable overtaking opportunities, a decent leap out of the start gate and getting out of the tight opening turn was perhaps more vital than at any other circuit this year.

In the first moto on Sunday Kemea's Brent Van Doninck was the front-running Yamaha pilot as he circulated in a relatively lonely sixth position. The Belgian was continually closed down by Guillod however. '92' set the fastest lap of the race on his flight to sixth and eventually passed his brand-mate as BVD made sure of seventh. Behind, Standing Construct team-mate Julien Lieber was ninth while Kemea's Benoit Paturel crashed into the fallen figure of Jeremy Seewer on the exit of the second turn and had to come back from last to gain six points for fifteenth.

The second race took place at the hottest time of the day and with the mercury rising to almost thirty degrees. The action was gripping as Guillod finally carved through the first turns in the top three and set about attacking leader Dylan Ferrandis. The Swiss was determined and resolute with some of his lines and made the decisive move past the Frenchman with two laps to go. After two podium finishes in 2014 this success was overdue for the likeable 22 year old and represented Standing Construct’s first in ‘blue’. Julien Lieber was also happier after some set-up changes worked out favourably and he rode to a top five finish (eighth overall).

Celebrations for one team was offset by misfortune for another. Kemea watched disbelievingly as Van Doninck was clipped coming out of the start gate and flipped spectacularly, also catching team-mate Paturel. Thankfully both riders were reasonably OK and Brent scored two points for nineteenth position while Benoit was just ahead in eighteenth.

After six rounds of eighteen it is Guillod who leads the way in the points standings with fifth place and tied for fourth. Lieber is ninth and Paturel fourteenth, one spot ahead of Van Doninck.

Talavera was the site of the third round of the EMX250 European Championship. Kemea’s Damon Graulus posted his best finish of the season so far with two runner-up finishes and second spot overall. The Belgian fought with Maxime Desprey for victory on Saturday afternoon before just being pipped to the chequered flag. He then had to follow the Frenchman again Sunday morning but his double haul of 22 points was his best of the term so far and pulls ‘7’ up to fourth in the championship.

More EMX classes were in action. EMX125 pushed the sight of Maxime Renaux to fourth overall on the YZ125 and the first of four Yamahas in the top ten while Lewis Gregory took to the podium in EMX300 with the YZ250 two-stroke as runner-up.

The British Grand Prix is next in line for Yamaha’s MX2 stars. Round seven ventures into the Matterley ‘Basin’ and the popular, flowing layout for the second of three fixtures of the FIM series this month.



Valentin Guillod
6th and 1st for 1st overall, Championship position: 5th
"It is such a great feeling but I really have to thank the Standing Construct Yamaha Yamalube team, my team manager Tim, my trainer Yves Demaria, mechanic, my family and everybody next to me. We worked really hard these last few weeks because things were not going how we wanted but finally we found the right set-up and it was great out there. When I came over the finish line I did not know I had won the GP. I knew I had the race…but when they said the GP then that was awesome. I was riding next to Dylan and I tried to pass him but couldn't. I tried to find a solution and finally could make it happen. I came here wanting to get top fives but to win the GP is 'sick'!"

Source: Yamaha Motor Europe N.V.

Click here to visit our forums to discuss this story