Febvre undeniable with 1-1 victory in Sweden

2015-07-05 20:32
22,000 spectators found a vantage point around the compact Uddevalla circuit for a sun-kissed Grand Prix of Sweden and Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube's Romain Febvre dashed to his fourth consecutive victory, first 1-1 double and extended his lead in the premier class at the eleventh round of eighteen in the 2015 MXGP FIM Motocross World Championship. Team-mate on the works YZ450FM, Jeremy Van Horebeek, finished second overall for a perfect score for the Italian crew and the Belgian toasted an emotional first rostrum appearance of the year.

Thermometers climbed to nearly thirty degrees at the venue north of Gothenburg and the dusty and hard-pack circuit was a typically frustrating and tricky track to judge and where extra importance was placed on the start. In the free week after the Grand Prix of Germany - and before attention-grabbing visits to Assen for the latest appointment in MotoGP - the factory team embarked on further tests in Italy and some of the speed and capabilities of Febvre and Van Horebeek in Sweden were testament to the extra work.

The first moto (both races lasting thirty minutes and two laps) saw Febvre sliding out of the opening corner in first position. From there the Frenchman was able to ride at easy race-winning pace ahead of Evgeny Bobryshev and when the Russian crashed at mid-distance then Van Horebeek was able to rise into second and mark his best finish of the season so far. For Febvre it was a fifth moto victory from the last five Grands Prix and helped extend his championship advantage.

In the second outing Febvre seized the holeshot but ran a little wide in the first turn and Kevin Strijbos was able to front the pack. Febvre stalked the Belgian as the duo broke away and assessed where he was faster, where he could improve and where the best overtaking opportunity would come. He made his move on lap fifteen of nineteen with a block pass in the back section of the circuit and then pulled away from his rival to celebrate a stunning 1-1; the first of his career. Van Horebeek started in fifth and held the same rank to the flag that was enough for the second step of the 'box'.

DP19 Yamaha Racing's David Philippaerts classified tenth overall. The former World Champion and the rider with the most experience at Uddevalla (the course has changed direction twice in its lengthy period as a mainstay circuit on the MXGP calendar) had a tasty battle with Tommy Searle and then the works Suzukis of Kevin Strijbos and Glenn Coldenhoff in the first moto and defeated all of his challengers to take a worthy seventh position. In the second moto he rode to ninth by beating Gautier Paulin.

In the FIM World Championship standings Febvre has created a cushion of 39 points over Antonio Cairoli in his ownership of the red plate. Van Horebeek is making ground after being forced to miss two Grands Prix due to a broken foot. He sits in eighth while Philippaerts holds fast in twelfth. MXGP continues onto Kegums this weekend for the Grand Prix of Latvia. Round twelve is not the last event in July with eastern European emphasis as the Czech fixture is slated for the 25th-26th.

Romain Febvre
1st and 1st for 1st overall. Championship Position: 1st
"The weekend was really great. I had won three in a row coming here but had not gone 1-1, so to do that is so good. The start was important to be able to reach the lead, ride safe and find good lines. In the second race I had the holeshot but because I went a little bit wide Kevin came inside. I knew it would be difficult to pass him because we had a nice battle on Saturday. I made a couple of mistakes and in my mind I was thinking second was enough to win the GP but after two laps I was again on his rear wheel so I decided again to try and pass and made it happen with three laps to go. The start is getting very important every race and we all have the same speed. We had some testing last week and we improved a lot our performance for the starts and also on the track. We will see…this weekend went pretty good so we can be happy with the job we did."

Jeremy Van Horebeek
2nd and 5th for 2nd overall. Championship Position: 8th
"It has been a while! There was a lot of pressure at the beginning of the season but then I broke my foot and it was difficult to come back from that and I was struggling mentally and thinking 'why is this happening to me?'. I regrouped and have been working really hard and it has been starting to pay off in the last weeks. I am still not totally satisfied however…I know I can do better."

Erik Eggens - Yamaha Motor Europe MX Racing Manager
"What a day. The teams - in both MXGP and MX2 - are working so well at the moment to be able to make results like these and develop the YZ450F and YZ250F to be some of the best bikes on the track. Romain continues to enjoy a fantastic year and Jeremy's comeback from a difficult beginning to the season was almost complete with a strong performance today. The guys are operating at a high level and we are pleased and proud. There is still a lot of racing ahead but we cannot be more satisfied with how it is progressing at the moment."

Source: Yamaha Motor Europe N.V.

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