We all know that motocross riders are tough, it is the toughest sport in the World and there is no hiding that, but when Romain Febvre came in to the mechanics area last weekend at his home GP, with a deep cut on his upper lip and clearly in severe discomfort, we could only marvel how bloody tough these guys are.

Checking his teeth, mentioning he had a problem with them, and still just getting on with it, well, if you are not impressed by that, then, its hard to impress you.

Often the bridesmaid and very rarely the bride, Febvre returned to the circuit that saw a Grand Prix victory taken off him in 2024, due to a technicality, and then realize his championship was over, due to a painful thumb injury.

It is things like that thumb injury that have seen Febvre miss too many races to be a two-time World motocross champion, but he doesn’t give up on the dream to add a World title to his 2015 championship.

On Saturday in France, the Frenchman chose a central gate after posting second-fastest time during timed practice but was pushed wide at turn one when several riders drifted wide on the slippery surface to emerge just outside the top ten.

By the end of the first lap, he had moved into tenth but needed several laps to get around KRT teammate Pauls Jonass. Febvre was the only rider in traffic to post a sub 1-50 lap during the second half of the race, making a series of exhilarating passes to move into his eventual fifth with three laps remaining.

"I felt OK all day, but I just lost too much at the start; my jump out of the gate was really good but I lost a little drive on the straight. I managed my way back to fifth even though it was difficult to see in the mud, but we need to start better tomorrow; the gate is quite open so fifth is OK, but I need to find better drive on the straight."

On the Sunday, it was a solid day, but he still dropped major points to series leader Tim Gajser. One thing we all know about the Kawasaki factory rider, he will come back in Sardinia in two weeks time and try and fight for more points and hopefully, pull back the series lead by Gajser.

“I’m quite happy to finish second, especially after a tough weekend last time out. It’s a nice bounce back. With the rain, the track actually got better, it added some challenge and allowed us to make more of a difference out there. Today was more technical, which suits me better. My starts weren’t great in either moto, and in the second one, I got hit off the start and almost went over the bars, which left me way back. I was around 18th at the top of the hill, so to come back and finish just 10 seconds off the lead, I’m really happy with how I rode. Now I need to fight with Tim (Gajser) as he is starting to get away, and I will try my best to be at the front for the next ones!”

“Yesterday the track was like a highway but today it was more challenging so I could make the difference even though I didn’t get the best starts. The first moto I was really charging and came quite close to Tim at the end, but in race two I got hit from behind by someone at the first turn and almost went over the bars; I was eighteenth going up the hill so I am happy with second at the finish. But I need better starts to fight with Tim because he is getting away a little in the points.”

So, onto the Dutch Masters opener this weekend, and a possible battle with come backing Jeffrey Herlings and then with some serious sand preparation in Holland, Febvre will make the trip to Sardinia, where he hopes he can capture not only a GP win, but a bunch of championship points.

Pascal Haudiquert image