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MXGP, MXGP OF CHARENTE MARITIME - ST JEAN D'ANGELY, France, 21 Agosto 2022

Romain Febvre fourth in his home GP

Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Romain Febvre narrowly missed the podium with fourth overall in the penultimate round of the 2022 FIM World MXGP Motocross Championship at St Jean D’Angely in France.

Starting from pole he was narrowly out-gated by his neighbour at the start in race one but rode a tight line through turn one to emerge second in the sandwich of a tightly-knit trio at the head of the field. They remained locked together for ten minutes before the Kawasaki leader bobbled slightly and surrendered his second place. Gradually losing the tow, but with a substantial advantage over the rider in fourth, he settled into a lonely ride to receive the chequered flag a secure third. An excellent start saw him again round turn one second in race two but a cautious opening two laps proved costly as the Kawasaki rider was pushed back to fifth. He regrouped mid-moto to reel the leaders back in but there was no way to make a pass and he had to settle for fifth in moto and fourth on the day.
 
 Romain Febvre: “My speed was good today even if I was not the fastest. It was important to get good starts; my first one was good but Seewer got the holeshot and I was second until Gajser passed me. I was able to follow them for several laps so I made a gap to the rest of the pack and I was satisfied with third as my speed was not quite high enough to challenge for the win. Between the races I had stomach troubles and couldn’t eat anything and I paid for that in the second race. I was not at my best; my start was good but I made several mistakes during the opening laps. I was able to follow the leaders but I didn’t have enough energy to pass Renaux for fourth so I just missed the podium again. “
 
KRT teammate Ben Watson paid the penalty for having to start from an outside gate as he was pushed wide at the first turn in each moto and had to ride from outside the top-twenty for a seventeenth-placed finish in each moto. He remains twelfth in the series standings. F&H Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jed Beaton was also buried in the pack at the start each time but was able to convert seventeenth on the opening lap of race one into fifteenth at the finish. The Australian raced just outside the top-ten throughout race two to claim thirteenth at the chequered flag for fourteenth overall on the day. He is now eighteenth in the series standings.
 
Jed Beaton: “I’m slowly making progress back towards my pre-injury form but it’s taking time. On Saturday we made some good steps but Qualifying still didn’t go as well as I had hoped and I had to make the most of it from my gate-pick today. I tried to compensate through the first two turns in both races but after that it was difficult. It seems like there was not much passing here once everyone settled; the only changes of position were either really aggressive or mistakes. Hopefully we can end the season on a high; we’ll get some rest this week after three-in-a-row and then go for it in Turkey. “