Febvre superlative in United States for eighth victory of 2015

[totalmotorcycle]

@Febvre superlative in #UnitedStates for eighth victory of #2015


The Monster Energy MXGP of USA represented the eighteenth and last round of the 2015 FIM Motocross World Championship and in the 'oven' of Glen Helen Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube's Romain Febvre signed off a remarkable campaign with another standout performance aboard his YZ450FM. The Frenchman scored a 1-2 in the motos to claim his eighth victory of the season and a thirteenth consecutive podium result. Teammate Jeremy Van Horebeek was eighth overall.
The steep Californian hills just outside the town of San Bernardino provided a sun-scorched but capable stage for the last round of MXGP. The snaking layout was fast, relentless and offered plenty of elevation changes and some decent air-time for the racers. Loose soil carved rough in places but the pacey trajectory of the course meant it was hard for riders to set markedly different lap-times to their competitors.
Febvre rode to third position in the qualification heat on Saturday after a duel with Star Racing Yamaha Yamalube's Cooper Webb who was making both his Grand Prix and 450 debut at Glen Helen. The youngster had previously taken his YZ250F to West Coast AMA 250SX title success but mindful of his role for Team USA at the Motocross of Nations next week Webb was keen on race mileage.
The first moto got underway in front of a 22,000 crowd (figure for the weekend) and with a sea of crystal clear blue overhead. Romain did not make the best getaway but was soon past Josh Grant and pursuing Webb. The pair had a tasty battle and Febvre reigned supreme with an exquisite overtaking move down the long, steep hill two laps before the flag. The chase, fight, pass and victory represented one of his best performances of the year. Van Horebeek was unfortunate to become mixed up in a first corner melee caused when Shaun Simpson crashed and collected another four riders. Re-starting from the back JVH dealt well with the heat and to regain positions up to twelfth.
The second race again saw Febvre needing to thread through to the front from the depths of the top ten. With Webb also in the pack, it was Grant who set the pace. Once more '461' did the running and was all over the rear wheel of the Kawasaki with three laps remaining. Webb was alone in third and it was left to Febvre to depose the Californian. Climbing the hill a momentary lapse saw Romain drop his bike in the switchback turn at the top and the gap to Grant became too big to breach in the time before the finish. Nevertheless a scorecard of 1-2 was enough to uncork the champagne yet again. Webb was an excellent third overall. Jeremy got away without incident on this occasion and made good positions in the mid-part of the race to cross the line in seventh.
A milestone championship for Febvre has ended with thirteen podium finishes in a row, eight victories (almost half of the calendar and more than double that of the next nearest rider) and a gap of 143 points over Gautier Paulin in the premier class standings. Van Horebeek dealt with injury and form issues but trod the podium twice and rested fifth in the championship after outpointing Max Nagl. DP19 Racing Yamaha's David Philippaerts has missed the last three rounds due to an arm injury but the veteran ends his ninth term in the MXGP division with fifteenth.
Ernee is the next stop. The atmospheric French circuit west of Le Mans will host the 69th Motocross of Nations this coming weekend and for what is expected to be a repeat of the vibrant and superb event held at the facility in 2005. Febvre will wear the colours of his country for the first time while Van Horbeek wheels his YZ450FM into action for Belgium. Webb will also make his debut there for the United States.



Romain Febvre

1st and 2nd for 1st overall. Championship position: 1st

"It has been an amazing year and this is my thirteenth podium in a row. When we started riding yesterday I thought it was difficult because the track is so wide and fast so we had to adapt the bike a little bit because we are not used to this type of track. It was also really hot! In the first moto my start was not too good but I caught everybody and passed Cooper with two laps to go; it was really good and I was so happy to win. I had to do it again from the start in the second moto and with three laps to go I made a mistake at the top of the hill and crashed. Josh Grant was really fast. I could only manage second place but it meant the overall. To win was my goal and especially at this mythical track."






Jeremy Van Horebeek

12th and 7th for 8th overall. Championship position: 5th

"Not too bad today. One positive point is that I picked myself up in these conditions [heat]. Normally I cannot handle it too well and today I suffered but not as much as usual. I'm happy about that even if it is a point to work on. In the first moto Simpson crashed in front of me and I hit his bike and went down. I came from the back to twelfth, which was pretty good but it cost me a lot of energy. In the second moto I didn't start so well again, passed a few guys and finished seventh. It is not the result we wanted but it is not bad for me in these conditions. I'm happy the season is over; it has not been great. Still, I had two podiums and it means I can do it. We have some homework to do this winter and I will be putting a lot of time into that. I've learned from my mistakes and that is important for the next season."



Cooper Webb


2nd and 3rd for 3rd overall
"Overall I'm really happy. It was a whole new experience for me, a new format, new machine. It was a nice 'warm-up' and I got to see how these guys race. I feel I have benefitted hugely from being here. We got a lot of good information. I'm looking forward to next week now."



2015 MXGP United States

Glen Helen 21/09/2015

race I
1 Romain Febvre
Yamaha
FRA 35'54.457
2 Cooper Webb Yamaha USA 0'00.724
3 Josh Grant Kawasaki USA 0'23.369
4 Jason Anderson Husqvarna USA 0'34.642
5 Antonio Cairoli KTM ITA 0'38.012
6 Glenn Coldenhoff Suzuki NLD 0'39.495
7 Dean Wilson KTM GBR 0'41.977
8 Gautier Paulin Honda FRA 0'48.001
9 Evgeny Bobryshev Honda RUS 0'55.692
10 Marvin Musquin KTM FRA 0'58.982
11 Ben Townley Honda NZL 1'10.156
12 Jeremy Van Horebeek
Yamaha
BEL 1'13.182
13 Tommy Searle KTM GBR 1'21.065
14 Davide Guarneri TM ITA 1'26.549
15 Jose Antonio Butron KTM ESP 1'30.412
race II
1 Josh Grant Kawasaki USA 36'17.374
2 Romain Febvre
Yamaha
FRA 0'12.621
3 Cooper Webb Yamaha USA 0'17.132
4 Dean Wilson KTM GBR 0'18.260
5 Evgeny Bobryshev Honda RUS 0'45.661
6 Glenn Coldenhoff Suzuki NLD 0'51.367
7 Jeremy Van Horebeek
Yamaha
BEL 0'57.887
8 Gautier Paulin Honda FRA 1'03.920
9 Tommy Searle KTM GBR 1'07.744
10 Davy Millsaps KTM USA 1'11.790
11 Jose Antonio Butron KTM ESP 1'26.141
12 Tyla Rattray Kawasaki ZAF 1'32.261
13 Todd Waters Husqvarna AUS 1'38.613
14 Dean Ferris Husqvarna AUS 1'47.535
15 Davide Guarneri TM ITA 2'10.022


MXGP World Standing

Rider Standings After Race 18 of 19

1. Romain Febvre
Yamaha
FRA 735
2. Gautier Paulin Honda FRA 592
3. Evgeny Bobryshev Honda RUS 567
4. Shaun Simpson KTM GBR 481
5. Jeremy Van Horebeek
Yamaha
BEL 449
6. Maximilian Nagl Husqvarna DE 442
7. Antonio Cairoli KTM ITA 432
8. Glenn Coldenhoff Suzuki NLD 423
9. Todd Waters Husqvarna AUS 354
10. Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 331
11. Dean Ferris Husqvarna AUS 294
12. Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 287
13. Tyla Rattray Kawasaki ZAF 276
14. Jose Antonio Butron KTM ESP 233
15. David Philippaerts
Yamaha
ITA 185
16. Christophe Charlier Honda FRA 183
28. Cooper Webb Yamaha USA 42
36. Jeffrey DeWulf Yamaha BEL 21
42. Cedric Soubeyras Yamaha FRA 15
44. Matevz Irt Yamaha SVN 13
48. Pier Bertuzzo Yamaha ITA 12
55. Eduardo Andrade Yamaha MEX 9
56. Mike Vanderstraeten Yamaha BEL 9
59. Paul Coates Yamaha GBR 7
74. Alfie Smith Yamaha GBR 1
79. Lewis Gregory Yamaha GBR 0



Circuit Length:
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