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MXGP, LIQUI MOLY MXGP OF GERMANY - Teutschenthal, GERMANY, 11 June 2023

Romain Febvre consolidates third in MXGP standings

Romain Febvre of Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP consolidated his third place in the FIM World MXGP Motocross Championship standings at the halfway stage of the series at Teutschenthal in Germany.

The Frenchman was quickly on the move in race one as he soared into fourth over an uphill triple-jump on lap two and he had already set his sights on the front three as the front wheel slipped away on the exit from a muddy left-hand turn, pushing him back to eighth. Lapping faster than the leaders he ran down the rider in seventh on lap ten of eighteen but could only advance one more position, at the expense of the fallen leader, before the finish. The Kawasaki leader rocketed out of the gate in race two to secure third place on the opening lap and was closing down the leaders when a slip on lap three pushed him momentarily back to fifth. He was soon on the move again, matching the pace of the leaders as he surged back to third on lap eight of eighteen, but the front-two were ten seconds down the track and he had to be satisfied with third at the finish. Fifth overall on the day, just three points from the podium, he has consolidated his top-three world ranking headed into the second half of the series and has reduced his deficit to second to thirty-nine points.
 
Romain Febvre: “I'm not really happy with my results as I crashed in both motos. I had the speed to fight for the win, but as I crashed twice I couldn’t do it. My first start was average, the second one was much better, but in both motos I was in the top-four during the first few laps before these crashes. In the first moto I was surprised in a rut after the finish line; the rut was muddy due to the watering and I lost my balance. In the second race I was a little unlucky as there was a stone in a rut before a small jump, and I lost the front wheel when I landed from this jump. I don’t look at the championship, but I’m disappointed as this weekend I missed at least a podium. Now we have one weekend off before we fly to Indonesia where I had a great feeling last year in Sumbawa.”
 
KRT teammate Mitch Evans, gaining in confidence by the day after his season-best Qualifying on Saturday, raced to a superb seventh overall from ninth- and sixth-placed moto finishes. The Australian rode an aggressive opening lap in moto one to advance quickly into the top-ten and pushed for the entire thirty-five minutes to take over ninth three laps from the close. Race two was even better as he took over sixth within a few corners and raced fifth for most of the race before a title-candidate slipped past four laps from the end.
 
Mitch Evans: "It's nice to finally be in the battle again and going home with a smile on my face. We have made a lot of progress lately, both with my bike settings and my fitness. For a long time I wasn't able to do full training, but pain-wise I'm now 100% and last week I changed my training program and I already feel much better. I was also happier with my starts this weekend. The Kawasaki is unreal off the start, but it calls for a different technique to my previous bike and I still need to get completely used to it; the rest is down to me now and then the holeshots will come. I'm looking forward to getting back into the top-five, perhaps already in Indonesia; I got sick there last year but the track and the fans were really great."