Frenchmen in France

This coming weekend should see a massive crowd attend the Grand Prix of France at the St Jean d’Angely circuit, as a bunch of French riders will be looking for victories or podium finishes. Every year the home riders produce something special, and 2016 shouldn’t be anything different.

For the French riders it has been a year of injuries and misfortune. Even defending MXGP champion Romain Febvre, who remains in strong contention for this year’s MXGP championship, has carried a selection of injuries this year.

Leading the way for the Frenchie’s will be Febvre, who despite mixed form, and carrying a shoulder injury, will be one of the favorites to take out the MXGP overall next weekend. The Monster Energy Yamaha rider is still second in the MXGP championship points and loves the hard pack of St Jean d’Angely.

HRC backed rider Gautier Paulin picked up an injury during training between the second and third rounds of the MXGP series, and has missed five rounds while recovering. He came back to form last weekend with 4-3 results and third place on the podium, and will no doubt be keen to win in his home GP. Way back in 2011 Paulin won a moto at the MXoN held at St Jean, and has performed well often there.

For Dylan Ferrandis it was round two in Thailand that saw his championship hopes take a nosedive. While running up front he crashed hard and spent two months on the sidelines, coming back for the GP of Latvia he quickly come to terms with the speed of the MX2 leader Jeffrey Herlings. Ferrandis has won a couple of times against Herlings since his return and nobody would be surprised if he won the GP of France.

After Febvre, young Frenchman Benoit Paturel is the highest placed local rider in the FIM Motocross World Championships, as he holds down fourth place in the MX2 series. Paturel is without question a rider with a big future and his form continues to grow. Scoring a podium finish in Spain last weekend the Yamaha mounted rider will be looking to one better this weekend and landing on the top step of the MX2 podium.

Former MX2 world champion Jordi Tixier hasn’t had the best of seasons after a pre-season operation meant he has missed the first seven rounds of the MXGP championship. The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider has slowly improved with 32 points to his name from Italy and Spain and a podium finish seems unlikely next weekend, however on talent alone anything is possible with this young charger.

Not having the best of seasons in the MXGP class is Christophe Charlier, who is 12^th in the MXGP championship points. His best moto result until now a fourth place finish in the opening moto in Germany, and while he did show an improvement in form in Germany, he still isn’t really running with the top guys often enough to feel as though he is a podium contender.