Frenchmen head to France

The French national anthem, The Marseillaise was a revolutionary song, an anthem for freedom, a patriotic call to mobilize all the citizens and an exhortation to fight against tyranny and foreign invasion.

Next weekend at the old-school circuit of Ernèe, then French will again try and fight off the invasion of the foreigners, but this time it will be the best motocross riders in the world they will battle.

In the tough MXGP class, Gautier Paulin and Romain Febvre lead the French charge. Paulin of the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna team is third in the series points, and just a single point off second place, held by Team HRC rider Tim Gajser.

Paulin is in good form, and of course won a Grand Prix in Valkenswaard a month or so ago. While last weekend in Germany saw, him make a podium, he will be looking to close the points gap on series leader Antonio Cairoli in his home Grand Prix.

“Earning one more podium result is a good reward for the hard work all Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing team members are putting in,” Paulin said. “Not getting a good start in moto one I had to push really hard taking some risks in the first few laps. Making some good passes I quickly found myself in third but Cairoli and Herlings had already created a small gap in the lead and it was impossible to battle with them. Then in race two my start was a lot better. Getting a really good pace after the second half of the race I managed to get close to Herlings and we had a good battle for second. Losing a bit of time passing some lappers I ended up getting third again in race two. I’m really happy with my speed and can’t thank all our team enough for their hard work and dedication.”

Romain Febvre isn’t having a brilliant season, but has returned to a little better form recently. His 30 points from Germany last weekend put him in eighth place in the MXGP point standings, and while he would like to be closer to the top of the series points, he knows it will take some improvement to do that. An injury in Germany might cause some problems in Ernèe.

“Yes, it has been difficult from the beginning of the season,” Febvre said. “We made some changed to the bike that were not working for me, but we went back and I can play on the bike better now. I thought it was me, because I made the choice, but in the races, I struggled with the changed and we went back and it was late, but everyone can see now it is going nice. I got a bit stuck in the first race. I was faster than my result shows but I couldn’t make the pass I needed to make, so I was frustrated. In the second race, I was riding pretty good but I caught my foot on a rut and hurt some ligaments in my ankle. I was in so much pain I thought my foot was broken, but I kept riding. Other than that, I feel much better on the bike and I am really happy with how things are going, I just hope my foot will be okay for next weekend.”

Benoit Paturel will be the main stay of the French riders in the MX2 class in Ernèe, and while his form has been up and down, he still holds onto fifth place in the MX2 points standings. Despite a victory in the qualification race in Germany, he struggled on Sunday. He does however look forward to getting home to France and getting at least a podium finish.

“The result is not there,” Paturel said. “I have done my best. I won the Qualifying Race on Saturday. I am really happy about that, and I was second place in the second race today too. That is also not so bad. In the first race, I could not finish because of a small technical issue, but next weekend we go to France for my home grand prix, and I am really excited for that. I will give it everything and hopefully I will be on the box!”

Copoyright: Photo: Husqvarna Racing