Romain Febvre: Not Giving Up!

The 2021 season of the FIM Motocross World Championship was one for the books, as we all bared witness to one of the most disputed title fights in the history of the World Championship that went down to the very last race at the MXGP of Città di Mantova.

One of the main protagonists for this championship battle and Vice World Champion of last year was none other than Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Romain Febvre.

Last season, Febvre was by far in the best shape of his career and quickly became a title threat as he fought closely with Jeffrey Herlings and Tim Gajser. At the MXGP of Garda we saw Febvre take the championship lead and he held onto the red plate until the very last race of the year, as he and Herlings lined-up for MXGP race two levelled on points. Ultimately a small mistake cost the Frenchman the title, no doubt a tough pill to swallow in the moment, but what would come later was nothing in comparison.

While it was no doubt tough mentally, for Febvre, the team, his close friends and family to accept defeat but dwelling on that fact would not have been productive either and instead shifting the focus onto winning the title in 2023 became the goal.

As the off-season kicked-off, a number of Grand Prix riders, which also included MX2 World Champion Maxime Renaux, and the 9-time World Champion Antonio Cairoli entered the iconic Paris Supercross event. For Febvre it was an opportunity to enjoy the event and race in front of the French crowd, but a big crash ended his 2023 season, before it even had the chance to start.

Numerous problematic surgeries came next followed by more complications that took Febvre out for more than six months which was not only difficult physically but even more mentally.

With just two weeks on the bike, Febvre made his much-anticipated return in Germany and the results were very positive, considering the circumstances. In time practice, the Frenchman posted the seventh fastest time and followed it up with a strong qualifying heat where he placed sixth, which gave him a fairly good gate pick for the races. Starts were key in Germany and in the opening race, Febvre was able to start in front. He battled with Jeremy Seewer before being passed by the Swiss to finish in fourth. Then in the second race, he managed to bring it home in seventh to place fifth overall – which was impressive since he had very limited bike time coming into the race.

MXGP Mag sat down with Romain at the German Grand Prix in Teutschenthal to speak about the intensity of the 2021 season, his tough come back from injury and the motivation that kept him going in the darkest moments of his rehab.

Read the full article HERE!

You can find all this plus more in the 106^th issue of MXGP Mag, which you can download for FREE on the Apple Store or Google Play. Read it HERE!

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