It was Nicholas Lapucci who took the holeshot on his Kawasaki machine but he had the factory KRT behind him on the opening lap.
Febvre was able to make a quick pass and then totally controlled things at the front. Gajser was able to pass Lapucci for second as well but couldn’t do anything about Febvre who already had a nice lead.
Cairoli had got a pretty good start and was running sixth on the first lap but then had technical issues – 39th gate pick will make things very difficult tomorrow.
Fernandez thought he finished third but got docked two spots for course cutting so Seewer ended up third ahead of Maxime Renaux.
Ben Watson rode a great race for eighth in slick hard pack – very encouraging.
Lucas Coenen went down at turn one but charged through to eleventh.
MXGP qualifying race:
Updated championship standings:
