At 32 years old Romain Febvre shows no signs of slowing down and he may just be in the some of the best form of his career. With six MXGP wins in a row, Febvre kept Jorge Prado honest despite missing the Spanish GP finally being forced to give up on a the title mathematically after a first moto DNF due to a bike issue in Maggiora. Febvre ended the season strong at Matterley Basin with another podium and now he has one focus – the MXON at Ernee with team France to end a great season as am MXoN champ!
This is what Febvre had to say when we caught up with him at the end of the British GP weekend. Read or watch below:
Romain, a long season, some ups and down but at one stage you were just winning GP after GP! How do you sum up the season overall?
Yeah, a pretty good season overall. At the beginning with the new bike it is never so easy, but I managed to do it well, then I had the crash in Spain when I was starting to do better. I didn’t race in Spain and I lost a lot of point there. Until then, I was maybe 25 points behind the leader which was not much and then it went to 70 or 80 points. That was hard but I bounced back and was on the podium at the next GP fighting for the victory and from there it went really good. With missing races, I can’t expect too much but to be second overall, I’m really happy.
That crash in Paris we were there and it was hard to watch, did you expect to come back to what you were before?
Yeah, injuries are always tough. It takes some time for sure but I didn’t think it would be difficult (to get back to this level) just that I would need some time. If I had no pain then I could still perform really good. I never thought I could not reach my speed anymore. Just like I said, I needed some time to heal and that was enough.
Can you talk about the level in MXGP, every lap is a battle! Even today Renaux and Herlings were out, Jago is coming next season. You are 32 I think, does that keep you competitive (motivated) over the winter because the class is so competitive?
Yeah sure. Yeah, I’m getting older but I am getting more experience, sometimes it’s difficult sometimes it’s better but to have the overall pace and overall feeling with the racing, I manage it a lot better than before. Which maybe some younger riders cannot manage as well as me, so getting older but at the same time more experience so I think if I have the speed and are healthy all season, I think I can battle for the championship.
Can you talk about your hard pack ability, I’ve never seen anyone find traction on the slickest turns in my life! What’s the secret?
The secret? Not much just to practice on a hard slippy surface! For sure at our level it’s harder and harder every time to get better somewhere. Maybe I am a little better when it’s really slick but still many rider’s are good and can manage to do it well. You just have to practice a lot.
Two weeks time, Ernee in France for the MXoN, it’s going to be unbelievable, especially for France, you went 1-1 there at the last Nations. Jett Lawrence is undefeated in America, can you be the guy to beat him and win it for France?
We will see. Definitely it will be a good event in France, I am really looking forward to riding there in front of the French crown, it will be really busy. We will see where the others are and hopefully have some good battles.
Can you explain what it feels like to ride, especially Ernee, it’s maybe the noisiest MXON there is and you led there and won there. What is that feeling like inside to ride and lead a MXoN there?
Yeah, it’s good. It’s really good! It’s better to be on their (fans) side than against them! But also if make a mistake they can be mad at you, but like I say, it’s always better to ride in front of the French crowd especially how I am feeling at the moment. It’s good to go there and to have a good feeling like this. Hopefully the team will be strong and we can manage to do something great.
Interview: Jonathan McCready
Image: InFront Moto Racing
