Race report: Febvre and Anstie dominate in Mantova

MANTOVA (Lombardia), 23 August 2015 – The fifteenth round of the FIM Motocross World Championship was dominated by Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube’s Romain Febvre and Monster Energy DRT Kawasaki’s Max Anstie who used their creative lines and unique skill to stand top of the box here at the MXGP of Lombardia.

Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube’s Romain Febvre is proving he’s got all the ingredients of a world champion and that smell of a freshly baked title is starting to waft into the Yamaha pits. Eleven race wins, six overall victories and ten consecutive podium finishes have left Febvre with a healthy 101 point lead in the MXGP Championship.

He’s not the picture of consistency we saw last year but the vice-world champion Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube’s Jeremy Van Horebeek is starting to piece the puzzle back together, starting with a Fox Holeshot which was a box he ticked in race two. After finishing second overall, Van Horebeek said, “It’s been a wild ride this year, but I knew I could do this. It’s my second time on the podium but proved that I can still do it, so I am happy.”

After a few rough years hindered by injury, Team HRC’s Evgeny Bobryshev has finally turned his ship around and is looking strong and consistent. The Russian was second in race one and fourth in race two which left him uncorking his third bottle of bubbles this year. “I’m tired of crashing so being consistent is important for me,” Bobryshev said.

This weekend was far from the sand of Lommel, but Hitachi Construction Machinery Revo KTM’s Shaun Simpson was still fast. The Brit has finally received factory support from KTM and was looking strong and confident on the new 2016 KTM 450SX-F, which he rode to fourth.

Team HRC’s Gautier Paulin made the best of a bad day to finish fifth overall. He is still second in the championship 33 points clear of his teammate Bobryshev.

As for the locals, TM Racing Factory Team’s Davide Guarneri finished up in twelfth overall while DP19 Yamaha Racing’s David Philippaerts put an end to his weekend after a first corner crash flared up his previous injuries.

MXGP Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), 34:31.030; 2. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:04.594; 3. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:07.105; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:09.938; 5. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:14.492; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Suzuki), +0:16.210; 7. Dean Ferris (AUS, Husqvarna), +0:22.134; 8. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:28.494; 9. Todd Waters (AUS, Husqvarna), +0:31.739; 10. Tyla Rattray (RSA, Kawasaki), +0:35.189.

MXGP Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), 34:43.106; 2. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:07.639; 3. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:09.232; 4. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:11.658; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Suzuki), +0:13.769; 6. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:17.029; 7. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Honda), +0:19.019; 8. Dean Ferris (AUS, Husqvarna), +0:22.061; 9. Tyla Rattray (RSA, Kawasaki), +0:32.673; 10. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:33.689.

MXGP Overall Top Ten: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 50 points; 2. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 42 p.; 3. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 40 p.; 4. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 36 p.; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HON), 33 p.; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, SUZ), 31 p.; 7. Dean Ferris (AUS, HUS), 27 p.; 8. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 24 p.; 9. Tyla Rattray (RSA, KAW), 23 p.; 10. Todd Waters (AUS, HUS), 22 p.

MXGP Championship Top Ten: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 597 points; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HON), 496 p.; 3. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 463 p.; 4. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 416 p.; 5. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 392 p.; 6. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 384 p.; 7. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 366 p.; 8. Clement Desalle (BEL, SUZ), 331 p.; 9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, SUZ), 321 p.; 10. Todd Waters (AUS, HUS), 300 p.

MXGP Manufacturer: 1. Yamaha, 605 points; 2. KTM, 583 p.; 3. Suzuki, 576 p.; 4. Honda, 569 p.; 5. Husqvarna, 544 p.; 6. Kawasaki, 357 p.; 7. TM, 112 p.

Monster Energy DRT Kawasaki’s Max Anstie was once again in a league of his own. The Brit overcame some adversity, clutch issues and a small crash in race one, to dominate both races for his third perfect weekend and grand prix overall. As a result, the number 99 has leap frogged from seventh in the championship to third.

Anstie is unbeatable right now in MX2 and is up to third in the championship, Pic: MXGP

It was far from a perfect weekend for Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser but fair play to the young Slovenian who managed to bounce back nicely from a rough day of qualifying to tie in points with the championship leader Pauls Jonass.

The saying ‘consistency wins championships’ is on repeat in Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pauls Jonass’ head and it is working to his benefit. The young Latvian, who is trained and mentored by the ten-time FIM Motocross World Champion Stefan Everts, put in another solid performance this weekend for third overall and has maintained his four point lead in the championship.

Kemea Yamaha Yamalube’s Benoit Paturel wrapped up fourth. As the reserve rider for Team France, the young Frenchman has been out training with Romain Febvre and Gautier Paulin in the two-week break. Evidently, riding with the two fastest MXGP riders in the world has done him a world of good and the results are already starting to appear.

Meanwhile it was another tough day in the office for Standing Construct Yamaha Yamalube’s Valentin Guillod who was more of a gymnast this weekend as he cartwheeled his way around the track. Despite eating it way too many times, the Swiss rider still managed to round out the top five.

Italian Marchetti Racing Team KTM’s Ivo Monticelli finished seventeenth.

MX2 Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Max Anstie (GBR, Kawasaki), 34:33.215; 2. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:03.500; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:04.794; 4. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:22.775; 5. Damon Graulus (BEL, Yamaha), +0:26.142; 6. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +0:29.515; 7. Petar Petrov (BUL, Kawasaki), +0:33.737; 8. Brian Hsu (GER, Suzuki), +0:36.881; 9. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:39.971; 10. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), +0:42.181.

MX2 Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Max Anstie (GBR, Kawasaki), 35:01.640; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:11.000; 3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:13.851; 4. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +0:14.295; 5. Jens Getteman (BEL, Honda), +0:26.786; 6. Thomas Covington (USA, Kawasaki), +0:30.282; 7. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +0:32.490; 8. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Yamaha), +0:35.837; 9. Henry Jacobi (GER, KTM), +0:53.920; 10. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, KTM), +0:57.185

MX2 Overall Top Ten: 1. Max Anstie (GBR, KAW), 50 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 42 p.; 3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 42 p.; 4. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 33 p.; 5. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 25 p.; 6. Brent Van doninck (BEL, YAM), 23 p.; 7. Petar Petrov (BUL, KAW), 23 p.; 8. Henry Jacobi (GER, KTM), 20 p.; 9. Damon Graulus (BEL, YAM), 20 p.; 10. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), 19 p.

MX2 Championship Top Ten: 1. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 475 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 471 p.; 3. Max Anstie (GBR, KAW), 437 p.; 4. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 433 p.; 5. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 423 p.; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 409 p.; 7. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KAW), 393 p.; 8. Julien Lieber (BEL, YAM), 356 p.; 9. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 292 p.; 10. Petar Petrov (BUL, KAW), 285 p.

MX2 Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 655 points; 2. Kawasaki, 633 p.; 3. Yamaha, 531 p.; 4. Honda, 512 p.; 5. Suzuki, 410 p.; 6. Husqvarna, 359 p.; 7. TM, 76 p.