In the opening race, it was Romain Febvre who led on the first lap but Tim Gajser was keen to get to the front and didn’t wait long to make the pass. The Slovenian made the pass on the up hill over Febvre and then controlled the gap at the front.
Febvre despite riding with a sore thumb was looking comfortable in second but then started to drop back with five minutes to go and Prado started to up his pace. The Spaniard then made a move for second before Febvre faded back even further. Prado then caught Gajser a bit but the Slovenian responded to take a comfortable race win despite saying he got arm pump towards the end of the race.
Seewer rode well on his Kawasaki to finish a distant fourth. Herlings didn’t get a good start and as usual didn’t look comfortable the first ten minutes but then made moves on the likes of Bogers and Coldenhoff. He tried to get Jonass on the final lap for fifth but the Latvian rode great to keep him at bay and finish fifth.
With heavy rain falling, moto two was completely different conditions – mudfest! That didn’t bother Febvre though as he got the holeshot and then cleared off at the front. Herlings and Gajser were locked in a battle for second but then Gajser had a nasty crash with around five minutes to go dropping him down to sixth – but still ahead of Prado who finished seventh.
Herlings wasn’t happy with just second and started to push forward. He caught Febvre and was right on him with a couple of laps to go. He made a move stick on the downhill on the very last lap to get the win and second overall with it.
Febvre when he crossed the line didn’t know he’d won the GP but was delighted to get the job done in front of the packed French fans.
Jonass had a great for third with Seewer again solid in fourth. Kevin Horgmo had a great race for fifth on his SR Honda.
There’s now only four points to split Gajser and Prado with the latter off the podium in France. Gajser will have the red plate at the next round in Germany.
UPDATE: After the second moto, both Kevin Horgmo and Jeremy Seewer were hit with two position penalties for not respecting yellow flags. As a result, Tim Gajser actually wins the GP overall and has a five points lead over Prado. Brutal news for Febvre who had celebrated in front of his home fans and even stood on the top step of the podium.
Race One:
Race Two:
Overall:
Updated championship standings:
