MXGPMAG0139 by MXGP MAG

ROMAIN FEBVRE

THE FRENCH FIGHTER

EDITORIAL

RACING

MONSER GIRLS

RIDERS

HALL

PADDOCK TALKS 022 RACING CATCH

026

MONSTER GIRLS

RIDERS OF THE MOUNTH

MXGP MAG

Chief Editor: Marionna Leiva Photos: MXGP

INFRONT MOTO RACING MEDIA

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MXGP Mag #139 2025

The articles published in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the official position of Infront Moto Racing.

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070 HALL OF FAME

GIRLS

DEAR MXGP FANS, AS WE ARE WORKING ON THE FINAL PREPARATION OF THE VERY MUCH AWAITED MXGP OF GREAT BRITAIN IN MATTERLEY BASIN, IT IS THE TIME FOR YOUR NEXT ISSUE OF THE MXGP MAGAZINE.

In this month edition you will have the pleasure to dive into some of the most exciting Grand Prix of the season, especially the MXGP of France that took place at the iconic track of Ernée. France hosted two Grand Prix this season and the French fans honored both of them with style, as usual. Earlier in the season, it was Saint Jean d’Angely, and this month Ernée, which was warming up before it will host again the Monster Energy Motocross of Nations next year. A massive crowd was present during the whole weekend to cheer behind the French riders, and for the first time Romain Febvre rode with the red plate on his home soil. The racing was amazing and the battle he had with Lucas Coenen kept the public on their feet, but ended with the victory of the French rider.

Then the paddock took the direction of Teutschenthal, Germany, another historical track in the calendar. The organizer put a lot of effort to modernize the track with a new section. Here also the fans came massively to support Simon Langenfelder, who was also riding with the red plate on his KTM, in a category that showed not less than 9 different race winners since the beginning of the season. The season is still long, and we can be sure that the MX2 will bring to us a lot of surprise with an amount a new talents that are capable of taking the victory. In MXGP Jeffrey Herlings won his 108 Grand Prix at the end of a brilliant race and he keeps on writing the History of our sport.

Finally, the sand track of Kegums in Latvia gave the opportunity to Sasha Coenen to win his first Grand Prix of the season. He is the fifth different GP winner in the MX2 category this season. On top of the MX2 overall classification we can find Simon Langenfelder, who extended his lead on Andrea Adamo to 27 points. In MXGP Jeffrey Herlings scored a perfect weekend with 1-1-1 and

he is back on pace for the battle for the win of the upcoming Grand Prix which will bring a lot of intention to mix with the duel between Romain Febvre and Lucas Coenen, who has 26 points difference.

During the MXGP of France we had the pleasure to announce the comeback of Assen to host the Monster Energy Motocross of Nations in 2027, on the World Class infrastructure of the TT Circuit. A classical Dutch sand track will be built to host the most awaited Off-Road event in the World.

Finally, for the first time the FIM Junior Motocross World Championship, that will take place in Romagné, France, on the 5/6 of July, will be broadcasted live on MXGP-TV and some National TV Broadcasters that will be announced very soon. It is a major achievement for us to bring this amazing event to be more global and to touch a wider audience, as it showcase for many years now the superstars of tomorrow.

It is time now to enjoy one of the most beautiful tracks in the World, at the occasion of the MXGP of Great Britain, in Matterley Basin.

See you in UK.

David Luongo CEO of Infront Moto Racing

COOL SHOTS

THE RETURN OF THE KING, OR THE MAKING OF NEW ONES?

AS THE MXGP SEASON CROSSED THE HALFWAY POINT THROUGH THE FRENCH HILLSIDES OF ERNÉE, THE GERMAN GRASSLANDS OF TEUTSCHENTHAL, AND THE SHIFTING LATVIAN SANDS OF KEGUMS, THE LANDSCAPE HAS SHIFTED IN BOTH MAJOR CLASSES TO SEE MULTIPLE NEW WINNERS AND SOME MAJOR CHALLENGES FOR THOSE AT THE TOP.

Ernée is always a special venue for world Motocross, and following a year out in 2024, the MXGP of France reminded us of what an iconic circuit it is, with another hillside of roaring French fans bringing the incredible atmosphere to urge on the home heroes. And they got what most of them came for, the red-plated factory Kawasaki of Romain Febvre emerging victorious, for the first time at that circuit in a Grand Prix after his multiple Nations successes there. He did it in the most thrilling way possible, too, by chasing from a poor start in race one to claim second place from a resurgent Jeffrey Herlings, then catching and passing his teenage title rival and first race winner Lucas Coenen. The Red Bull KTM rookie had won on Saturday and still made a tiny two-point dent in Febvre’s series lead across the weekend.

In that Saturday Qualifying Race, Febvre had been kept back to third by Team Motul Honda Motoblouz SR rider Kevin Horgmo, who put in a career best finish in MXGP with a brilliant ride, only to pull out with a dislocated shoulder in race one on Sunday! Motocross can be so cruel…

After a poor start limited Herlings to fifth in race two, there came a second podium of the debut season for the Aruba.it Ducati Factory MX-Team, as Jeremy Seewer again delivered the goods on the Italian machine, in a performance which he felt was better than his Swiss podium, due to the point that nobody crashed in front of him to make this one possible! At this point it was still Tim Gajser who held third in the points chase, but the injured Slovenian’s total was about to be caught by the chasing factory Fantic of Glenn Coldenhoff, the other HRC Honda of Ruben Fernandez, and the Monster Energy Yamaha of Maxime Renaux.

DISASTER

As the 2027 Motocross of Nations venue of Assen in the Netherlands was announced in the media centre on Saturday morning at Ernée, incoming red plate holder Kay de Wolf, who will surely be looking to be on the home team for that event, was expressing his love for the French circuit, and it was proven with his fastest time in Free Practice. However, the defending Champ on the Nestaan Husqvarna was to suffer a disaster shortly afterwards! With a painful-looking crash in Time Practice, the Dutchman aggravated a pre-season ankle injury and was never in good shape on-track from there on, struggling to his worst points haul from a GP for well over 18 months with bad starts and further crashes.

His hardpack-loving rivals on the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing machines would cash in on De Wolf’s misfortunes, as Andrea Adamo claimed his third Qualifying Race win on Saturday, before Simon Längenfelder dominated proceedings on Sunday with a double race win to take his second GP victory of the season! His determination to lead was evident in race two as he pushed aggressively past Adamo to make the Italian do all the hard work to keep up. The 2023 Champion did all he could but a nearcrash into the start gate towards the end of the race put paid to his challenge! Both of them moved past De Wolf in the series, however, and the Husqvarna man suddenly faced a 25-point gap to the new German red plate holder.

Even though Thibault Benistant answered his fans’ support with a fine third in race two, it was Längenfelder’s teammate Sacha Coenen who completed a podium clean sweep for Red Bull KTM through consistent 6-4 finishes – imagine that!

ARISE, SIR JEFFREY

While we had seen flashes of “The Bullet” on his return to action from his off-season knee injury, Jeffrey Herlings was truly back on it at Teutschenthal for the Liqui Moly MXGP of Germany, launching over a difficult double jump near Pit Lane to take the fastest lap in Time Practice and stalking the Holeshot artist Lucas Coenen all the way in the Qualifying Race. The young Belgian is proving to be just as adept as his brother at getting to the lead early, and maybe it’s time the De Carli crew got some credit for the sort of Fox Holeshot numbers that Jorge Prado always achieved with them, as their machines continue to pull from the gate to the front in both classes!

Febvre certainly struggled out of the gate in Germany and couldn’t make the passes necessary to climb higher than fourth in race one, as the Monster Energy Yamaha of Calvin Vlaanderen put in his best dry-weather result of the year, matching his third-place finishes from Cozar and Lugo. Sadly for Calvin, he wasn’t able to fly so high in race two, and Febvre was able to complete the podium behind the Red Bull KTM flyers out front.

Although Herlings was again unable to get past Coenen in the opener, the wetter conditions of race two gave the Dutchman a chance to find the sort of magic line that often makes the difference between a podium and yet another Grand Prix victory. Using an outside line in the second corner after the finish line jump, he managed to zap a frustrated Febvre on lap 10 of 16, then hauled in Coenen to pull off a replica

of that pass to surprise the rookie with just two laps to go! Once more, a late pass denied the Belgian a perfect weekend, but there could be no denying that he has been racking up the points to close the gap in the Championship standings.

On a track where he has a very chequered past, however, Herlings’ 108th GP win signalled the return to form that will make the rest of the pack work very hard to get to the top step.

GERMAN LEADER

Simon Längenfelder lined up in his home country with a smart national kit design to compliment his new red plate, his first since the beginning of 2022 and his first time at home. A few mistakes over the weekend however, and some fine riding from Andrea

Adamo, swung the Championship into yet another rider’s favour in this crazy season!

Saturday even saw a completely new winner in the class, as Honda HRC’s rookie Valerio Lata, the leading graduate from EMX250 for this season, took a gate to flag victory with great speed and composure on the notoriously tricky Talkessel circuit. Over the weekend, he would prove to be a thorn in the side of the Red Bull KTM domination, and but for a couple of crashes as he tried to chase down Adamo in race two, he would have climbed the podium on Sunday as well. It was a welcome tonic for Honda HRC after losing Ferruccio Zanchi to a knee injury in Free Practice, as well as seeing Ruben Fernandez knock himself out of the MXGP weekend with a crash over the same jump as Zanchi.

After Sacha Coenen split his title-chasing stablemates in race one, second behind Adamo but ahead of Längenfelder, he claimed yet another Fox Holeshot Award in race two after a massive rain shower had lashed the circuit, and pulled away with ease from the chasing pack. His German teammate was having a tough one but still rescued fifth overall in the sort of determined style that served De Wolf so well last year.

The Dutchman himself took second in race two to claim third overall, but the race was knocked on its head as Coenen flew off the track and was unable to restart quickly. It cost the teenage Belgian the overall victory and put yet another new winner into the spotlight!

Monster Energy Triumph Racing hadn’t had much to celebrate since Camden McLellan’s race win in

Trentino, but now their Spanish contender Guillem Farres, outside the top ten in the series due to missing three rounds earlier in the year, was leading in the German murk and holding station superbly. He became the tenth rider to take a chequered flag in the MX2 class all season and took second overall behind new red plate holder Adamo!

KINGS OF KEGUMS

The third weekend of the triple-header took the teams further east towards Latvia, as the Zelta Zirgs MotoCenter celebrated the 20th MXGP event over its sandy surface, and last year’s winners Herlings and Sacha Coenen rubbed their hands with glee!

Herlings has a particularly strong record at the Latvian circuit and made it his equal-best venue of all-time with

his ninth overall victory there, matching what he has achieved at Valkenswaard in the Netherlands. It was a perfect weekend with a win on Saturday as well, and was achieved through decisive early race moves on the fast-starting Lucas Coenen, who could only console himself with his fourth consecutive second-place finish overall and a ten-point gain on Febvre at the top of the table.

The Frenchman was particularly frustrated in race one on Sunday, as he fell trying to pass the factory Fantic of Brian Bogers, and even on catching him up later in the race still couldn’t get through! Bogers’ teammate Glenn Coldenhoff finally advanced into third in the series with third in race one, although Febvre took that position in race two to climb the podium yet again and limit the damage to Coenen. The gap was

hacked down by another ten points, however, and is down to just 26 as the series heads to Matterley Basin, where neither contender has ever won!

Herlings is looking menacing, however, and while he is a massive 241 points off the lead and ninth in the Championship, he is only five behind Vlaanderen, another 16 behind the second factory Fantic of Andrea Bonacorsi, and a total of 78 behind Coldenhoff for third! Could another medal be the target for “The Bullet”, or does he have one eye on that Monster Energy Motocross of Nations at the same Ironman venue as one of his most famous victories? Either way, MXGP is all more exciting now he has returned to his usual world-beating level.

BOUNCE-BACK

The craziness of MX2 continued at Kegums, as it was now Adamo’s turn to suffer misfortune and a crash-filled weekend in the Latvian sand. Sacha Coenen was noticeably quicker than anybody all weekend, however, and his hasty attempt to lead early in the Qualifying Race caused a pile-up which claimed Adamo, Lata, and the Nestaan Husqvarna of Liam Everts in turn two on Saturday! That was after a big crash claimed De Wolf, both Triumphs, and Oriol Oliver in turn one!

All this didn’t concern Längenfelder, however, as he was able to romp away with the win on Saturday and re-claim the red plate for Sunday! It didn’t bother the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 team, either, as their home hero Karlis Reisulis ran higher than he has all year, only passed by his teammate Thibault Benistant on lap 8 of 12! He was a very happy Latvian at the end of Saturday.

However, there was no stopping Sacha on Sunday, as he marched away at the head of race one to claim his first race win since the Argentine opener. Längenfelder got to within three seconds of him, while Everts in third enjoyed a welcome return to form, as did the factory Kawasaki of Mathis Valin, matching his best of the year so far in fourth.

HERLINGS HAS A PARTICULARLY STRONG RECORD AT THE LATVIAN CIRCUIT AND MADE IT HIS EQUALBEST VENUE OF ALL-TIME WITH HIS NINTH OVERALL VICTORY THERE

Race two was another wild MX2 affair, as Längenfelder stormed away at the front from Sacha, while De Wolf had to scrap it out with Farres and Benistant. Ultimately the Champ made a strong move on Coenen for second place with four laps to go, but Längenfelder was cruising to victory… that is, until the very last lap, when suddenly he cross-rutted in the waves and spilled off the course! He bounced back to finish third and ultimately second overall, but for sure he was detuned despite opening up a 27-point lead over Adamo.

Even though Coenen celebrated his third career GP win and first one of the season, the most exultant rider seemed to be De Wolf, celebrating his first race win for nearly a month with the sort of passion that riders usually have when they’ve clearly been battling adversity. Now ten points behind Adamo, with some recovery time in the calendar, it could well be De Wolf who becomes the biggest threat for the title in the months to come. It’s certainly going to be well worth watching!

The EMX250 series saw some fervent action at both Ernée and Kegums, and Championship leader Janis Reisulis still has control of the series, but only after JM Honda Racing’s Hungarian hero Noel Zanocz took his first race win in the class, and overall victory in France! Reisulis had to settle for third overall, as Zanocz’s main rival in EMX125 last year, Gyan Doensen, scored his first podium for Gabriel SS24 KTM Factory Juniors with a 3-2 that was nearly good enough for the overall victory!

Team VHR VRT Yamaha’s home hero Reisulis restored the natural order with a determined 1-1 victory on home sand at Latvia. This kid will be a threat in years to come at GP level, he simply was never going to be beaten at home. Doensen was once more second overall, demoting Zanocz to third, but the Hungarian is still second in the series, 37 behind Reisulis. Team Venum BUD Racing Kawasaki’s Francisco Garcia is third with Doensen moving up to fourth as they head to his team’s home GP.

The EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing series was in action at all three rounds of the triple-header, but immediately lost its leader Áron Katona with a disastrous weekend in France. His Racestore KTM Factory Juniors teammate Nicolò Alvisi picked up the baton, and the red plate, with a 1-1 at Ernée ahead of TM Moto CRD Motosport’s Riccardo Pini and the KTM Beddini Racing Team rider Filippo Mantovani, making it an all-Italian podium on French soil!

However, the French fought back as Yamaha Europe EMX125 rider Mano Faure took overall victory with 2-1 scorecards in both Germany and Latvia, both times in front of Alvisi and Mantovani in that order! Faure sits just 28 points back of Alvisi with three rounds to go, with Mantovani another 36 further back.

The FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship also raced at Teutschenthal, the home of the first ever World Cup event 20 years previously! Once more the girls had to deal with wet conditions, mainly on Sunday morning, but the result was the same as Lugo for FONTA MX Racing rider Kiara Fontanesi, who took her second straight overall win, and is closing in on defending Champ Lotte van Drunen, despite the De Baets Yamaha firebrand winning race two to limit the damage!

RFME Spain National Team’s Daniela Guillén just managed to take third overall on the weekend but still trails in fourth in the Championship behind Van Venrooy KTM Racing’s Lynn Valk, who was fourth overall in Germany.

Local star Larissa Papenmeier on the SYE Racing Team 423 Honda machine enjoyed the atmosphere from her home fans to claim fifth overall and hinted on Behind The Gate that this would be her last full year of racing, although she didn’t rule out the possibility of returning for at least one wildcard entry in the future!

The ladies have a major break in the schedule until Arnhem in The Netherlands on the 24th of August, so we may see Van Drunen race a couple of times in MX2 to keep her pace moving forward as she likes to do, but the reigning Champ has to watch out as a six-point gap over Fontanesi doesn’t look like much, with the six-time Champ trying to become the first Mum to win a Motocross world title this season!

The teams have long journeys to the UK, Finland, and Czechia for the next three rounds, although they also have three weekends off in that time. Our report next month could tell a wildly different Championship story, so be sure to join us for all the action on MXGP-TV.com!

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ROMAIN FEBVRE THE FRENCH FIGHTER

SINCE 2015, ONE CONSTANT PRESENCE TOWARDS THE TOP OF THE ORDER IN MXGP HAS BEEN THE FRENCH FIGHTER, ROMAIN FEBVRE. FORMER WINNER OF THE WORLD TITLE, IN HIS ROOKIE SEASON LET’S NOT FORGET, AND ALWAYS IN THE MIX FOR RACE WINS WHENEVER HE IS CLOSE TO FULL FITNESS, THE FACTORY KAWASAKI TALISMAN HAS HELD THE RED PLATE THROUGHOUT THE SECOND QUARTER OF THE 2025 SEASON. HE GIVES MXGP MAGAZINE AN INSIGHT INTO THE LIFE OF A CHAMPIONSHIP LEADER.

In every great Championship fight, there is a great rivalry, and the 2025 MXGP series has developed into a tussle between the teenage rookie sensation and class veteran, former World Champion Romain Febvre. Whichever way the title goes will create a record – for Coenen, he would be the youngest Champion in the MXGP class since its inception, and for Febvre it would be the longest gap – ten years – between any Motocross World Champion’s first title and his second, doubling the existing record of five years, held by Alessandro Puzar for his victories in 1990 and 1995.

Talking to Romain himself, it’s clear that this quietly determined Frenchman is in a good place both at home and in his career, having experienced a Championship fight from many different angles – as the surprise leader, the pursuer, and the pursued. It gives him a great perspective on life at the top that any aspiring top racers can learn from. So how does this situation feel to him, after just over half of the season?

Romain Febvre: “It feels good to have the red plate, to be in that position. I don’t feel any pressure to have the red plate, or to lead the Championship,

because it’s better to be in this position. I have been chasing it so many times, and now I have it, so I am enjoying the feeling to be in front and to take it how it comes for the rest of the season. The last few races have been difficult with the weather, I lose some points when we are always fighting through the mud, but this is why it’s good to have a Championship lead, because if you lose some points at a GP, then it doesn’t matter so much. I feel good with the bike, and now we look forward to having some good conditions, some better racing, it should be a good second half of the year.”

ROOKIE CHAMPION

Romain was a rookie Champion himself in 2015, when he sprung from obscurity as the second Yamaha factory rider to then world #2 Jeremy van Horebeek. Having finished third behind Jordi Tixier and Jeffrey Herlings in the 2014 MX2 points chase for Husqvarna, including his first GP win in Brazil, few could have predicted his rise to prominence. The pre-season hype was all about defending Champ Antonio Cairoli and the new challenge from American interloper Ryan Villopoto, who actually finished directly behind Romain at the opening GP in Qatar, the pair taking sixth and seventh positions overall. Febvre’s first win in the class only came at round eight, on home turf at Villars-sous-Ecot, but

with injuries to Cairoli, Max Nagl, Clement Desalle, and Villopoto himself, the Yamaha man was able to hold back the factory Honda pairing of Gautier Paulin and Evgeny Bobryshev to bring the title home with eight wins on the season. So how does he deal with the prospect of another hot rookie challenging at the top in 2025?

“I know the position that Lucas is in because I have been there before, I know that he has nothing to lose and everything to win, and he is doing very well for his first season. The good thing for him is that he has already shown that he can run at the front, he doesn’t have to prove that anymore. I am sure that he is going to try everything to beat me, but that’s how it is, that’s racing. I am aware of this, and I know that he can be Champion this season. I consider everything, I train to be better and try my best, be smart at the races, and I take every weekend as it comes, as always, to try

and get the best of each GP. We are a little past halfway through the season, so still many more races to go.”

SUPERMOTO STAR

There is a vast difference between the 18-year-old Coenen and the 23-year-old 2015 Champion as was. At the age of 18, Romain was concentrating on a Supermoto career, and the story of his early days of racing can partially explain how he has kept pushing throughout his decade-long period at the top of the sport.

“I started racing Motocross from my youngest age until I was 15, but it was just really amateur races, then a little bit of French Championship but nothing more than this. I got some injuries to my knees, and the guy that was building my bike said that he had a team in Supermoto, and

he said that it is physically easier, just on tarmac with no bumps, and you sit down most of the time on the bike and it’s easy to do. I started like this and raced only Supermoto for four full years, from the age of 15 to 19, racing in the French Championship, then the German Championship because my sponsor was involved with this, then I did some World Championship races as well. The last year I was with the Supermoto team, they gave me a Motocross bike and I found that I was really missing it so much, I loved Motocross more, so I stopped racing Supermoto. The plan was just to ride the French Championships in 2010, but it went from zero to a pretty good level, then I decided to try the European Championship in 2011, just to see where I was.”

Racing against Dylan Ferrandis, Alexander Tonkov, and Maxime Desprey among others, Romain was suddenly a force to be reckoned with, going

on to win the EMX2 title at his first attempt. “It went so well, I won the second round at St Jean d’Angely and took the red plate at the following round in Portugal, so I was like ‘Wow, this is pretty good!’ I was not expecting to go to the World Championship and do Motocross as a job. It was always, even with the family around me, just something to do for fun. So just three years after finishing Supermoto, I was already in the World Championship in MX2, and then it started to really climb from there.”

CONSISTENT CONTENDER

Since his Championship season, the kid from the eastern side of France – his home town Épinal is closer to the borders with Germany and Switzerland than it is to Paris – has always been there or thereabouts, although his title defence, a gunfight with rookie Tim Gajser in 2016, was

curtailed by a nasty crash at Matterley Basin, just two weeks after a rousing victory at St Jean d’Angely. The return of Antonio Cairoli and the rise of Jeffrey Herlings made GP wins tough to come by, and he would only win a single GP for Yamaha after that, at Loket in 2019. However, following the move to Kawasaki in 2020, Febvre fought all the way in a stunning 2021 season. How has he kept at the top for so long?

“Every year I try to fight for the title, but many years I had a lot of injuries so you know when that happens then the title is gone, but I don’t always think ‘I need to be Champion’ because this is the obvious goal, I just want to do the maximum that I can, and if I win the title then all good but if not then I am just happy that I gave my best. We changed teams from Yamaha to Kawasaki, and then you have to adapt to some things. I know that if I am healthy, then we can fight in the top three. I always fight to get the best result possible and see what that is!”

TEAM GREEN

After the 2022 season was written off with a winter injury, Febvre gave chase to Jorge Prado throughout 2023, winning five GPs in a row for the first time in his career. The Kawasaki Racing Team is one of the best in the paddock, and having been considerably more successful than any of his teammates since moving there, it feels like he truly does belong in green, but it wasn’t always the case…

“The team has not been built around me because I came in when the first Kawasaki team was built around Clement Desalle more than myself, then when we came to Ice One, the team was already established. Maybe the bike now is more to my design, because I have a strong relationship with Kawasaki Japan, we have been testing there, and they come over to see me. They know what I like, but on some things that I wanted to have on my bike, they realise that it would also be good on the production bike, so maybe the standard bike has a few things from my bike now! After so many years you build some connections with people, this is normal. When I first tried the Kawasaki, I found something that I really love, I knew with that bike that I could be even better than I was on the Yamaha.”

“Many people say like yeah, the team and bike are built around me, and the first rule people say is always to beat your teammate, but for me I really don’t care! You can ask everyone around me, I don’t care what my teammate is doing, because we are all different, never running an identical bike with all the different parts that we like. I never judge my bike compared to my teammate because I know it’s not the same, and the goal is always to

be the best of the Championship, so it could be my teammate or someone else I am fighting, I do not care, I just want to be the best of all of them!”

FAMILY MAN

The man who celebrates his birthday on New Year’s Eve has recently enjoyed the benefits of family life, and becoming a father seems to have helped him maintain his time at the top:

“Is it easier? Let’s say it’s easier to switch off, when you come home you are with the daughter and the family in general then you can switch off from Motocross and that is helpful because before, you just think about Motocross and what can be better and training and so on, and sometimes if you think about nothing else then

you can feel like it’s quite heavy, just to live for Motocross. So now, with my daughter, it helps to switch off, then when you get riding again you have more energy to give to it, and I like that. It doesn’t change anything about my training or preparation, I don’t think about my family when I’m riding, I don’t think about the risk or anything, at the moment anyway. Maybe someday it will come to my mind and then maybe it will be the time to say ‘yeah, that’s enough’, maybe. For the moment I don’t have that, so it’s really good.”

HOME HERO

Romain’s strength on home soil has always been something that French fans can rely on, from that first win in the 2015 GP to the Nations at Ernée

that same season, as well as in 2023. Again in 2025 he was able to catch and pass Coenen to take a loudly-hailed victory in front of the packed hillsides of the Norman venue. This completed the set for Febvre in terms of modern French venues, having now won a GP each at Villars-sousEcot, St Jean d’Angely, and now Ernée. More than anything, he seemed to be revelling in the attention, not letting it deter him at all. How does he cope with thousands of fans watching his every move at a race like that?

“That’s just how it is in France, we have more attention than maybe other countries, OK maybe there is more pressure than a normal GP, but it doesn’t change anything, the goal is the same. I have always been good in this position because

I have had so many good home GPs. There are other good French riders too, but if the crowd cheers for me or for them I don’t care, I can switch between real life, and the life in racing. If I win or not at home, then the crowd are still happy. When it’s Monday then the crowds are not there anymore, if you do well or not, it doesn’t change anything for the day after. It’s never been my motivation to be the first French guy, like at the Nations or anything, I don’t care.”

“Ernée this year was really good, it’s always different to St Jean because of where the public is, the fans are closer, they can see more of the track, always Ernée has been a little bit special, and for sure to battle like this in both races, the first race to get to second for me was really good, then the

I AM SURE THAT HE IS GOING TO TRY EVERYTHING TO BEAT ME, BUT THAT’S HOW IT IS, THAT’S RACING”

Romain Febvre

second race to win after the battle with Lucas was the top result, you cannot do better than this to fight in both races and then win in the end.”

SELF-DISCIPLINE

His training is now well and truly in his own hands, having learned from the best France has to offer over the years. There is certainly no shortage of motivation or self-discipline for the 33-year-old, who will only be a few months younger, at the end of this season, than Stefan Everts was when he claimed his final world crown in 2006.

“From the beginning, from when I was young, I didn’t train at all, I had nobody to teach me that, and on an amateur level I didn’t train or practice in the week because I was at school and my father was working. I only raced at the weekend even when I was into the European Championship. Then when I went professional, I worked with some trainers like Jacky Vimond and Kevin Strijbos, they taught me how to work on my physical preparation and on my speed, so I need to be honest with myself if there is a problem and think about how to work on that. If I have to train more, it’s not a problem, I will do it because it is for myself and my goals. Every time I choose someone to work with it is because I know they can bring me something that I need, sometimes really specific to improve my racing and training. Every time I work with these guys, I have made progress. I now set my training by myself and it is working, so that is all good so far this year.”

A DECADE AT THE TOP

Romain would be forgiven if the talk of the tenyear milestone got a little irritating, but the way that he works seems to just burn past that. Never a real numbers man, he acknowledges that it would be a cool feat to achieve but for maybe a different reason than many think.

“Honestly, I don’t think about it so much, the past is the past. In 2021, it’s the past anyway, I mean, on the moment it was hard to accept and to lose the Championship… I think there is nothing worse than this, I mean if you get injured then it is bad, you know that you cannot fight anymore for the Championship, but to lose at the end of the year for just a few points, there is nothing worse. I don’t think about ’21 anymore, that’s in the past, also like being Champion ten years ago, it’s just because it is a big number that people talk about it. Being Champion again ten years after the first one would be cool, would be special because that means that at least for ten years, to have been fighting for this long, that means something more to me than the numbers. At the beginning of the year I tought ‘Whoa it’s been ten years in

MXGP, imagine if I am Champion again’, yeah it would be special but I am not thinking about the statistics. I’m not into it like some riders, I really don’t know how many GPs I have won. I know I have won a title, maybe second place I think twice and the rest I really don’t know. Maybe when you have some records like Jeffrey you will think of it more, but I really don’t follow these things.”

In this way, Romain is very similar to his eternal competitor Tim Gajser, who was surprised when people told him that Cozar this season was his 50th GP victory. Romain himself is on a total of 24, putting only Mickael Pichon and Yves Demaria in front of him when it comes to his compatriots. His 11 for Kawasaki puts him second only to Sebastien Tortelli’s 20 on the green machines. So even though he doesn’t think of the record books much, however things go for the rest of his career, Romain Febvre has made his mark on Motocross history. A second world title would be just reward for a rider who has never given less than 100% in achieving all that he can, and every MXGP fan can be thankful for his determination and longevity. Vive le roi!

CHASING THE PYRAMID

AS MXGP MOVES INTO THE SECOND HALF OF THE SEASON, THINGS ARE BEGINNING TO TAKE SHAPE IN TERMS OF HOW THE FINAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS MIGHT PLAY OUT. IN MXGP, WE HAVE SEEN A REAL TUSSLE BETWEEN THE EXPERIENCED FORMER WORLD CHAMPION ROMAIN FEBVRE, AND THE NEWCOMER TO THE CLASS, ‘I AM NOT A ROOKIE’ LUCAS COENEN, WHO IS FRESH UP FROM MX2. WHILST IT’S CLEAR THAT WHAT COENEN IS DOING IS IMPRESSIVE, BEING A ‘ROOKIE’ IS SOMETIMES A DIFFICULT PLACE TO BE, AND IN MX2 THAT IS NEVER MORE PREVALENT THAN IN 2025. SO, HOW ARE THE ROOKIES OF MX2 SHAPING UP AFTER THE FIRST HALF OF THE CAMPAIGN? LET’S TAKE A CLOSER LOOK!

Before you arrive in MX2, it is highly likely that prior to that, you would have followed the traditional route of ‘chasing the pyramid’, and by that we simply mean you have followed the well-trodden path of EMX65, EMX85, EMX125 and EMX250. At each stage, any rider who is serious about a successful career in racing motocross knows that winning is a must in order to at least put themselves in the shop window, in the hope of getting noticed by the factory teams, who can help you achieve what you want to achieve. Of course, there is never any guarantee that just because you make it to the best team, you will go on to bigger and better things, but it’s a great place to start, IF you are prepared to put in the work, that is!

BACKSTORY’S

Jeffrey Herlings was an exception to the rule; after winning the EMX85 and FIM Junior World Championship titles in 2008, the Dutch sensation skipped the EMX125 division and moved directly into the EMX250 class, and for all that he has done in the sport of motocross, if you are new to this game then you would automatically assume that he won that title before moving into MX2, right? Wrong!

At fourteen years old, the ‘84’ was upstaged by the bigger, taller, stronger and faster Frenchman, Christophe Charlier, who took 17 out of 28 race wins to Herlings’ eight. Both riders became factory riders the

following year, Charlier with Monster Energy Yamaha (Gariboldi) with Herlings switching from the Jacky Martens satellite JM Racing KTM to the Red Bull factory team.

In the first three rounds of the 2010 MX2 World Championship, Herlings’ race scores were 6-3, 6-2, 1-1 with his overall finishes being 4-3-1. When he won his first GP at only his third attempt at Valkenswaard, we knew we were looking at someone special, even at just fifteen years old.

The year before in 2009, motocross unearthed some exceptional talent in the form of Ken Roczen. The ‘94’ raced the opening EMX250 round at Hawkstone Park, England, where his 5-4 finished left him off the podium, but after winning the third round at Cortelha in Portugal (1-2), we never saw him in EMX again.

Kenny, like Jeffrey, wasn’t one to hang around, and as soon as the German turned fifteen years old, he was gone; moved up to MX2 quicker than you could say Happy Birthday just one week after his Portuguese EMX success. Despite missing the first four rounds because he was too young, Roczen still ended the series 5th overall in the championship. In just his second GP in Catalunya, he secured a 2nd place finish in the second race of the day, and in his fifth GP appearance at home in Germany, his 2-2 meant

he secured his first ever GP victory, becoming the youngest ever MX2 winner.

Since then, we have had good years and lean years when it comes to the best riders from EMX250 moving up to MX2. Thomas Kjer Olsen (TKO) dominated the EMX250 championship in 2016, landing on the podium at the nine rounds he competed in – he opted out of the final round as he had already wrapped up the title in favour of racing as a wildcard in MX2. TKO became a factory rider at Rockstar Energy Husqvarna, where he placed 3rd overall in the championship twice, and 2nd overall once, all in consecutive years in 2017, ’18, ’19. Before his career was cut short due to injury, the Dane had amassed 28 podiums, five of which were celebrated from the top step.

TKO’s successor to the throne in 2017 was Morgan

TALENT WILL ONLY GET YOU SO FAR, BUT IF YOU BELIEVE IN YOURSELF AND BACK YOURSELF 100%, THEN YOU ARE ALREADY QUITE FAR ALONG THE PATH TO ACHIEVING WHAT YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE.

Lesiardo, but with just three race wins from eighteen, and just four podiums from the nine rounds, including just one victory, it was clear that the Italian’s journey into MX2 would not exactly be smooth sailing, and it wasn’t! In his first MX2 season Morgan scored just 47 points and ended the year in 31st place.

In recent history, riders that have won in the EMX divisions who are now in factory teams include the likes of Thibault Benistant, who won both the EMX125 and EMX250 titles before moving into MX2. His rival throughout was Mattia Guadagnini. When Benistant won the EMX125 title in 2019, ‘Guada’ placed 2nd, and when Benistant moved into EMX250 the following year, the Italian remained in the class to chase his dream of winning the title. It worked! The two rivals would meet again in EMX250 in 2020, and immediately picked up from where they left off, battling ferociously all the way to the final round, where once again, Benistant took the title.

All of Benistant’s success had been with Yamaha and with the Frenchman now decorated with two EMX titles, the new champ was promoted to the Monster Energy Factory Yamaha MX2 team. As for Guadagnini, his success came with Husqvarna, which by now was under the KTM group of companies, and as a result, found himself landing at Red Bull KTM with the De Carli team.

When their debut season kicked off, it was Guadagnini who tasted success early, and by the second round had already landed on the podium, placing 2nd overall at Matterley Basin in England, which also saw him take his first MX2 race win. A week later, he was a GP winner at Maggiora, Italy, where he also, came away with the red plate. With five podiums from the first nine rounds, for a while, Guada was considered a serious contender for the title, but eventually ended the year 4th overall. By comparison, Benistant had landed on the podium just once on his way to 8th overall.

CLASS OF 2025

In 2024, the top three riders in the EMX250 championship were Mathis Valin, Valerio Lata and Cas Valk, and between them, they won every single race

on offer. In short, nobody else really got a look in. Their podium stats were also pretty impressive:

Valin: 4 x 1st – 2 x 2nd – 3 x 3rd (9 podiums from 11 rounds)

Lata: 4 x 1st – 3 x 2nd – 2 x 3rd (9 podiums from 11 rounds)

Valk: 2 x 1st – 2 x 2nd – 4 x 3rd (8 podiums from 11 rounds)

With this kind of consistency, of course, you are going to get noticed. Valin, who was at BUD Racing Kawasaki, caught the eye of Kawasaki Racing Team who had already stated there would be a factory MX2

project in 2025, and when all was said and done, their preferred rider was the new EMX250 Champ, Valin.

In a similar way, Honda HRC announced it was bolstering its MX2 programme and with most of the top riders in MX2 already signed, Lata got the call to join the Gariboldi set-up alongside Ferruccio Zanchi and Tim Gajser in MXGP. Cas Valk may not have landed a factory ride, but the recently re-formed Van Venrooy team, now in KTM colours, came with factory support with the added bonus being it was a Dutch-based team.

In the pre-season races all riders impressed, and when it came to the first grand prix of the season in Argentina, there were signs that the class of 2024 would be comfortable in their new surroundings.

Valin struck first with 5th in the Qualifying Race, but in the first race, it was Valk who came away with an impressive 3rd place finish, and after 13th in race two, the Dutchman was placed 6th overall in the standings. In fact, 6th overall in each of the first three rounds was an impressive start for Valk. From the first six rounds, the ‘172’ never placed lower than 9th overall, with his best result being 5th overall in Trentino, round five. Since then, one or two issues have surfaced which have seen him place outside of the top ten at the last five rounds (up to Matterley), so as we move into the second half of the season, Valk and Venrooy will be hoping to elevate themselves from 9th in the standings, and try to re-gain the kind of form that had them on cloud nine in those first few rounds.

Valk will draw confidence form the fact he is a former EMX125 champion, so he knows how to win races and take overall victories. Okay, MX2 is a little different in that maybe having a factory bike makes a difference, but given the right track and the right conditions, there is still every reason to believe that a podium at least, is a very real possibility.

As for Valerio Lata, this kid has an impressive list of amateur credentials which has seen him win the 2019 85cc FIM Junior World Championship as well as the 2021 EMX125 championship, and as a wildcard at his home GP in Italy in 2024, he even managed to sneak onto the 3rd step of the podium, with 5-3 scores. The first half of this season has seen him place more often than not, around the top ten mark, with his first six rounds being 9-12-11-12-10-8 overall. However, the young ‘18’ is beginning to look more comfortable; his Time Practice sessions are solid and during the first eleven rounds, Lata has yet to register a time outside the top ten, meaning a good gate pick for all of the qualifying races so far. Speaking of which, of the three newcomers, Lata is the only rider to collect a race win in MX2 in 2025 after winning the qualifying race in Germany, and had he not fallen in the latter stages of the second race, could have rounded out the weekend on the podium in 3rd. Still, 4th overall has been his best result of the season so far, and as we head to Great Britain, he is still the best placed of the three riders in 8th, just twelve points ahead of Valk.

In 2023, Matthis Valin finished 2nd overall in the EMX125 Championship behind Latvia’s Janis Reisulis, who currently leads the EMX250 series in 2025 after missing 2024 through injury. At the FIM Junior World Championship though, it was Valin who took the win, before going on to win the EMX250 title last year. In his rookie season though, the French starlet has had to contend with injury, and after missing three rounds in Sardinia, Trentino and Switzerland, at a time when we had three GP’s in a row, finds himself in 16th. However, the signs are there that the ‘317’ will impress in the second half of the season, where so far, he has collected a couple of 4th and 5th place finishes in race-trim, as well as finishing 4th overall in the MXGP of Portugal. It’s also worth pointing out that in Germany,

round ten, where he qualified 5th, Valin’s weekend was over before it began after a huge start-straight crash in the first race meant he did not re-join the race, or even start race two, so when you take his injury situation into consideration, it’s already been a difficult debut season for the reigning EMX250 champion.

A couple of things ring true in all of this, and they are that it’s not always about the bike, as we have seen from Cas Valk’s impressive 3rd in race one in Argentina, and solid start to the season where he went 6-6-6-9-59 in his first six rounds. However, the bike can help as we have seen from Valin’s Time Practice ‘pole position’ in Cozar (muddy conditions), or Lata’s qualifying race win in Germany. But how much of that is also down to talent? Quite a bit, no doubt.

What’s also true is this: in order to get the best of every situation, you have to stay out of trouble, remain injury free and have a bike and team which can provide reliability every step of the way. With all three of these riders, we have seen injury, technical issues and mistakes on track which have had an impact on their championship standing. You have to be in it, to win it!

Finally, BELIEF! If you don’t believe in yourself or your ability, then in this sport, you will get found out. Talent will only get you so far, but if you believe in yourself and back yourself 100%, then you are already quite far along the path to achieving what you want to achieve. And what we have seen so far from each of these three riders, is that all of them believe in themselves, and over the next couple of years, we could see them fighting for world titles. And wouldn’t that be something?

2025 Championship so far

8th Valerio LATA – 265 points

Qualifying: 11 Starts – 6 Top Ten – 2 Top Five – 1 Win, Germany (QR Points: 30)

Main Races: 22 Starts – 11 Top Ten – 4 Top Five – Best result, Race One, France 3rd

Overall: 6 Top Ten – 2 Top Five – Best overall, Germany, 4th

9th Cas VALK – 253 points

Qualifying: 11 Starts – 8 Top Ten – 1 Top Five – Best Result, Latvia, 4th (QR Points: 26)

Main Races: 22 Starts – 11 Top Ten – 3 Top Five – Best Result, Argentina Race 1, 3rd Overall: 6 Top Ten – 1 Top Five – Best overall, Trentino, 5th

16th Mathis VALIN – 160 points

Qualifying: 8 Starts – 4 Top Ten – 2 Top Five – Best Result, ARG / GER, 5th (QR Points: 17)

Main Races: 16 Starts – 9 Top Ten – 4 Top Five – Best Result, Argentina R2 / Latvia R1, 4th

Overall: 4 Top Ten – 1 Top Five – Best overall, Portugal, 4th

BEHIND THE HOSPITALITY: LIFE ON THE ROAD WITH JACK

by Jack Martino

THIS IS GIACOMO MARTINO, BUT YOU MAY KNOW ME AS “JACK”. I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN PASSIONATE ABOUT MOTORSPORTS BECAUSE MY PARENTS BROUGHT ME TO MANY EVENTS SINCE I WAS VERY LITTLE, FROM RALLY TO FORMULA 1 UNTIL MOTOCROSS, WHICH ENDED UP BEING THE DISCIPLINE THAT MADE ME THE MOST PASSIONATE.

I am a 39-year-old Italian living in Pinerolo, a small city in the province of Turin with my wife Giulia and my two kids Gabriele and Camilla. This is where we have our warehouse, and it is also the starting point of all our work travels.

Everything started back in 2013 when I started working in the MXGP Paddock together with my oldest friend Alessandro Galuzzi, who I have always called “Galu”. Our company “Jack & Galu” started with the small KOVO bar to provide a gathering place for the staff and public in the paddock during the weekend. All of this was possible thanks to our significant passion for this sport.

In 2017 I started collaborating with the MXGP Hospitality team of the Paddock Restaurant and the VIP Gold Skybox Restaurant, and in 2018 I was managing the whole thing. From that moment every year we have grown thanks to commitment, hard work and the great team of people that work with me.

As of today, the Kovo Bar is still thriving, we are managing multiple hospitalities and handling the MXGP-store o�cial merchandising as well as other merchandise on site at every event. During the season we have to organize the trips to each country, which

requires a lot of planning to make sure we avoid as many inconveniences as possible while driving thousands of km to reach each Grand Prix. Once we arrive at the venue, we build all our structures, from the kitchen to the hospitalities, where we will provide meals to hundreds of people each weekend.

A fundamental part of this job involves finding and selecting all the products and items that will be needed to prepare all the meals served during the racing weekend. At each event we know exactly where to find the food, and every racing weekend I personally make all the shopping, from fresh meat, fruit and vegetables, to snacks, bread, pasta, dairy products and more, in order to provide a wide variety of food and beverage at every service.

The main challenge I face is during the winter break at the end of each season, when it is time to find the right team and sta� for the season to come. I have a small circle of people working with me all year, then I have some who come back to work with us every season, but unfortunately, we cannot provide a full-time job to everyone, so every year I have to find new people willing to adapt to our dynamic environment and lifestyle.

Despite the challenges and contingencies of this job, I am still committed and enthusiastic about what I do. My ambition is to continue to grow and improve every day while providing the best service to all of our clients.

Buon Appetito!

CLEMENT DESALlE 2010 SUZUKI RMZ450

BELGIAN RACER CLEMENT DESALLE WILL GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS ONE OF THE BEST GRAND PRIX RIDERS IN HISTORY, COLLECTING NO FEWER THAN SIX INDIVIDUAL FIM MEDALS DURING HIS ILLUSTRIOUS CAREER. WITH TWENTY-THREE GRAND PRIX VICTORIES, THE WORLD TITLE MAY HAVE ELUDED HIM BUT, YOU CAN’T KNOCK THE CAREER OF A RIDER WHO FINISHED SECOND AND THIRD IN THE WORLD THREE TIMES EACH.

Especially when he was up against the might of Antonio Cairoli. In 2010, Desalle moved from the satellite LS Motors Honda team to the Factory Suzuki team, where he collected his first silver medal, and it’s his 2010 factory Suzuki RMZ450 which we will feature in this issue of MXGP Magazine.

CLEMENT DESALLE impressed everybody in 2009, by placing 3rd overall in the MX1 World Championship, even more so because the bike he was racing was pretty much about as standard as it got. The team he raced for, LS Motors Honda, was a satellite team, but if the Belgian was going to progress at world level, he and the team both knew that he could not remain a satellite rider for much longer.

However, the backstory here is that when Desalle first started out in GP’s in 2006, he was already racing Suzuki, where he remained until the end of 2008, but the plan was never to switch to Honda in 2009, as he explains:

‘In 2006, ‘07 and ‘08, I was always with Suzuki Europe, which was based in Germany, and during 2008, I had the opportunity where the idea was to move to the factory (Suzuki) bike in 2009, with the factory bike from 2008. In the end, Japan didn’t confirm that, they say no it’s not possible, so I come back in 2008 quite late with no bike, with no option for 2009. LS wanted me, so in the end we spoke, and at the end of the year that was the last opportunity for a ride.’

As far as that goes, the rest is history, 3rd overall in the 2009 championship, three race wins, a couple of GP wins and a total of seven podiums. No wonder he was on the shopping list of some of the factory teams, and no surprise that the deal was done remarkably early. But, for anyone coming in thinking Desalle was a free agent, that wasn’t exactly the case, as he points out:

‘I had a two-year LS contract, but Suzuki buy my contract back, because then Suzuki factory wanted to get me back straight away in 2010, so that was a little bit the story there. But, it was also good for LS because the opportunity of testing, of parts didn’t really increase, you know, didn’t really improve, so it was not so easy

to improve and go to the next step of performance of the bike for the second year there, you know?’

Clement’s first ride on his new factory Suzuki came at the end of 2009, towards the end of October, early November, and whilst his initial feeling was a good one, the test was done at a deep sand track where the WOW factor got lost in the deep sandy terrain. In short, he was pleased, but not overly impressed. A couple of days later though when the team tested on hard pack, Desalle’s opinion changed, as he recalls:

‘On the hard pack it was a really good feeling, the vibration of the bike was better (a lot less). Also, the Suzuki team was behind all the details, like, I see the details on the finish of the triple clamp, okay, that’s the detail that you see with the eye, but the feeling of all those details, the throttle and all this, brake pedal, the small detail where you can feel the extra grip there, so it was really nice. A really good experience to move from a satellite team to a factory team with that extra support and professionalism, of all the team behind, and all of the parts as well.’

As he points out, one of the biggest differences between a private team and a factory team is budget, and with that, comes an array of parts that you never thought existed, as well as the quantity of parts you

could only ever dream of, so it comes as no surprise that there were quite a few options to go through, before finally saying ‘this is my bike!’ Clement’s mechanic in 2010 was Luc Piccart, who says Clement knew exactly what he wanted, and so on that basis, could be very particular when it came to the finer details of bike set-up, but not necessarily in a bad way.

Whilst the bike of Desalle and his teammate Steve Ramon were similar in that they shared the same ‘base’ starting point, from there, Desalle was free to go in whichever direction he wanted to, as he points out:

‘I went in a direction where I had a lot of torque; the bike was really linear, but stronger on the bottom and torquey. I had much more option on the chassis (compared to standard) and the agility of the bike was so good. Actually, with the Suzuki, I really loved the package between the agility and stability of that bike, I could turn really tight and at the same time it was stable enough on the straights and in the fast corners.

‘With the chassis, we could change the linkage, the off-set, the triple clamps, and straightaway I changed a big thing for me; it was the off-set of the bike. It was important for me to put the bike exactly where I wanted to. I changed it from 22/23mm to 20mm which is quite big, and coming from Honda, I had to find my perfect position of triple clamps, and handlebar into the triple clamps, so this we had to adjust quite a lot because I am sensitive to this.’

The chassis of Desalle’s RMZ450 was standard, as was the swingarm, but as for the rest of the bike, it was ‘trick-as’ and littered with factory unobtainium. The factory linkage also came with a factory ratio, whilst the subframe and airbox were made from carbon. The bike glistened with titanium nuts and bolts, where possible, which when you look, was most of the motorcycle, including the footpegs and brake pedal. The rims were Excel, which were married to factory hubs, and the bike was suspended by factory KYB suspension, the forks being 48mm. The triple clamps and yokes were also factory, with Desalle opting for a Renthal 697 bend of handlebar.

The engine was a full factory unit filled with various special, lightweight material, as well a factory piston and cams. The clutch was from Hinson and the exhaust system was a full titanium item from Akrapovic. The brakes were Nissin and married to a 270mm front disc and 240mm rear disc.

At the opening round in Bulgaria, Desalle secured his first Suzuki podium with third overall after taking 3-5 results. At round two in Italy at Mantova, he came away with his first race win for the team, and with 4th in the second race, it secured him 2nd overall. But how important was that first race win, now that he was a factory rider?

‘Very important, because it confirmed what I did the year before. Also, during the tests in the winter I had a confirmation that I could win with that bike, so it was mega important to have that feeling for myself. It was one step on the new adventure of being a factory rider on a factory bike in a factory team.’

Round three at Valkenswaard, The Netherlands, ended in the first race with a shoulder injury, and he was forced to withdraw from the second race. Going into that round, Desalle sat 3rd in the points, just nine points off of Cairoli, who led. A double-zero meant he had dropped to 6th and 59 points off the lead. But how serious was the injury, and could he even line up in Portugal two weeks later? There were some major concerns from everyone. Desalle sheds some light on the situation:

‘I felt maybe my season was, maybe not over for the whole season but maybe for a long time, and it was my first, say, ‘big’ injury, but after two weeks it wasn’t so big because the shoulder was (put) back in quite quickly, and I could finish the year and do exercise more precise on the shoulder.

‘Anyway, I decided to go to Portugal two weeks later, even if it was complicated. I went to the race, the shoulder brace arrived last minute, good tape. Portugal was wet in the beginning of the weekend, I go just step by step and then finish two times second, and win the GP. It was tough, because of all those different emotions during the two weeks.’

Whilst there were two more GP wins during the season in Latvia (1-2) and at the final round in Italy at Fermo (4-1) where Cairoli wasn’t present – irrelevant since Desalle was carrying another injury from the week before in Lierop – the win in Portugal was probably the standout moment for Desalle, who says:

‘Portugal was a good one because it was my first GP win with Suzuki, so again it was another step, coming from my injury two weeks before, where I was thinking my overall season will not be good. So, this feeling of winning the GP, the first with Suzuki, plus the confirmation that I can still ride on a good level and my season is not over; and I can still fight for the championship overall, that was the good moment.

‘Latvia was a really good win too, and it was a strong one, and then the overall 2nd place in the championship because again, it was another step of improvement. But if I have to pick, then yes, the first GP win with Suzuki was good.’

Desalle’s career as a factory Suzuki rider spanned from 2010 – 2015 and during that time he took 28 Race Wins, won 17 GP’s and stood on the podium no fewer than 56 times. He also placed 2nd in the championship three times, and 2nd overall, twice. He was also a member of Team Belgium who won the 2013 Motocross of Nations in Germany.

ROB THE FISH HERrING

the 1986 Motocross of Nations at Maggiora, Italy. His results were not that great (17 and 7 in the races) but at the end of the day he was with Jeremy Whatley and Dave Thorpe on the podium between teams USA and Italy.

Born on 7th January 1969 at Brackley, Northants, Rob spent his youth in South Africa where his parents moved. He was nine years old when he started racing fully supported by his father, and did his first race at Spa Water on a hard pack South African track. When he went back to UK in 1986, he was seventeen years old and had some strong racing experience even if he had never raced on European soil.

He did an impressive debut in Europe, as he had a flair and style nobody had seen

He entered the 250cc GP’s in 1987, scoring a few points in Belgium, Portugal and Great Britain with a seventh as best result when the series went to Jastrebarsko, Yugoslavia. Missing the two previous rounds, he surprised everyone when he dominated both races at the age of 18, and won the GP ahead of Nilsson, Rinaldi, Fanton and Geboers. He confirmed his speed and potential with three other GP podiums that year, with a second in Sweden, a third in France and Argentina. Missing three of the first GP’s in 1988, he again did a strong come back when he won the Belgian GP and scored a second position later in Yugoslavia. That year he only finished half of the races, but also won three motos and ended the season with a great performance at the Motocross of Nations. At Villars sous Ecot, France, he beat legendary Ricky Johnson and finished runner up behind Ron Lechien in the

IN

THE MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, CLIMBING

before, his raw speed was matched with a flamboyant riding style that captivated the country and helped him to win the 1986 Manchester Supercross ahead of Jeff Ward himself! Later that season he did his first GP appearance at Killinchy (Ireland) and even if he didn’t score any point, he was later selected in the British team to race

With some more injuries Rob had some more tough seasons and never enjoyed more podiums apart a third at the 1993 GP of Hungary, but he never gave up and had one of his best ever weekend at the 1994 MX of Nations. For his seventh selection in the team, he raced the 250cc class alongside Paul Malin and Kurt Nicoll, and that day the trio stopped the series of Great Ron 250/500 race.

Moving to Suzuki in 1989 he didn’t have the best GP season as injuries, including a broken bone in the neck, stopped him after the French GP where he won one heat to finish second overall. The following two seasons were similar with inconsistent results in the World Championship but great results in Great Britain where he won several 125cc and 250cc titles. In 1992 he did one of his best seasons with two other British titles, a sixth overall in the 250cc World Championship with a podium in Sweden and an overall GP win in Finland, and a third position with team GB at the MX of Nations.

thirteen consecutive wins for team USA! It was the last main success for Rob who continued to race GP’s but never got other top results before he retired in 2000 with a broken wrist. But his life was linked to motorcycles, and later he entered a new career as he worked as a stuntman in the film industry, working in films such as

Casino Royale, the Bourne Ultimatum or the Quantum of Solace. He finally reached his dream, as one of his heroes when he was young was Evel Knievel, the famous American stunt performer and entertainer.

Text & photos: Pascal Haudyquert