By winning in Lugo at the weekend, Romain Febvre clinched his second victory of the season after opening his account in Sardinia. While he comfortably won the first moto by leading from start to finish, the French rider crashed early in the second moto despite once again nailing the holeshot. Febvre got going again and managed to fight back to second place, which was enough to secure the overall win. He also extended his championship lead by six points over Lucas Coenen, who had previously won in both Switzerland and Portugal.
“I got the holeshot in the second moto, but I crashed on the second lap,” explained Romain Febvre after his victory in Lugo. “There was a really tricky section after a tabletop landing, with a lot of mud, ruts, and holes. I wanted to take one of the inside ruts, but I jumped slightly too far to the side and I’m not really sure… I had it in my head to go for one of those ruts. I tried to change my line at the last second, but it was too late, and that’s when I went down. It was my fault. It took me a while to pick the bike up because I couldn’t get a good grip on it. I was pretty far back when I got going again, but I found some good lines to make passes and came back to second place. It was a good race in the end.”
Classified seventh after his early mistake, Febvre saw the day’s overall win slipping from his grasp in favour of Lucas Coenen. But the Frenchman quickly climbed back to fifth behind Jeremy Seewer. Once past the Ducati rider, Romain also went on to overtake Ruben Fernandez and Calvin Vlaanderen. With a 1-2 finish beating Coenen’s 4-1, it was the French rider that closed out the GP of Lugo.
“Early in the race, I’m not really sure why, but I thought Maxime Renaux was leading and that Lucas was second,” Romain continued. “I told myself the overall win was gone. Then my mechanic showed me the pit board, and I realized Maxime wasn’t in front. It’s funny because when I’m riding – sometimes – I can really think about all kinds of stuff at once. From that point on, I knew Lucas was ahead, with Calvin and Ruben. I was fourth, and the overall was still in play. I also knew I needed to finish at least third to win the GP. Like I said, I found some good lines and made it back to second; I’m really happy with how the day went.”
After two wet GP’s in Portugal and Spain, the MXGP World Championship takes a one-week break before heading to Ernée for the French Grand Prix, round nine of the 2025 season. A GP that means a lot to Romain, who will race in front of his home crowd for the second time this year—red plate in hand.
“I’m looking forward to Ernée. Apparently, they’ve made a few changes to the track. It’s always cool to go there, and always exciting to see what’s new. Racing in front of the French fans is always something special too. I hope we get good weather, because so far we’ve only had one dry Grand Prix out of eight… In these kinds of conditions, you also need a bit of luck because if you crash and put your hands on the ground, that’s it. I really want a dry GP, so I’m hoping the weather plays ball. I’m going to wear gear in the colours of France, and I also asked the Japanese to do a little something on the bike for the occasion—it’ll be a little surprise for France.”
With Tim Gajser out of action, Romain Febvre still faces a serious challenger: Lucas Coenen. A rookie in the premier class this year, the young De Carli KTM rider has quickly established himself as a title contender. He secured his first MXGP win in Switzerland and repeated the feat in Portugal two weeks later. A veteran, a rookie, and one shared goal: the MXGP world title.
“When you’re a rookie, you don’t really care about much,” admitted Romain as he looked back on his early days in MXGP. “The results don’t really matter—you’ve got everything to learn. I think in my first MXGP season, I was kind of in the same situation as Lucas. You’ve got nothing to prove, you just do what you can. If it’s a podium, great. If it’s a win, even better. Lucas has nothing to lose, and I think he’s already shown what he’s capable of—it’s a good thing for him. I’ve got the experience. In some ways, it’s easier to manage a season with experience, not just individual races. I’m also honest with myself—I know what I need to work on and what I can leave alone. I know what to look out for. With experience, you’re better at judging what to do in general, and during the races too.”
Romain Febvre hadn’t held the red plate since 2021, but that year he only had a slim lead over Jeffrey Herlings and Tim Gajser—and the title ultimately slipped away at the final GP of the season. This time, the Frenchman is not only leading the championship but also has a 49-point advantage over his closest rival. A scenario that hasn’t happened since 2015—the year of Febvre’s first and only premier class world title.
“I’m definitely in a good position, I won’t lie,” Romain concluded. “But as we saw with Tim [Gajser], and as we’ve seen many times before, anything can happen. We’re in a tough sport, and injuries are part of it. You can crash in training or during a race. Even if you’re being careful, it can happen fast. In the second moto, I crashed even though I wasn’t taking any risks. It happened so quickly, even though I was leading and riding safe. I could have been injured—it’s hard to avoid injuries in this sport. So yes, I’m in a good position in the championship, but we’re not even halfway through the season yet. Nothing’s decided until the title is awarded. I’m trying to stay level-headed. I know what I need to work on—like my starts, for example. But yeah, for now, things are going really well.”
