Monster Energy Yamaha rider and 2015 MXGP champion Romain Febvre is one of the riders known as “The Big Four”. Along with defending MXGP and MX2 champions Tim Gajser and Jeffrey Herlings plus the eight-time world champion Antonio Cairoli, he will go into this year’s series as one of the big favourites to take home the title.

While 2016 might not have been as special as his 2015 title run, he was in contention for the title and very close in the points race with Tim Gajser until his accident at Matterley Basin—when he picked up a massive concussion.

He also rode well in the MXoN, scoring 1-4 results and showing he was back to his best. The Frenchman knows that this year is going to be tough, and he also realizes that consistency will win the MXGP championship.

Romain is teamed up with Jeremy vanHorebeek in 2017.
Romain is teamed up with Jeremy vanHorebeek in 2017.

Romain was kind enough to take our call and do this interview.

How did you feel your preseason preparation was?

It has been good preparation. We have been a month in Sardinia, like every year. Everything is fine. I am fit and ready to race. We also did the Italian championship at the beginning of the season. It wasn’t the best race for sure, because I crashed in the first round. Let’s say, I had some racing, but it wasn’t my best form. It was good to see all the riders there and to see if anyone had improved. I am feeling better now than I felt during the Italian championship. I look forward to getting to Qatar.

 

Everyone is talking about yourself, Jeffrey Herlings and Tim Gasjer, but in the pre-season it was all the older riders who won. Does that surprise you?

No, it doesn’t surprise me so much. I was feeling good in the first heat in Italy, I didn’t have a great result. I saw Antonio, training in Sardinia, because he was also there and for sure he was fast, like always. He won I think everything, but he is fast and he is ready. It isn’t about just about five races, this season is a lot of races, and I knew already he would be good. Jeffrey also when he is fit, he will be good and Tim also. I think we need to be consistent all season and try not to make any mistakes and score as many points as possible, just stay on the bike.

If Romain can stay healthy, he will be in the fight for the MXGP title again in '17.
If Romain can stay healthy, he will be in the fight for the MXGP title again in ’17.

If you walk away from Qatar with just a top five, is that ok?

Yes, for sure, that is fine. I hope I will be in the top five, or on the podium. Winning is special and I hope so, but there is more pressure than usual and if I get a podium it will be really good, but the objective is to get a top five.

 

I did some statistics for my website and I saw there are 21 guys from MXGP, who have won a GP and a total of 266 GPs. Those are amazing statistics.

Yes, this year is going to be a tough one. Like always now, but the best guys from MX2 are now in MXGP and its going to be interesting what guys like Jeffrey and [Max] Anstie can do. We will see, but like I said, at this moment everyone is fit and ready to race and no injured riders. Usually in the pre-season riders are injured, like Desalle and maybe some more. Now I think we will all be in Qatar and ready to race. It will be interesting.

 

The first two rounds, I have heard that the Indonesian track is very interesting, and Qatar we have that amazing facility, a night race and Qatar with its great hotels and weather. Do you get excited for the experience?

Yes, for sure. I always like Qatar, from the very first time we went there. Like you said the weather is good and its perfect for riding, not too hot during the day and not too cold at night. We always just go for four days, because there isn’t a lot to do there, but they do have nice hotels. I really like the facility, they have everything staying in the garage of the MotoGP. I like riding in the night. Indonesia I have never been there, but some people tell me it’s going to be more humid than Thailand, so that is going to be tough. But it’s like that for everyone, so that is ok.

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