MX Diary: Pain in Spain for Febvre
By TMX Archives on 1st Jun 16
Yamaha got an almighty shock on Saturday when Romain Febvre toured slowly back to the paddock two laps into qualification but within the hour x-rays had revealed no broken bones for the world champion.
By late in the evening he was still unable to stretch his arm but next morning the champion posted 17th best time in warm-up – five seconds a lap slower than Gajser – and Yamaha confirmed that despite being in a lot of pain he would race.
"One of the most difficult races and weekends of my life,” posted Febvre on his Facebook page on Monday morning. "Thank you all for your support and the team for his great job.”
The incident which led to the injuries started as the Frenchman chased Shaun Simpson for fourth place. The Scot's KTM threw a chain and both Febvre and Gautier Paulin slammed into the back. All three initially avoided injury but, when Tony Cairoli came on the scene a few seconds later, the Italian tired to ride up the bank on the inside and ended up riding over Febvre's arm and shoulder as the Frenchman fell into his path.
Video evidence, in particular that from Cairoli's helmet camera, showed that the Italian was not to blame but French chat rooms were boiling and the former champ can probably expect a hostile welcome this weekend at St Jean D'Angely.
The wildest rumour mill on the internet in recent weeks has been a transfer of Febvre to HRC for big bucks. Fact is that the reigning MXGP world champion signed a new contract with Yamaha at the end of May last year with an option for 2017.
The Honda rumours are believed to have encouraged Yamaha to negotiate another new deal with their star to prevent a defection in 2018 so expect an announcement about a new multi-year deal with Yamaha in France this weekend.
