Febvre and Duncan make 2019 Czech MXGP one to remember

Ankle surgery in the wake of the first round means that Romain is a distant figure in the chase for the title - Gajser is more than 170 points ahead of Febvre’s teammate, Jeremy Seewer (the Swiss was 3rd in the Czech Republic for his third consecutive trophy) – but is now firmly in the mix for the chequered flag in the meetings remaining in Belgium, Italy, Sweden, Turkey and China. Monster Energy Kemea Yamaha’s Gautier Paulin finished fourth overall and fared better than teammate Arnaud Tonus who rode to a 10-5 in spite of illness.

Loket was also notable for Tommy Searle’s debut as a Kawasaki Racing Team representative. The Brit will steer the factory bike for the rest of 2019 after the injuries to Clement Desalle and Julien Lieber and #100 showed top six speed at the first time of asking.

“I'm just so happy for myself and the whole team: everyone has been working so hard to achieve this success,” she said. “It was pretty much a perfect weekend as I even set fastest lap in practice, which is something I rarely do. I got two good starts and could immediately make good passes to lead every lap.”

“I've also got a good lead in the championship now so I just need to keep focused and bring it home,” she added. “It was really nice to race with the 2020 bike this weekend; I tested it a couple of weeks ago and after just ten minutes I knew it would be the bike I’d love racing with here. It’s a new engine so the power is a lot different, but it’s just so good and I could really feel the difference from my old bike."

Loket to Lommel: the two ‘L’s but with vastly different challenges. The marble hard-pack of the Czech course now gives way to the deep, draining sand of the Belgian Grand Prix and a test that could not be more of a contrast or more extreme.