The French duo has been fast at the battlefield in these first two rounds of the season, but not fast enough to finish on the podium. Both earned top 3 positions in the first race in Argentina with Febvre and Renaux being second and third respectively. However, Febvre ended fourth overall and Renaux sixth.
Most recently in Sardegna, they offer great battles over the sand, but once again all the effort wasn´t enough to finish up the box. This time Maxime Renaux was fourth. Despite a consistent 4-3 in each race, the Monster Energy Yamaha rider came short by 2 points for third overall and 3 for second by the wins of Jorge Prado in race 1 and Glenn Coldenhoff in race 2.
“I am a bit frustrated to come so close to the podium but only finished fourth. But, looking at the bigger picture, we still put some good points on the board. I am still not 100% physically and still trying to build, so that will be the focus leaving here. I hope to be back at 100% soon and pushing for GP wins.” said Maxime.
Meanwhile, Romain Febvre had an eventful day with some mistakes in both motos. In the first one, he had a crash in the early stages while running in inside the top 5 and finished 11th. Then the Kawasaki rider took the holeshot in the final race. Febvre fought hard against Herlings and Renaux, but he couldn´t keep the pace dropping to fourth as he crossed the checkered flag.
“I got good starts in both races and that’s positive, but unfortunately I crashed early in the first race and after that I couldn’t find my rhythm so it was difficult to pass and gain positions. The second race was better; I got the holeshot and then was second, not far from Coldenhoff, but I wasn’t quite close enough to try to pass him. I must also say that physically I’m not yet where I would like to be due to the fact that I was one month off the bike, but it’s coming. I was happy with the bike; I could do what I wanted with it in this deep sand and now I have two more weeks to work before the next GP”.
Now Renaux and Febvre are third and fourth in the points standings, both with 78 points. Heading into Fraudfell (Switzerland) in two weeks, they have to be considered real threats for the rest of the field.
