The reigning MXGP World Champion lined up for his first race of the 2026 season at the Internationale de Pernes-les-Fontaines in France. The event was contested over three combined motos, with MXGP and MX2 riders sharing the same gate.
Track conditions proved highly unpredictable after intermittent rain began falling shortly after practice. Despite the challenging circumstances, Romain Febvre managed to win the first two motos of the day. In the third and final race—where only 12 riders chose to line up due to the deteriorating track—Febvre initially ran at the front, but a couple of mistakes dropped him to sixth, handing the overall victory to Maxime Renaux, who claimed the win with 2-2-1 scores.
Beyond the final result, the race marked the first competitive outing of the year for Febvre and Kawasaki KRT as they build toward the opening round of the MXGP World Championship, set to take place next month in Bariloche, Argentina.
“Overall it was a good day. The track was perfect for the first race and I had a nice duel with Lucas. I rode two good races, but then in the third one the track was really cut up and it was easy to make a mistake. I know my preparation is not completely advanced as the goal is to be ready at the opening GP next month, but today I saw that the speed is there, the starts are good, and we worked hard this winter so I can say that we are already on a good way.”
Pauls Jonass also walked away with positive feelings from his first race of the season, completing the podium with 3-4-2 results.
“The track was very heavy and the mud was extremely sticky in the second and third motos, but I rode three solid races,” said Jonass. “It was a shame about the small crash in the second moto, but finishing on the podium and feeling good on the bike is very encouraging. The starts were also positive, and I’m really looking forward to the next races. Today showed that the hard work we’ve done over the winter is paying off.”
Next stop: Hawkstone Park
The Kawasaki KRT team will now turn its attention to Hawkstone Park on Sunday, February 15, where they will line up against Jeffrey Herlings, Tom Vialle, and several other top names from the MXGP paddock.
