Romain Febvre and the Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP, who have already enjoyed a highly-successful partnership in the FIM MXGP World Championship since 2020, will continue together for two more years. Words: Kawasaki MXGP
Since he joined Kawasaki five years ago Romain has been the most successful rider in the long history of the Kawasaki Racing Team in the MXGP class, earning silver medals in both 2021 and 2023. Last season was one of major success as the Frenchman, who will turn thirty-three years of age in December, won six GPs and mounted the podium at thirteen rounds of the series. He started 2024 with the same dynamism, collecting six podiums from the first seven rounds until a thumb injury during the French GP forced him to miss several rounds and to surrender the battle for the world title. Already back on the podium last weekend at Lommel in Belgium in just his second race since his comeback, Romain has once again showed how competitive he remains on the KX450-SR that he has developed together with the KRT team and the Kawasaki engineers. Thanks to this successful cooperation he will enter the 2025 and 2026 MXGP World Championships with high goals and his legendary fighting spirit.
Romain Febvre: “I’m delighted to continue for two more years with Kawasaki; we know each other really well and I’m confident that we will again fight for the title, as we did this year until the injury which forced me to miss several rounds. Injuries can sometimes impact your motivation, but I showed in both 2022 and this year that I can fight for wins and podiums when I come back. For sure I might not have continued my career if I was not racing at the front of the pack, but my motivation is still there as I started racing motocross later than most of my rivals. We have signed a new two-year agreement; for me that was important as I want to be fully-focused on racing next season. Everyone knows how comfortable I am on the KX450-SR, and how I share the same goals with the team, so let’s go for two more campaigns.”
Shigemi Tanaka, General Manager, Marketing & Sales Division, Kawasaki Motors, Ltd.: “For Kawasaki and our off-road retail and racing ambitions, this is great news. Romain knows and fully understands the race-winning potential of KX machinery and we are delighted that we will continue to have him not just at the start gate and on the podium, but also as a key part of the development of current and future KX models that will appear in Kawasaki dealerships.”
Antti Pyrhönen (KRT team manager): “We are really proud to continue the cooperation with Romain; he is extremely important for us. Romain has already been with the team longer than any other rider; he knows the team, he knows the bike, and he represents the values of Kawasaki in the best possible way. He is hard-working and lets the results do the talking. This is his character; he is a real fighter and we could not be happier that he will stay two more years with the team. Age is not a factor; indeed I feel Romain is forever young. He still has an incredibly high motivation and his performances have been getting better and better over the years; we saw this at the start of the season when he scored six podiums in the first seven GPs, That was the best start of his entire career and there is no doubt that he has the same hunger as ever.”
Steve Guttridge (Race Planning Manager, Kawasaki Motors Europe): “Romain now has a long history with Kawasaki; he is truly a part of the family. For him to stay with us shows the commitment on both sides to continue the mission to win the World Championship. He has always told me that he loves the bike; he gels with the Kawasaki and for him the bike is most important. That is the common denominator to achieve our common target of winning the MXGP World Championship.”
Image: Kawasaki MXGP
