2023 MXGP news

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings will not take part in the Grand Prix of the Netherlands – round sixteen of nineteen in 2023 MXGP – after an innocuous fall in Free Practice at Arnhem this morning led to a fracture of his right collarbone.

The luckless MXGP record-setter hit the sand at the new Dutch venue during the opening session. The relatively slow-speed tumble saw Herlings nursing his right collarbone and a fracture was quickly suspected. #84 was reluctant to disappoint his home fans but decided to seek further consultation with his personal doctor and had to withdraw from participation for the rest of the weekend. After more checks the breakage was confirmed.

The injury is the second for the popular racer this season in what has otherwise been a milestone campaign for the 28-year-old when he burst the seventeen-year-old record for the biggest amount of Grand Prix victories in the history of the sport.

Grands Prix in Turkey, Italy and Great Britain remain in September with the 76th Motocross of Nations at Ernee, France at the beginning of October.

The Big Van World MTX Kawsaki team made their return this weekend Arnhem for the penultimate round of the WMX World Championship.

Warmup and qualifying went well, it was mainly about conserving energy for what would be a demanding weekend in the sand. a 5th place in qualifying teed Courtney up for a nice inside position on the gate. For Race 1 Courtney made a really good jump, but unfortunately wheelied, hampering her start. She did well on lap one, and having moved into second she made a small mistake losing some valuable time. She pushed hard to come back and came within 2 seconds of 2nd place but was only able to secure 4th in race 1. 

In race 2, a better start saw Duncan in 2nd position pushing hard, but seemed to struggle with rhythm and slowly started slipping back positions to 8th with 9 minutes to go. She managed to snap back into 3x World Champion Courtney and showed the power of her Kawasaki 250, retaking all the positions she had lost to finish in 3rd, minimising points lost. 

The team will now prepare for the final WMX round in Turkey next weekend, where Courtney takes a 16 point lead.

Courtney Duncan
Qualifying – 5th
Race 1 – 4th
Race 2 – 3rd
Overall – 4th

Steve Dixon – Manager

« It was great to be back racing again, it’s been hard with Jack out with his broken ankle. Courtney has been back riding over here for a month with our Belgian mechanic George, who’s been brilliant and looked after Courtney well. She’s been training in sand while she’s here. We always knew this would be a difficult round which is why she pushed hard in the other rounds to build up a buffer. Some of these girls live and breathe sand so it was a case of damage limitation. We head to the last round with a 16-point lead over second and a 23-point lead over third. We will focus on Turkey and stick to our normal programme with the goal of bringing home the championship once more. Courtney is a 3x World Champion and it hasn’t been down to luck. We’ll take nothing for granted until the flag is waved – it should all go well but this is motocross after all, anything can happen.

It’ll be good to have Jack back this weekend where he will start training for the last few GP’s, especially our home GP at Matterley Basin.

I’d also like to thank all our loyal sponsors who know the ups and downs of motocross and support us through and through. »

Courtney Duncan – WMX

« It was a heavy weekend for sure, but we always know that coming to the sand and I feel I minimised the damage out there. It’s just a little out of the comfort zone coming to this stuff, and those girls who are brought up here are really comfortable in it, but I will continue to work on it for next year. 4-3 was just short of the podium which was disappointing, but most important is that I have a sixteen-point buffer going into Turkey. I always enjoy racing there so I’m looking to finish this off on a high. »

WMX Championship Standings
1st Courtney Duncan – 223

MX2 Championship Standings
24th Jack Chambers – 44

Romain Febvre signs for Kawasaki in MXGP for 2024

Kawasaki Motors Ltd. is pleased to confirm that Romain Febvre will remain with the KRT MXGP project next season for the fifth consecutive year.

Since he joined the team four years ago Romain Febvre has consistently delivered success, including a world championship silver medal in 2021, and is currently in outstanding form with six Grand Prix victories and one further podium from the most recent seven rounds of the world’s premier off-road series, the FIM MXGP Motocross World Championship. The 31 year old is currently second in the series points standings despite an unfortunate start collision during Qualifying for the Spanish GP in May which prevented him from contesting that round of the series.

Throughout the season the Frenchman and his 2023 KX450-SR have gelled into a formidable partnership thanks to the hard work and collaboration of rider and the staff of Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP in cooperation with engineers and staff in Japan at KMC. With the confirmation of Febvre for the coming season, all parties now have an even stronger base to prepare during the coming winter test period for another assault on the FIM MXGP Motocross World Championship.

Romain Febvre: “I’m delighted to continue with Kawasaki; that was of course my first choice! We worked hard last winter to develop the brand-new KX450-SR from the KX450 production machine and we have shown with all these podiums how competitive the bike is. I want to keep that package for next season. I feel so comfortable on the bike and we have already won six GPs together. I know the bike and the team members; we have a great connection together and to stay on the same bike with the same people is for sure the best way to prepare for another title assault next year.”

Shigemi Tanaka, General Manager of Marketing and Sales Division, KMC “Our desire to win is matched by a mission to continue to evolve and refine the Kawasaki KX range of motocross machines for customers worldwide. Romain has helped KRT and the Kawasaki factory engineers develop an awesome MXGP winning machine while exploring technology that transfers directly to machines that enthusiasts can purchase. The prospect of achieving the MXGP World Championship title is a tempting thought and the combination of KRT, KMC and Romain Febvre for 2024 has all the hallmarks of a winning team!”

Antti Pyrhonen, KRT Manager: “It’s great news to continue working with Romain; it was clear from both sides that we wanted to continue this successful cooperation. We are very happy with Romain’s performances and results, as well as his approach towards the team and racing. He always gives 100% effort at every training and testing session. At every race he represents exactly the values that we all love and share! From Romain’s side it’s very obvious that he is gelling with the bike, and with the team. We have already reached a very high level but we always keep our feet on the ground; we know that no year will be easy as we’re racing at the highest level of motocross so we’ll never stop working hard and, as always, need to be ready for any challenge.”

Steve Guttridge, KME Race Planning Manager: “Romain has played a major role in our Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP project over the past few seasons and is known to be fiercely competitive every time he gets behind the gate! Now already into the second year of the new factory team project plus this season’s flurry of GP wins is a clear result of the massively hard work from both the KMC and KRT staff who dedicate their full commitment to competing at the highest level with Romain, our technical partners and the all new KX450-SR bike for this season. We are delighted to continue on the MXGP journey with Romain and we hope Kawasaki fans will be treated to even greater success in 2024 as he pursues our dream to win the premier off-road World Championship.”

Interview : Kimi Raikkonen

KRT Team Principal Kimi Raikkonen attends every year selected rounds of the FIM Motocross World Championship, and we took the opportunity to have a chat with him recently. In the second year of operation with Kawasaki in the MXGP class, the team has already claimed numerous podium results including five GP wins in-a-row for team leader Romain Febvre.

Kimi, did you race motocross yourself and how did it start for you?
As a child, I started the same way a lot of kids did back in the day with an Italjet mini-bike. It was a 50cc auto that taught me about balance, machine attitude and throttle control. I suppose that is where my love of off-road and MX came from. I did not compete on two wheels so much as a youngster but later I did some club races on a KX250.
I’ve always liked the challenge that MX riding gives you and how physical it is. It’s such a great feeling and after riding you always feel you have really challenged yourself – in a really positive way.

Were you allowed to race motocross as a Formula One driver?
Sometimes I went riding in small club races but it was just for fun and I have a small track at home here with the kids. I did not race at a high level and I felt it was part of my fitness programme. I don’t know what any of my teams thought about it as I never mentioned it to them.

How did you start to build the team?
At first of course it was with completely different people but it wasn’t how I wanted; it was too messy. Then I spoke to Antti around 2010; in fact I almost hired him as a rider at first. Then half-a-year later, when I heard he was stopping, I called him again to come and run the team. Now the direction is very good. We always wanted to come back to Kawasaki; now is the second year together and we have a great relationship with the Japanese people and the whole Kawasaki group. Kawasaki is pushing a lot and it’s great to be part of the team and the group, helping them to develop the bike.

You must be delighted with the recent success; five wins-in-a-row.
Of course it’s nice to win and we have been working for this for many years. But sometimes results come, sometimes not, and injuries are part of the whole business; we always want to win but it’s a small difference between fifth and winning. It’s great to be winning, and we take it when it comes, but we know how easy it is for it to go the other way. Last year was tricky with Romain injured and of course it was also the first year for us with Kawasaki. Romain has been riding well and is now winning, and Mitch is getting stronger so we can hopefully get two bikes up-front before too long.

Are you satisfied with the development?
Yes; it’s been a busy couple of years, first changing the manufacturer last year and then taking on the new bike. It was almost like starting again from zero this year with the new bike, but we were prepared and we now have everything how we want. There are always things which can be improved even more but it needs to be a process that makes sense. You can do things very quickly but it needs to work well; it has to be 100% what you want. And the work is never-ending to make the riders even more satisfied.

Did you ride the new KX450 yourself?
We have a new baby this year so I’ve been busy with family and haven’t had the chance to ride the new bike myself yet, but hopefully I can find time to ride again this winter. In fact I have a KX250 and a KX450.
Franky speaking I was amazed how easy and good they are to ride. For sure, my riding has gone to the next level with the Kawasaki bikes I have.

Is the 450 good for you or do you prefer the 250 for everyday riding?
I don’t train or ride every day so I prefer 250 at my own track in Finland. Maybe the 450 for me is better suited to a bigger track and if I had more time to ride. It’s a serious bike and you have to approach it in a serious way.

(Interview and pictures : Kawasaki Racing)