He was second in the 2023 MXGP World Championship. In 2024, he placed fifth in the MXGP World Championship. In 2025, he won the MXGP World Championship.
Straight out of Epinal, France, 34-year-old Romain Febvre has been a championship proven stalwart of the MXGP World War.
In fact, the Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP pilot put an exclamation mark on his MXGP career by charging to his 11th podium of the 2026 season at the Darwin circuit in Northern Australia. The silver medal winner of the ’26 MXGP season, Febvre was pleased with what he achieved in the closing phase of the campaign.
“I gave my all and battled to the end,” explained Febvre. “It was close in China and again here but Jeffrey [Herlings] was taught to beat this year. It is never easy to defend the title so I am proud to take the silver medal for the third time in my career.”
The 2015 and 2025 MXGP World Championship winner, Febvre was also a member of Team France in the nation’s 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2023 Motocross of Nations victories. His career now virtually done and dusted, Febvre will be a member of Team France at the 2026 Monster Energy Motocross of Nations at the Circuit Raymond Demy in Ernee, France.
“So now I am just back from Australia. I came back yesterday,” explained Febvre this week. “Now I’m back at my place and I went and ride this week to prepare for the Motocross of Nations coming up in two weeks. Actually it’s still busy because the Motocross of Nations is coming up. Now the World Championship is over.
“The last two trips, China and Australia, were quite long, so it’s good to be back home now. Yeah, now the season is complete. It’s good. It’s out of the way. It’s just the Motocross of Nations now.”
Febvre ran up front all season long on the factory Kawasaki KX450-SR (Special Racer) and collected 11 podium finishes. A great run for the veteran, but no overall victories along the way.
“Yeah, it’s bad that I didn’t win any races, but that’s how it is,” reasoned the Frenchman. “I was really consistent, so that’s a good point. I also had some bad races at the beginning of the year, which maybe I could have won some motos in. I was not riding that great at the beginning. Also, a few times we faced some issues with the bike. I had three DNFs on the season, which is too much to fight for the championship. That was not good.
“When I look back, I think to still be second in the championship was good. Yeah, yeah, I am happy. Like I said, if you count everything with what happened with the DNFs, to still finish second in the championship was pretty good. Towards the end of the season, I was riding much better. Like in China, I could battle with Jeffrey. He’s really good at the moment, so I was pretty happy to end the season like this.”
Omnipotent throughout the entire 2026 MXGP World Championship, Honda’s Jeffrey Herlings strung together a sensational season.
“Jeffrey is always really strong at the end of the races,” pointed out Febvre. “The last five and ten minutes, he’s really strong. You have to learn to race with Jeffrey. At the beginning of the races he is trying to push and to make a gap. If you can stay with him for a few laps, he will slow down his pace a little bit and then you can close the gap.
“From there you have to try and pass him. Like I said, the first few laps he is trying to make a gap to get comfortable. But you also have to think about at the end of the races, Jeffrey will come back. He will come back to try to do something, so you have to sprint during the races. That’s how he is riding. When he was leading the championship quite comfortably, he was hard to beat him. And now with the Honda, he is also starting at the front. It was not like that with the KTM. Now it makes it even more difficult to beat him.”
Scoring his 11th podium of the 2026 season at the 1.540 m Darwin circuit in Australia, the result marked Febvre’s final ride on the Kawasaki Racing Team KX450-SR as he will move on to the Red Bull Ducati Factory MXGP Team for the 2027 MXGP World Championship season.
“Yeah, yeah, it’ has been seven years with Kawasaki, so yeah, seven years in a career is quite long,” reasoned Febvre. “Yeah, I’m happy with the season. I had some injuries and stuff, but most of the main part of the season was pretty consistent. I was also happy to work quite close with Kawasaki Japan, as well. That was a good experience. Now we have one more race to go at the Motocross of Nations and then it will be over.”
Next stop the Red Bull Ducati Factory MXGP and a seat on the KX50-SR.
“Yeah, I am. I’m really motivated to show what I can do with that bike,” declared Febvre. “It’s going to be a new team and a new bike, but also all the people at Ducati coming from roadmaking mainly. I believe the last two years they have been learning a lot from motocross and now I think they are even more ready to make some modifications on the bike to suit the rider more. That will be interesting. Like I said, I am quite motivated to show that I can also ride at the front with that bike. I’m also excited to work with some older people coming from road racing.
“For sure they can come up with many good things, as well. Yeah, we’ll see in one month how it’s going. I’m in contract with Kawasaki until the 31st of October. Let’s say at the beginning of November I will be able to ride with the bike. We are already planning some testing because they have many things to try. It’s goig to be quite a long winter to test, but that’s how it is. I’m quite excited to do that.”
Bring on the 2026 Motocross of Nations at the Circuit Raymond Demy in Ernee, France.
“Yeah, yeah, it’s in France,” he said. “When the Motocross of Nations is on home soil. It will be a great event, for sure. Like always, I think a lot of fans will come over there. When you are at home, everyone is expecting you to win. We’ll see. The plan is to go there and to win it. So we’ll see.”
