Factory Husqvarna rider Romain Febvre wins the prestigious Mettet Superbiker on the new Husqvarna FS 450.
Wilvo Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Romain Febvre made the international debut of Husqvarna’s new FS 450 supermoto machine a total success when he won the prestigious Mettet Superbiker event at the Circuit Jules Tacheny de Mettet in Mettet, Belgium, Sunday.
A Husqvarna factory-backed motocross racer in the FIM World Motocross Championship, Febvre went up against a field full of established supermoto specialists, but he was able to cope with the rainy conditions and claim the race win ahead ahead of countryman Thomas Chareyre and Italy’s Christian Ravaglia.
Febvre went quicker during each of Sunday’s three official timed practice sessions, topping the time sheets at the end of the final session with a 1 minute, 2.245 second fast lap. However, with the top five riders all finishing on the same second, the 29-lap main event promised to be close.
Febvre grabbed a crucial holeshot on the rain-soaked track, taking the lead and settling into a quick pace. Naturally, he was especially strong in the tricky off-road sections, and that allowed him to open up a gap on the field. Febvre would go on to set the fastest lap of the race on lap five, and he appeared to be cruising out front until lap eight, when he ran into trouble while trying to pass a lapped rider and crashed.
Febvre was able to remount quickly, but he lost the lead to FIM Supermoto World Champion Thomas Chareyre. Febvre caught back up to Chareyre, and the two Frenchman battled hard for the lead. Febvre managed to retake the lead as they passsed the midway point, and he put in a mistake-free over the remaining distance to claim a big win.
“The Mettet Superbiker is a very prestigious race so it’s a great honor to have actually won it for Husqvarna on their new FS 450,” Febvre said. “When we arrived to the circuit on Friday conditions were quite dry and I struggled to match the pace of the regular supermoto guys. But when it rained things began to work in my favor. I was having a lot of fun on the bike and was able to ride very strongly in the off road sections. I knew the start would be very important, and I managed to get the holeshot. I put in some quick laps and even set the fastest lap of the race on lap five to open an advantage. Unfortunately, I misjudged a backmarker on lap eight and slid off but I was quick to remount behind Chareyre in second. We battled for a couple of laps and then I got back in front to win the race. I’m so happy to have taken the victory and to do it on the FS 450 is just perfect.”
Several American riders also took part in the event. Former AMA Supermoto Champion and X Games Supermoto X Gold Medalist Jeff Ward was the highest finishing American, in 13th place.
28th Mettet Superbiker
Circuit Jules Tacheny de Mettet
Mettet, France
Results: October 5, 2014
Mettet Superbiker Main Event
1. Romain Febvre-France
2. Thomas Chareyre-France
3. Christian Ravaglia-Italy
4. Mauno Hermunen-Finland
5. Devon Vermeulen-Belgium
6. Jeremy Van Horebeek-Belgium
7. Andrea Occhini-Italy
8. Waren Bougard-France
9. Cedric Melotte-Belgium
10. David Baffeleuf-France
11. Jordan Collard-Belgium
12. Adrien Goguet-France
13. Jeff Ward-USA
14. Marcel van Drunen-Netherlands
15. Fredrik Eriksson-Sweden
16. Ken Svanberg-Sweden
17. Gage McAllister-USA
18. Daniel Fuhrbach-Germany
19. Monte Frank-USA
20. Jérôme Veys-Belgium
21. Eric Stump-USA
22. Sebastien Bouillon-Belgium
23. Michel Gregoire-Netherlands
24. Jarno Langlois-France
25. Micky Dymond-USA
26. Andreas Mikkelsen-Denmark
27. Romain Requier-Belgium
28. Nicolas Stampaert-Belgium
29. Nick Triest-Netherlands
30. Jean Michel Grange-France
31. Brandon Ward-USA
32. John Stambeck-Sweden
33. Romain Kaivers-Belgium
34. Marcus Aldén-Sweden
35. Michael Paul-Belgium
36. Johnny Lewis-USA
37. Marc Fraikin-Belgium
38. Kejmar Pavel-Czech Republic
39. Sylvain Bidart-France
40. Jeremy Coene-Belgium
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