Romain Febvre of France clinched the 2015 Motocross World Championship series on Sunday taking the crown with two rounds remaining.
Febvre, a rookie who took third last year in the MX2 class, went (5-1) for second overall at the MXGP of The Netherlands. It was his 11th straight podium. He entered the round with a 101 point lead over Gautier Paulin, also of France, and needed to hold on to that points lead in order to clinch the title.
His victory puts an official end to the domination by Antonio Cairoli who had won six straight titles and was looking for his ninth entering the season. The much hyped 2015 Motocross World Championship series lost some of its muster once Ryan Villopoto's season came to an end after a crash in Round 4 and Cairoli's bid for a seventh straight title ended shortly after, also from injury. The Italian watched from the sidelines as Febvre clinch the Championship.
Febvre first landed on the podium in Round 6 at the MXGP of Spain and then went on to win 13 races and six overalls to clinch in overwhelming fashion. He now holds an insurmountable 102-point lead over Paulin who finished second in Moto 2 delaying what was likely an inevitable Championship by Febvre, who took fifth in Moto 1, for at least one more race. The win in Moto 2 sealed it for Febvre. Paulin took fourth in Moto 2 for fourth overall. Shaun Simpson, who raced a one-off a few weeks ago in the United States taking fourth overall at Unadilla in New York for the 2015 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship series, went (1-3) for first overall. He's in fourth-place in the MXGP standings.
The MX2 class is a dea heat between Tim Gajser who is in first place with 518 points, just 13 more than Pauls Joanass.
The MXGP of Leon, Round 17 of the series, is September 13 in Mexico. The series wraps up on September 20 at Glen Helen in Southern California.
2015 MXGP of The Netherlands Results
- Shaun Simpson (1-3)
- Romain Febvre (5-1)
- Glenn Coldenhoff (4-2)
- Gautier Paulin (2-4)
- Evgeny Bobryshev (3-5)
- Max Nagl (6-6)
- Jeremy Van Horebeek (7-7)
- Todd Waters (9-9)
- Dean Ferris (8-11)
- Jose Butron (14-8)
2015 MXGP Standings
- Romain Febvre (638)- 2015 MXGP Champion
- Gautier Paulin (536)
- Evgeny Bobryshev (499)
- Shaun Simpson (437)
- Antonio Cairoli (416)
- Max Nagl (414)
- Jeremy Van Horebeek (394)
- Glenn Coldenhoff (361)
- Clement Desalle (331)
- Todd Waters (324)
