The Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP of Romain Febvre, Pauls Jonass and Mathis Valin each raced to the podium in their first shake-down race of the 2026 season at Pernes-les-Fontaines in southern France.
After dry training sessions in the morning rain began to fall just after midday but it could not dampen the enthusiasm of the large crowd which had gathered to see their heroes, in particular reigning MXGP world champion Romain Febvre who was racing for the first time with the #1 plate on his Kawasaki KX450-SR. The Frenchman emerged victorious from a first moto duel with his leading adversary of the previous year’s world championship campaign and added another clear victory by nearly half a minute in the second moto as the track became heavier in the incessant rain. He was poised for a perfect day as he also led race three but conditions were becoming ever more brutal and two mistakes pushed him downfield; undaunted he recovered to sixth by the end of the moto to earn second place on the overall podium. Pauls Jonass had three solid rides for 3-4-2 moto finishes to join his KRT teammate on the podium.
Mathis Valin was dominant in the MX2 category, which ran concurrently with MXGP, to claim victory despite a DNF in race two after he had been knocked off by a 450 rider at the start. In morning Timed Training before the rain he had posted third-fastest time against the 450s aboard his KX250-SR and even a pit-stop for fresh goggles in the first moto could not prevent him from finishing sixth, nearly a minute ahead of the next 250, in the combined classification. Fifth overall in the final moto earnt him the top step of the podium in MX2.
Romain Febvre, MXGP: “Overall it was a good day. The track was perfect for the first race and I had a nice duel with Lucas. I rode two good races, but then in the third one the track was really cut up and it was easy to make a mistake. I know my preparation is not completely advanced as the goal is to be ready at the opening GP next month, but today I saw that the speed is there, the starts are good, and we worked hard this winter so I can say that we are already on a good way.”
Pauls Jonass, MXGP: “The track was really heavy and the mud super-sticky in the second and third motos but I had three good races; it was a pity about the small crash in the second race but I finished on the podium and I was really happy with the feeling on the bike. The starts were really positive too and I’m looking forward to the next races; we saw today that the hard work in the winter is paying off.”
Mathis Valin, MX2: “I had a really good feeling in the dry this morning to post third-fastest time amongst the 450s but then it started to rain in the afternoon. It’s never easy at the starts together with the 450s and I had to stop for fresh goggles in the first moto – there are many rocks here and you can’t risk racing without good vision – but I found a good rhythm to come back to sixth. At the second start I fell down when Tonus went on me and I pulled out after another crash to focus on the last moto. My start was good but it was getting more like enduro after raining all afternoon so my googles got filled in again. But our season has started and we can look forward to a successful year.”
Antti Pyrhönen (KRT MXGP team manager): “Today was a really good shake-down for the entire team to clear the cobwebs after the winter; you can train and test as much as you want but there is no substitute for racing, and here in France at these early-season races you have such an intense schedule, working under pressure and making it happen with free practice, timed training and three motos back-to-back. All three of our riders ended the day on the podium and had the opportunity to get acquainted with being at the start and learning how the bike feels in race conditions. From here we will continue our intense training schedule and race again next weekend at Hawkstone Park as we build towards the first GP in Argentina next month.”
Words and Images by Kawasaki EU
