There is a lot of excitement surrounding the eleventh round of the FIM #motocross World Championship which will take place this weekend - June 24th and 25th - at a venue that is new to the #mxgp calendar, #ottobiano, Italy. Monster Energy #yamaha Factory Racing's #romainfebvre is gearing up with hopes of landing on the podium for the first time this season while his teammate, #jeremyvanhorebeek, will be watching from afar, unable to compete due to a broken index finger. The Wilvo #yamaha Official #mxgp squad will be out in full force with the highly anticipated return of their 'sand-master' #shaunsimpson, while #arnaudtonus looks to carry in that same momentum that landed him on pole in Russia.
'You're only as good as your last race' is a phrase that is often thrown around the #motocross paddock, and for #romainfebvre, that was a near win. With a 12 second lead and only two laps to go in the final race at the #mxgp of Russia 10 days ago, Febvre had it all but won. Unfortunately, the Frenchman connected with a rider that was one lap down and crashed, handing the lead to the eventual Grand Prix winner Clement Desalle. He finished second in that particular race and after a crash in the extremely muddy conditions in Race 1, where he managed to salvage eleventh, he finished sixth overall.
Despite the overall result, Febvre set the fastest lap-time in the most recent race of the season by more than 2,4 seconds. That is a whopping margin. He has proven his potential and it's something he hopes to deliver on this weekend.
Wilvo #yamaha Official MXGP's #arnaudtonus was also running a fever-pitch pace in Russia where he won his maiden Qualifying Race. The Swiss rider definitely favors a hard and slick surface - which is in complete contrast to the loam of #ottobiano - although he has already demonstrated his ability to run the pace in the sand this year. He set the fastest lap in Timed Training at the #mxgp of Europe in Valkenswaard, The Netherlands, one of the trickiest sand tracks on the calendar, back in April.
As a proven grand prix winner, with one GP win this year - at round two in Indonesia - #shaunsimpson will make his return after a six-week hiatus. The Scotsman had the third metacarpal in his right hand plated after he broke it at the seventh round of the FIM #motocross World Championship in Latvia. He has since missed three rounds yet remains fourteenth in the championship chase.
Ottobiano is a tight and compact sand circuit located 45km South West of the Italian Capital, Milan. It has never hosted a round of the FIM #motocross World Championship before but is a popular testing venue for most of the Official Approved Teams and riders. This weekend it will make its #mxgp and MX2 debut and in addition it will also be hosting the fourth and sixth rounds of the EMX125 and EMX250 championships.
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