Source: Supplied.

Words: Adam Wheeler

MXGP World Champion Romain Febvre will miss the Valence International in France next weekend and is unlikely to compete until the first of 18 rounds in the 2016 FIM Motocross World Championship in Qatar on 27 February after needing stitches in his right arm today.

The 24-year-old Frenchman crashed exiting the first corner of the opening moto at Lamezia Terme for the second event of the Italian Championship and had to visit hospital to have the wound cleaned and closed.

Febvre, who claimed the top step of the podium in the first Italian outing in Sardinia last week, was charging after Honda’s Evgeny Bobryshev with Yamaha teammate Jeremy Van Horebeek in close company when he tumbled before the second turn of the compact Lamezia Terme layout.

“It was just too tight for Romain there after making a good start and he tangled and went down,” explained Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP team manager Mino Raspanti. “He needed some stitches and will probably not ride for ten days now but the situation could have been much worse.”

Van Horebeek won the overall in the International class and is now poised to lift the crown with the final meeting of three at Ottobiano next weekend.