In the opening race of the weekend, Febvre made up the top-four on the exit of turn-one as his teammate, Seewer, fell from fifth at turn-two. Capitalizing on Seewer's misfortune, Paulin and Tonus were able to move up into sixth and seventh respectively, as Febvre took advantage of an error by the new World Champion, Gajser, to move into third.
Built in a rock quarry, the circuit of Uddevalla presented a different challenge for the best in the world with the terrain being incredibly hard to read. The dirt was loose and stoney on the surface with a hard packed, rough and edgy clay base. Pushing the limit often ended in error, which made passing risky and hard. Tonus sat behind his teammate for 13-laps, while Febvre forced a pass on last years' champion Jeffrey Herlings for second position by powering his YZ450FM around the outside of the Dutchman on lap-12.
On lap-14, Paulin made a mistake and stalled his engine at the end of pit-lane which allowed Tonus and Jeremy Van Horebeek to pass before Herlings made a mistake and took an unfortunate Tonus down too.
As a rider that is known to excel on super slick and rocky circuits, Febvre upped the ante on the final lap of the race and put the challenge to the race leader Glenn Coldenhoff but came up short by a fraction of a second. Seewer put in a thrilling charge through the field to finish seventh behind Paulin in sixth as Tonus untangled his damaged bike from Herlings' and nursed it home for 12th.
With the track being tricky and hard to pass on, a holeshot in Race 2 could not have come at a better time. Febvre got off to a flying start onboard his YZ450FM and managed to lead the charge right from the first turn. As a rider that is not afraid to lay the power down and let the rear wheel slide, the French ace looked comfortable up front as he led the first 13-laps.
Like Febvre, Tonus relishes hard and slick surfaces. A top-three start in the final race of the weekend allowed the '4' to prove his speed, at least until he lost traction on a sweeping turn with 2-minutes left on the clock.
Following a decent start, Seewer did his best to keep the Race 1 winner at bay in a battle for fifth but opted to play it safe on the track that caught many good riders out including his teammate, Febvre, who fell heavily with 3-laps to go.
After a dramatic 30 minute plus 2-lap race duration, Seewer crossed the line fifth ahead of Tonus in sixth and Paulin in eighth. Febvre was taken to the hospital with a suspected broken left femur. An update on his condition will be shared when available.
The next round will be the 17th and penultimate round of the series. It will take place in Afyon, Turkey on the weekend of September 8th.
