Troy Dog
The 2024 racing season has been the year of the thumb injuries so far. First Cooper Webb, then his teammate Eli Tomac, and now Romain Febvre.
During the French GP on May 18-19 he injured his thumb during a practice session, but was still able to fight through the pain to podium the event, finishing second overall to Tim Gajser on the day.
Although he tried to race this past weekend in Germany, the pain was too much and he decided to pull out of the race and seek a medical examination.
The results of the x-ray showed torn ligaments, so Febvre will now be forced to take time off, get surgery, and begin the healing process.
Here is the official press release from Kawasaki:
Two weeks after defying a painful thumb injury to mount the podium at the French MXGP Romain Febvre was forced to withdraw from last weekend’s German MXGP. The Frenchman had further medical examinations this week and the diagnosis is that he will have to rest for several weeks to allow his injured thumb to recover.
With six podiums during the first seven rounds of the FIM MXGP Motocross World Championship Romain Febvre was clearly established as one of the four main protagonists of the series. The French round of the series was one of mixed emotions – a melange of joy and sadness; he raced in intense pain after injuring his thumb during a practice session but was able to win the Qualifying race and finish runner-up in the MXGP. The short break between the French and the German rounds was insufficient to permit a full recovery from the injury and, after finishing a brave third in the Qualifying race at Teutschenthal, he was forced to retire from the first GP moto as the pain became too intense.
Heading back home straight away Romain, accompanied by KRT team manager Antti Pyrhönen, visited a specialist this week to have further examinations. These confirmed that the thumb had ruptured/torn ligaments, which require no operation, and also inflammation and bruising to the bone. The healing process requires time and rest, thus forcing Romain to miss the up-coming GPs.
Romain Febvre: “It’s tough to have an injury at any time of the season but this is especially difficult. It’s not a bone injury as such and there is no way to “short-cut” the recovery time. It could happen to anyone; it’s just a shame it happened to me.”
Antti Pyrhonen (Kawasaki Racing Team manager): “We feel extremely sorry for Romain considering how well the season and the Championship battle were developing with six podiums in seven races and a clear contender for the title. When one remembers how his strongest part of the season only started from Indonesia last year we were awaiting a decisive battle until the end. Nevertheless we are very proud of our rider how bravely he tried to keep the dream alive, defying the injury to almost win the French GP and finish third in the Qualifying race in Germany. Jeremy Seewer will continue his consistent success and also wishes a rapid recovery to his teammate.”
Febvre is currently sitting third in the MXGP championship and had six podiums in the seven rounds so far.
Main Image: Courtesy of MXGP
