“Are they waiting for someone to die?” Febvre’s fury after Benistant’s crash, controversy in MXGP

A nasty crash, no red flag, and a trail of controversy: the reigning MXGP world champion has raised his voice.

Thibault Benistant’s crash in Race 1 of the French GP, with the rider left on the ground by the side of the track for a long time without the slightest hint of a red flag, sparked plenty of controversy, with reigning MXGP champion Romain Febvre particularly (and rightly) furious. We still don’t have official updates on the health of the Frenchman from Team Motoblouz Honda Motul SR, who is receiving many messages of support, but what is certain is that we witnessed an unfortunate situation—and it’s not even the first time this has happened in a World Championship, whether in road racing or off-road. Motorcycling is a beautiful and dangerous sport, but it seems we too often forget that there are real people under those helmets. Just a few days ago, Carmelo Ezpeleta commented on the disaster at the MotoGP Grand Prix of Catalunya and the third restart with “the show must go on.” Unfortunately, it seems the same principle applied to what we saw in MXGP at Lacapelle Marival.

“No one from the FIM is here, they have no respect for the riders.” The 2025 world champion doesn’t mince words. Yesterday he finished on the third step of the overall podium at his home round, but in the press conference his thoughts were with his compatriot who crashed in the first race and the situation that followed. “In the first race, on the opening lap, there was a bad crash, Thibault [Benistant] was on the ground, unconscious,” recounted the Kawasaki rider, as reported by GateDrop. “They showed yellow flags for at least five laps, then he was airlifted away.” The only thing known is that “He can’t feel one leg,” but again we still have no certain, official news.

What angers Febvre most is that only the yellow flag was shown, with the rider and medical staff at the trackside while riders were blasting past within inches. “So when will they put out the red flag? Are they waiting for someone to die?” the MXGP champion asks furiously. In Race 2 there was another crash at Turn 1, this time with more riders involved and with the red flag shown. Even so, the situation was chaotic— for a long time it wasn’t clear whether Vialle and Gajser could restart or not. “They didn’t know what to do, they were out of control,” Febvre continued, finally sounding almost resigned. “I could talk for ten minutes, but nothing will change,” he concluded bitterly.

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