Image: Supplied.

A podium result at the Mastercross Lacapelle Marival in France has reassured Romain Febvre as he plots a return to the MXGP World Championship after his 2019 campaign was shortened due to injury.

The Frenchman, who’s made the high-profile move to Monster Energy Kawasaki Factory Racing for 2020, broke his femur at the Uddevalla grand prix in August last year.

Febvre made his Kawasaki debut last month in Italy, where he scored 14-11 race results. The former world champion has gone onto make significant improvements at the French pre-season event, recording a 6-2 scorecard for third overall, finishing behind Jeremy Seewer (Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing) and Jeffrey Herlings (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing).

“It’s a great feeling to have such a strong day with good starts, good lap time and podium results,” said Febvre. “We have worked a lot with Jacky [Vimond] and I have made a lot of progress since Riola three weeks ago.

“I love my KX450-SR and we saw today that I got good starts even if this one here is really short to the first turn. I can say that tonight I am reassured – now we’ll go back home and practice on several different tracks to be ready for Matterley Basin.”

The opening round of the MXGP World Championship is scheduled for 1 March at Matterley Basin in Great Britain.