A regional motocross champion during his youth career in his native Vosges, Romain enjoyed great success in supermoto in his mid-teens before returning to his first-love motocross. Quickly rising through the ranks in French adult motocross he sensationally clinching the FIM European EMX250 title in a nail-biting finale at the age of nineteen and by the age of twenty-two had scored his maiden GP victory in Brazil and secured the MX2 series bronze medal.
Entering the premier MXGP class the following year he made a solid start with a string of top six finishes before rising to the occasion at the eighth round of the series in his native France, held significantly at the glorious Villars-sous-Ecot track just one-hundred-and-thirty kilometres from his native Epinal, to take command of the series. He eventually recorded eight GP victories on his way to the 2015 MXGP world title, his dominance so emphatic that the rookie clinched the title three rounds from the end of the series.
His place in the hearts of the French fans was secured later that summer and in the two following years as he led his country to three consecutive victories in the Motocross of Nations, the annual team contest. Injuries cost him the opportunity to repeat his individual world title success in following seasons and a broken femur sustained in August 2019, when a lapped rider forced him to crash, prevented him representing his country that year but the opportunity to join the Kawasaki Racing Team the following season softened the psychological impact.
Immediate surgery and rehabilitation saw him back in training by the end of the year but the extreme demands of motocross are such that he decided mutually with his new KRT management that their future success together at the highest level would be more effectively secured if he delayed his racing comeback until his body was totally recovered. The wisdom of this decision was confirmed when he returned to racing in Latvia last summer after sitting out the first two rounds of the world series and immediately raced onto the podium.
A succession of top six placing, including a season total of six podiums and a first victory in Green at Mantova in Italy saw him ranked fourth in the final, narrowly missing a medal despite sitting out those first two rounds as his smooth and highly-effective riding style has blended impeccably with the outstanding power and handling of the KX450-SR.
Man and machine complement each other perfectly as Romain, a Monster Energy athlete throughout his MXGP career, enters his second season with Kawasaki and, with an undisturbed winter of preparation, both rider and team can look forward confidently to an even more successful future at the very top of the world rankings.