The Grand Prix of Asia, in Semarang, ended in disappointment for The Monster Energy Kemea Yamaha MX2 Team. Jago Geerts finished only ninth (10+6), while Ben Watson had to withdraw due to a hand injury.
The Monster Energy Kemea Yamaha MX2 Team got off to a bad start at round 12 of the FIM world championship, as Ben Watson had to withdraw. “I had an X-ray on Thursday. It revealed that I did do further damage to my broken hand by riding too early, last weekend in Palembang. Unfortunately, that meant I had to sit out this Grand Prix.”
Crashes
Jago Geerts rode an almost perfect qualification race on Saturday, finishing second. Unfortunately, the Belgian could not take advantage of that decent starting position in both races on Sunday. After a mediocre start, Geerts was fighting for sixth position in the first race when he clipped the rear wheel of Boisrame, fell and finished tenth.
Same story in race 2. Geerts didn’t get a good jump out of the gate, but quickly moved up from 9th to 5th place. The Belgian looked more confident, but made a mistake on lap four, crashed and had to start all over again from 10th position. Geerts didn’t want to go down without a fight. He regrouped and passed four riders to finish sixth in race 2 and ninth overall.
With still six rounds to go, Geerts dropped one place in the world championship classification. He’s now fourth, six points behind Tom Vialle.
#193 Jago Geerts
9th overall
“It was a difficult Grand Prix. They put too much water on the track, which became very slick and tricky. You had to be careful all the time. I had no grip in the first race and crashed when I tried to pass Boisrame. We changed the tyre for the second race. For sure an improvement, but then I made a silly mistake. The last three GP’s didn’t go as planned. I lost a lot of points, but there’s no reason to start doubting. Nothing’s lost.”
Marnicq Bervoets
Team manager
“This was quite a disappointing weekend for us. Watson couldn’t race because of his hand injury, which got worse. Ben will now return to England. We will know more after the visit to his doctor. Geerts was strong in qualifying, but didn’t feel at ease on the slick circuit on Sunday and made two mistakes. That’s also motocross. He lost one place in the championship. A pity, but not a disaster. We still have six Grand Prix to go. We just have to keep working hard.”
RESULTS
Race 1
1. Jorge Prado (Esp/KTM)
2. Tom Vialle (Fra/KTM) +0:11.411
3. Thomas Kjer Olsen (Den/Hus) +0:14.405
4. Jed Beaton (Aus/Hus) +0:16.869
5. Calvin Vlaanderen (Ned/Hon) +0:21.914
10. JAGO GEERTS (BEL/YAM) +0:55.630
Race 2
1. Jorge Prado (Esp/KTM)
2. Maxime Renaux (Fra/Yam) 0:03.916
3. Calvin Vlaanderen (Ned/Hon) +0:07.887
4. Tom Vialle (Fra/KTM) +0:11.826
5. Brent Van Doninck (Bel/Hon) +0:13.925
6. JAGO GEERTS (BEL/YAM) +0:14.813
Overall
1. Jorge Prado (Esp/KTM) 50
2. Tom Vialle (Fra/KTM) 40
3. Calvin Vlaanderen (Ned/Hon) 36
4. Maxime Renaux (Fra/Yam) 35
5. Henry Jacobi (Ger/Kaw) 28
9. JAGO GEERTS (BEL/YAM) 26
World championship classification (12/18)
1. Jorge Prado (Esp/KTM) 544
2. Thomas Kjer Olsen (Den/Hus) 466
3. Tom Vialle (Fra/KTM) 366
4. JAGO GEERTS (BEL/YAM) 360
5. Henry Jacobi (Ger/Kaw) 335
6. BEN WATSON (GBR/YAM) 246
Next race: July 21, Dutch Masters Lichtenvoorde (Ned)
Images by Yamaha Racing/@shotbybavo