Monster Energy Kemea Yamaha rider Jago Geerts finished fourth in round 15 of the FIM World Championship MX2, at the iconic Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit in Imola. Nice bonus: the Belgian reclaimed the third place in the championship. Unfortunately, Ben Watson couldn’t line up after he broke his radius during warm up on Sunday morning.
Ben Watson has had a spell of bad luck lately. The Brit, who made his comeback in Lommel two weeks ago after a hand injury, crashed during the warm up Sunday morning and broke his left radius. An injury that comes at a bad time as Watson was selected for team Great-Britain at the Motocross of Nations in Assen (September 29).
First holeshot
Because of Watsons injury, Jago Geerts was the only Monster Energy Kemea Yamaha rider lining up in the first race. The Belgian got a terrible start and was only 18th in the first turn. The teenager rode very aggressive in the first laps and was already in 7th place after two laps. Geerts used a lot of energy in those first laps, but continued to hunt his rivals. Larranaga, Sanayei and Boisrame were his next victims. Geerts tried to close the gap on Renaux, who was in third position, but couldn’t get close enough.
Geerts took a sublime start on his YZ250F – his first ever holeshot in MX2!- in the second race, but Prado was quick to take over the lead. Unfortunately, the Belgian teenager made a small mistake on lap 3 and fell back to 7th place. Geerts claw back, passed Jacobi and Sterry, but was stuck behind Renaux again. Jago tried to pass the Frenchman a few times, but without success. He had to settle for fifth in the second race and fourth overall.
#193 Jago Geerts
4th overall
“On the one hand, I’m a bit disappointed not being on the podium. On the other hand, I’m happy that I reclaimed the third position in the championship. Without that small crash – I got cross-rutted – in the second race I could have been on the box. I tried everything to pass Reanaux at the end, but the track was very sketchy and I didn’t want to take too many risks. I rode two solid races and I’m third in the championship. It’s my goal to defend that position till the end. Not an easy job. Things can change quickly as you have seen the last couple of races.”
Marnicq Bervoets
Team manager
“I feel really bad for Watson. Ben doesn’t have Lady Luck on his side this season. What he needs to do now? Try to forget 2019 as quick as possible and focus on 2020. New year, new chances. Jago rode two solid races today. He showed a lot of determination in race 1 after a terrible start. It’s a pity that he had a small crash in the second race, otherwise he would have been on the box. Jago wasn’t the only rider having problems with this track. A lot of guys made mistakes. Most important: Jago is third in the championship again.”
RESULTS
Race 1
1. Jorge Prado (Esp/KTM)
2. Thomas Kjer Olsen (Den/Hus) +0:08.238
3. Maxime Renaux (Fra/Yam) +0:20.216
4. JAGO GEERTS (BEL/YAM) +0:26.794
5. Mathys Boisramé (Fra/Hon) +0:40.810
BEN WATSON DNS
Race 2
1. Jorge Prado (Esp/KTM)
2. Thomas Kjer Olsen (Den/Hus) +0:05.383
3. Calvin Vlaanderen (Ned/Hon) +0:09.582
4. Maxime Renaux (Fra/Yam) +0:11.834
5. JAGO GEERTS (BEL/YAM) +0:15.620
BEN WATSON DNS
Overall
1. Jorge Prado (Esp/KTM) 50
2. Thomas Kjer Olsen (Den/Hus) 44
3. Maxime Renaux (Fra/Yam) 38
4. JAGO GEERTS (BEL/YAM) 34
5. Calvin Vlaanderen (Ned/Hon) 33
World Championship classification (15/18)
1. Jorge Prado (Esp/KTM) 694
2. Thomas Kjer Olsen (Den/Hus) 564
3. JAGO GEERTS (BEL/YAM) 447
4. Henry Jacbo (Ger/Kaw) 422
5. Tom Vialle (Fra/KTM) 416
8. BEN WATSON (GBr/Yam) 282
Next race: August 25, GP16 Uddevalla (Swe)
Images by Yamaha Racing/@shotbybavo