Maxime Renaux celebrated his eighth podium in a row, at round 12 of the FIM World Championship MX2 in Lacapelle-Marival. The Frencham finished third in front of his home crowd after to impressive catch up races. Geerts (sick) was fifth, Benistant (painful shoulder) seventh. Renaux is now 91 points ahead of Geerts in the championship.
Although Lacapelle-Marival never hosted a Grand Prix before this weekend, the hard and tight track is a familiar name in motocross. The French circuit hosted its first race back in 1953 and became popular with its pre-season race. Like always at a Grand Prix in France, it was a packed house in Lacapelle-Marival. The atmosphere was electric, including a lot of air horns and chainsaws. “The crowd is really on fire”, said Maxime Renaux after his Go Pro lap on Saturday. Time practice was spectacular with only nine tenths of a second separating the first and thirteenth rider! Renaux qualified in second place, Benistant was fifth, Geerts twelfth.
Great line
Remarkably, Geerts – who got sick Saturday night – got off to a great start on his YZ250FM. The Belgian was right behind Vialle, while Benistant – with a painful shoulder after a midweek crash – was in fifth place. Championship leader Renaux didn’t get the best start and had to fight back from eleventh place. Not an easy job on the compact French track. While most riders were struggling to gain places, Renaux found a great line on the whoops, which allowed him to pass his rivals in the next corner. Van De Moosdijk was Renaux’ first victim, followed by Hofer, Benistant and Geerts. All at the same spot. A great comeback from Renaux, who crossed the line in fourth place. Right in front of his teammates Geerts – who had a little hick-up in the beginning of the race – and Benistant.
91 points ahead
A similar start of the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 riders in race 2. Geerts was third in the first turn, Benistant fifth. Renaux, again, missed his start (11th). While Benistant lost a few places in the first lap, Renaux was on a mission again. The championship leader quickly moved up to fifth place and was putting a lot of pressure on Hofer and Geerts. Maxime went inside by the Austrian rider and needed a few laps to pass his Belgian teammate to take third place. But he wanted more and went for Guadagnini. In no time he found his way under the rear wheel of the Italian. After a great move, Renaux finished second in race two and third overall. His eighth podium in a row! A sick Geerts managed to defend his fourth place, which gave him fifth overall. Benistant was seventh in race two and also seventh overall.
Renaux extended his lead in the FIM World Championship again. With six Grand Prix to go the Frenchman now leads by 91 points over teammate Geerts.
#93 Jago Geerts
5th overall – 2nd in championship
“In the night from Saturday to Sunday I was struck by the stomach flu. I had a fever, had to throw up a couple of times, had diarrhea and also had muscle pain all over my body. Sunday morning I didn’t even know if I could ride. But I did. Luckily, I took two great starts, that helped a lot. During the races I wasn’t really able to fight. I felt empty, couldn’t find extra energy. Considering my illness, that fifth place isn’t bad at all. Hopefully, I can recover completely for next weekend.”
#198 Thibault Benistant
7th overall – 6th in championship
“I can’t be happy with my result today. I’m a bit disappointed in myself. Especially because I was riding in front of my home crowd. I wanted to show more. On the other hand, I can’t be too hard on myself. I had a big crash during practice last week. My shoulder was still painful this weekend. And in the second race I had problems with my stomach. Probably because of the medication for my shoulder. We have a lot of GP’s in a row now. That means not a lot of time to recover.”
#959 Maxime Renaux
3rd overall – 1st in championship
“It was a really tough day. I rode two similar races today. After a bad start I had to come back from about 12th place, in both races. Believe me, that was not an easy job on this track. Passing is really difficult here. But I’m happy with my riding. I was able to make some great passes and had some nice battles. Only negative point: my starts. They need to be better! Anyway, another podium, another good step in the championship.”
RESULTS
Race 1
- 1. Tom Vialle (Fra/KTM)
- 2. Mattia Guadagnini (Ita/KTM) +0:04.885
- 3. Jed Beaton (Aus/Hus) +0:07.369
- 4. MAXIME RENAUX (Fra/Yam) +0:10.833
- 5. JAGO GEERTS (Bel/Yam) +0:11.843
- 6. THIBAULT BENISTANT (Fra/Yam) +0:12.576
Race 2
- 1. Tom Vialle (Fra/KTM)
- 2. MAXIME RENAUX (Fra/Yam) +0:02.020
- 3. Mattia Guadagnini (Ita/KTM) +0:03.925
- 4. JAGO GEERTS (Bel/Yam) +0:05.081
- 5. Rene Hofer (Aut/KTM) +0:05.998
- 7. THIBAULT BENISTANT (Fra/Yam) +0:20.272
Overall
- 1. Tom Vialle (Fra/KTM) 50
- 2. Mattia Guadagnini (Ita/KTM) 42
- 3. MAXIME RENAUX (Fra/Yam) 40
- 4. Jed Beaton (Aus/Hus) 35
- 5. JAGO GEERTS (Bel/Yam) 34
- 7. THIBAULT BENISTANT (Fra/Yam) 29
World championship classification (12/18)
- 1. MAXIME RENAUX (Fra/Yam) 488
- 2. JAGO GEERTS (Bel/Yam) 397
- 3. Mattia Guadagnini (Ita/KTM) 393
- 4. Tom Vialle (Fra/KTM) 372
- 5. Jed Beaton (Aus/Hus) 359
- 6. THIBAULT BENISTANT (Fra/Yam) 336
Next race: October 17, GP13 Arroyomolinos (Esp)