Jago Geerts was finally back on the box, at round 14 of the FIM World Championship in Pietramurata. His first podium finish since Latvia, on August 8. Maxime Renaux (8th) had a tough day in Italy, but still continues to lead the championship by 92 points. Thibault Benistant had a lot of back luck and finished 19th.

A great scenery, that’s the least you can say about the Crossdromo Ciclamino in Pietramurata, the location of the Italian triple header. The spectacular hard pack track – tight and twisty – is nestled between the Dolomites and the north shores of Lake Garda. A place much loved by Jago Geerts. Just think of his two victories on this track at the end of last season. The Belgian immediately felt good on this track again and took his fourth pole position of the season. Teammate and championship leader Maxime Renaux was second fastest. The difference? Only six thousands of a second! Thibault Benistant finally, was ninth in time practice.

Valuable points
Yet, it was Benistant who took the best start of the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 riders in the opening race. The Frenchman was third in the first turn, just in front of Geerts. Renaux on the other hand, missed his start completely and faced a tough job from about 24th place. The championship leader didn’t panic and was already in eighth place half way the race. Meanwhile Geerts had taken over third place from Benistant, who had to deal with an electronic problem. The European champion EMX250 tried to continue, but was forced to pull out a few laps later.
Geerts was putting a lot of pressure on Isak Gifting, in second place. The vice world champion was trying everything to get pass the Swede. Not an easy job on this tight Italian track. Two laps from the end Jago finally passed Gifting to take second place. Renaux still managed to finish sixth and grab valuable championship points.

First turn crash
Another disastrous start from Renaux in race 2. The championship leader went down in the first turn and had to resume as very last (36th). Benistant also missed his start (21st). Geerts was the only Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 rider in the front line (4th). The Belgian was eager to get on the box and quickly passed Beaton and Hofer to take second place. Meanwhile, both Benistant and Renaux were busy catching up. After eight laps, Thibault and Maxime were already in ninth and eleventh position. Unfortunately, Benistant crashed and dropped to 20th place. Finally, he crossed the line as 17th. Renaux kept fighting ’till the end and finished eighth. Geerts put a lot of pressure on Vialle. The Belgian came close, very close. But not close enough to launch that one decisive attack. Anyway, Geerts was back on the box. His first podium finish since the Grand Prix of Latvia, in the beginning of August.
With still four Grand Prix to go, Renaux’ lead in het championship decreased to 92 points. “It wasn’t Maximes best day. Yet, there’s no reason to panic”, said team manager Marnicq Bervoets. “His catch-up races were impressive. His riding is impeccable. He just needs to get better starts next Wednesday.”

#93 Jago Geerts
2nd overall – 2nd in championship
“On one hand, it feels really good to be back on the podium after a long while. On the other hand, I’m also a bit disappointed because I was so close to Vialle and the GP win. In the second race, I was behind him from the beginning ’till the end. I tried everything to get close enough to pass Vialle, but there was only one good line and we were almost on a similar pace. Anyway, I’m back at my best level. I feel like I can fight for GP wins again. A nice feeling. I will get two more chances to win on this track this week.”

#198 Thibault Benistant
19th overall – 7th in championship
“This was clearly not my day. Time practice was still okay, with a ninth time. But at the end of the session I hit my knee. That bothered me all day. Nevertheless, I had a good start in race 1. I was riding in third place when I got electronic problems with the bike. I was struggling a lot. It got really dangerous, so I had no other option than to stop. In the second race I came back pretty good after a poor start. But I made a mistake, crashed and hurt my knee again. Luckily, nothing serious.”

#959 Maxime Renaux
8th overall – 1st in championship
“This was a dark day for me. However, I felt good on the track during time practice in the morning. I had a really good rhythm and was second fastest. But the starts were my problem today. They were terrible. In the first race I was 24th and in the second race I crashed in the first turn. A big problem on this one lined track. Positive point: the riding was good, the passes too. This was the maximum I could do after those poor starts. Championship stress? No, not at all. Just bad starts. We need to refocus and need to solve the problem by Wednesday.”

RESULTS

Race 1

  • 1. Tom Vialle (Fra/KTM)
  • 2. JAGO GEERTS (Bel/Yam) +0:02.789
  • 3. Isak Gifting (Swe/Gas) +0:09.063
  • 4. Ruben Ferandez (Esp/Hon) +0:18.322
  • 5. Kay de Wolf (Ned/Hus) +0:20.012
  • 6. MAXIME RENAUX (Fra/Yam) +0:30.797
    THIBAULT BENISTANT (Fra/Yam) DNF

Race 2

  • 1. Tom Vialle (Fra/KTM)
  • 2. JAGO GEERTS (Bel/Yam) +0:01.183
  • 3. Jed Beaton (Aus/Hus) +0:25.585
  • 4. Ruben Ferandez (Esp/Hon) +0:29.065
  • 5. Rene Hofer (Aut/KTM) +0:36.189
  • 8. MAXIME RENAUX (Fra/Yam) +1:07.560
  • 17. THIBAULT BENISTANT (Fra/Yam) +1 lap

Overall

  • 1. Tom Vialle (Fra/KTM) 50
  • 2. JAGO GEERTS (Bel/Yam) 44
  • 3. Ruben Ferandez (Esp/Hon) 36
  • 4. Jed Beaton (Aus/Hus) 34
  • 5. Isak Gifting (Swe/Gas) 32
  • 8. MAXIME RENAUX (Fra/Yam) 28
  • 19. THIBAULT BENISTANT (Fra/Yam) 4

World championship classification (14/18)

  • 1. MAXIME RENAUX (Fra/Yam) 563
  • 2. JAGO GEERTS (Bel/Yam) 471
  • 3. Tom Vialle (Fra/KTM) 467
  • 4. Mattia Guadagnini (Ita/KTM) 443
  • 5. Jed Beaton (Aus/Hus) 429
  • 7. THIBAULT BENISTANT (Fra/Yam) 366

Next race: October 27, GP15 Pieteramurata (Ita)

Images by @shotbybavo – @cdsimages – Yamaha Racing