Maxime Renaux – riding very consistent and smart – extended his championship lead again in Riola Sardo. The Frenchman, who finished second in the deep sand, now has an 71 point advantage on Guadagnini. Geerts finished fourth, Benistant sixth.

For most riders in the FIM World Championship the sand track of Riola Sardo, on the island of Sardinia, is a familiar place. The Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team did some testing on this track during the winter and Geerts and Renaux also participated in the International d’Italia, a warm-up race in the beginning of the year in Riola Sardo. This weekend, the Sardinian village hosted a Grand Prix for the very first time.

Pole position
Geerts really loves the deep dune sand of Riola Sardo. The Belgian, who was victorious at this track in the preseason race, was on fire in time practice and grabbed pole position. With Renaux on 4 and Benistant on 10, all three Monster Energy Yamaha Factory riders qualified in top 10.

Their roles were reversed at the start of the first race: Benistant took the best start in third place, with Renaux on 6 and Geerts on 9. Jago wasn’t lucky in the first. The Belgian got hit from behind by another rider, crashed and had to fight back from 29th place.

Meanwhile, Renaux took his time to read the track and gain some places. He got a bit of help from teammate Benistant, who crashed and dropped from third to fifth place. But the championship leader – now in third place – wanted more. Renaux went after Guadagnini (with success) and Vialle. Renaux closed a six second gap in the last minutes of the race, but just couldn’t make that final pass on his compatriot and finished second.

Benistant seemed to be on his way to a fourth place, but got passed by De Wolf in the final lap. Geerts was on a mission after his early crash. The Belgian rode a great catch-up race from 29th to 8th place. While doing that, he managed to set the fastest lap of the race.

Smart

The Monster Energy Yamaha Factory riders went bar-to-bar in turn one of the second race, with Benistant in 5th place, closely followed by Renaux and Geerts. Renaux quickly moved up to second place after a few nice passes. The championship leader tried to catch Vialle, but got tired and decided not to take any unnecessary risks. While Benistant had moved up to third place, Geerts was also hungry. After a tough battle with de Wolf, the Belgian went for his two teammates. Jago could easily pass Benistant, who crashed and dropped to 8th place, and made a nice move on Renaux to finish second in race two. Unfortunately, Geerts missed out on the podium by just one point. Renaux – who rode very consistent and smart again – finished third in race 2 and second overall. Benistant had to settle for sixth overall.

Renaux extended his championship lead on Guadagnini to 71 points. Geerts is only seven points behind the Italian in third place. Benistant finally, moved up to fourth place in the championship standings.

#93 Jago Geerts
4th overall – 3rd in championship
“Considering my early crash in the first race fourth overall isn’t that bad. But of course I wanted more. At least a podium finish. It was a stupid crash. There was kind of a traffic jam in the corner after the table top. I had to hit the brakes hard and got hit from behind by another rider. I was happy with my catch up race, but not with the eight place. In race 2 I got stuck behind de Wolf a bit too long and finished second.”

#198 Thibault Benistant
6th overall – 4th in championship
“First the positive things: I’m really happy with my starts today. We worked hard on the engine last week. It’s a big improvement. Unfortunately, I suffered from arm pump in the first race. That’s the reason of my crash. I had a good rhythm in the beginning of the second race, but didn’t feel 100 percent at ease on this track. I got tired, crashed and lost a lot of time.”

#959 Maxime Renaux
2nd overall – 1st in championship
“I tried to go for the win in both races. I ran out of time in the first race. In race 2 I didn’t get really close to Vialle. I got a little bit tired, my legs were hurting. So, I decided to think about the championship. I Extended my lead again. 71 points. That’s a nice margin. But we still have 8 races to go. I want to keep pushing. In a smart way. I don’t want to take any crazy risks.”

RESULTS

Race 1

  • 1. Tom Vialle (Fra/KTM)
  • 2. MAXIME RENAUX (Fra/Yam) +0:01.117
  • 3. Mattia Guadagnini (Ita/KTM) +0:19.765
  • 4. Kay de Wolf (Ned/Hus) +0:23.298
  • 5. THIBAULT BENISTANT (Fra/Yam) +0:23.558
  • 8. JAGO GEERTS (Bel/Yam) +0:50.784

Race 2

  • 1. Tom Vialle (Fra/KTM)
  • 2. JAGO GEERTS (Bel/Yam) +0:08.264
  • 3. MAXIME RENAUX (Fra/Yam) +0:20.652
  • 4. Kay de Wolf (Ned/Hus) +0:50.502
  • 5. Jed Beaton (Aus/Hus) +0:53.508
  • 8. THIBAULT BENISTANT (Fra/Yam) +1:15.083

Overall

  • 1. Tom Vialle (Fra/KTM) 50
  • 2. MAXIME RENAUX (Fra/Yam) 42
  • 3. Kay de Wolf (Ned/Hus) 36
  • 4. JAGO GEERTS (Bel/Yam) 35
  • 5. Isak Gifting (Swe/Gas) 30
  • 6. THIBAULT BENISTANT (Fra/Yam) 29

World championship classification (10/18)

  • 1. MAXIME RENAUX (Fra/Yam) 403
  • 2. Mattia Guadagnini (Ita/KTM) 332
  • 3. JAGO GEERTS (Bel/Yam) 325
  • 4. THIBAULT BENISTANT (Fra/Yam) 290
  • 5. Jed Beaton (Aus/Hus) 290

Next race: October 3, GP11 Teutschenthal (Ger)

Images by @shotbybavo – cdsimages – Yamaha Racing