No luck for the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team this season. After Thibault Benistant, Jago Geerts is ruled out again. In Vantaa, Finland, the Belgian suffered a broken collarbone in a crash that was not his fault. The only positive this weekend: a nice sixth place for Rick Elzinga.

For the 14th round the FIM world championship settled in Vantaa, Finland. A rather unknown track for most of the riders. The last Grand Prix on the sandy track, near the Helsinki airport, was in 2011 (MX3). The Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team travelled to Finland with two riders: Jago Geerts, who won in front of his home crowd in Lommel last week, and Rick Elzinga. Thibault Benistant was not there yet. The Frenchman is still recovering from the injury sustained in the Czech Republic two weeks ago.

Huge bummer
With a third (Geerts) and a fifth position (Elzinga) in a rainy qualifying race, the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 duo secured a good position at the starting gate. However, they did not take a good start in the first race. Elzinga was ninth in the first corner followed directly by Geerts. Jago quickly made up some places (sixth) but then disaster struck. Osterhagen, who was riding right in front of him, crashed after a jump. Geerts could not avoid him, collided with the Norwegian, was catapulted over his handlebar and was hit by his bike. The Belgian immediately grabbed his left shoulder and went to the medical centre. There a collarbone fracture was diagnosed. A huge bummer for Geerts who flew back to Belgium on Sunday already where additional examinations are planned.

Strong Elzinga
Elzinga – the further in the season the better – achieved a solid first moto. The Dutchman successfully passed McLellan, Sacha Coenen, Weckman and Braceras to the sixth place. In the final part of the race he lost one position when Lucas Coenen passed him.
In the second moto, Elzinga was fourth after the start. The Dutchman clearly felt good on the bike and moved to the second place in the first lap. Elzinga stayed in front the whole moto and fought tough battles with Lucas Coenen and Simon Längenfelder. Finally, Rick passed the finish line in fifth position, good for the sixth place overall. Elzinga took 36 points for the world championship in Finland, his best result of the season.

HANS CORVERS
Team owner
“This is really hard. A huge bummer. Jago came back very strong after his wrist fracture. He was extremely motivated, won three Grand Prix in a row and closed the gap to Adamo up to 10 points… And then such a crash. Damn, it was not even his fault. I feel so bad for Jago. He is clearly the best rider this seson, but still he will maybe miss the title. I say maybe, because we don’t throw in the towel yet. Jago will have surgery tomorrow. During this surgery it will be clear how big the damage really is. After his wrist fracture he came back very quickly, who knows perhaps this might happen again.”

#44 RICK ELZINGA
6th overall, 11th in championship
“A nice result. I keep taking steps forwards. I was however ill all week, including fever. I felt it at the end of the first moto, when I had no energy left. Although, after a bad start – too much wheelspin – I managed to move forwards. The second moto was much better: a solid start, and I quickly came up to P2. I managed to keep up in front and my lap times were good. I’m really happy about that. The gap to the winner was a lot smaller than usual. Just keep working hard and then I’ll see what is still possible this season.”

Qualifying race

1 Simon Längenfelder (Ger/Gas)

2 Sacha Coenen (Bel/KTM) +0:05.203

3 JAGO GEERTS (Bel/Yam) +0:30.843

4 Liam Everts (Bel/KTM) +0:32.077

5 RICK ELZINGA (Ned/Yam) +0:35.343

Race 1

1 Andrea Adamo (Ita/KTM)

2 Simon Längenfelder (Ger/Gas) +0:02.805

3 Liam Everts (Bel/KTM) +0:16.381

4 Kevin Horgmo (Nor/Kaw) +0:18.547

5 Lucas Coenen (Bel/Hus) +0:25.722

7 RICK ELZINGA (Ned/Yam) +0:34.335

JAGO GEERTS (Bel/Yam) DNF

Race 2

1 Andrea Adamo (Ita/KTM)

2 Simon Längenfelder (Ger/Gas) +0:07.299

3 Lucas Coenen (Bel/Hus) +0:07.569

4 Liam Everts (Bel/KTM) +0:10.835

5 RICK ELZINGA (Ned/Yam) +0:15.789

JAGO GEERTS (Bel/Yam) DNS

Overall

1 Andrea Adamo (Ita/KTM) 50

2 Simon Längenfelder (Ger/Gas) 44

3 Liam Everts (Bel/KTM) 38

4 Lucas Coenen (Bel/Hus) 36

5 Kevin Horgmo (Nor/Kaw) 32

6 RICK ELZINGA (Ned/Yam) 30

World Championship classification(14/19)

1 Andrea Adamo (Ita/KTM) 619

2 JAGO GEERTS (Bel/Yam) 559

3 Liam Everts (Bel/KTM) 532

4 Kay de Wolf (Ned/Hus) 501

5 Simon Längenfelder (Ger/Gas) 492

6 THIBAULT BENISTANT (Fra/Yam) 462

11 RICK ELZINGA (Ned/Yam) 264

Images by @fullspectrum.media – Yamaha Racing