The Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team continues to shine in the FIM World Championship. Jago Geerts took the win in the dunes of Riola Sardo – like two weeks ago in Argentina. Thibault Benistant ended third on the box. Only bummer: Rick Elzinga who had to give up due to illness.
Jago Geerts started strong his weekend in Sardinia. In the dune sand, the championship leader felt like a fish in water and – except for the first 100 metres – he led the qualifying race on Saturday from start to finish. Good for his second pole position in a row and ten points for the World Championship. Teammates Benistant and Elzinga finished fourth and tenth.
Mistakes
Geerts immediately took advantage of his pole position by taking the holeshot in the first moto on Sunday. The 22-years old Belgian immediately managed to make a small gap on Längenfelder and de Wolf but crashed in the second lap. He fell back in third position and had to start chasing. In barely five laps, Jago closed a gap of six seconds and smoothly passed Längenfelder and de Wolf for the lead. Unfortunately, it was short lived fun. Half a lap later he stalled his bike. Again, he fell back in third position and again he had to close a gap of six seconds. Difficult, but not impossible. Five laps later he passed Längenfelder. Just one more to go: de Wolf. Jago managed to come close to the Dutchman, but despite some attempts to attack he could not take the win.
Benistant, seventh in the start, planned his race very well and took the time to move forwards. Oriol, Adamo, Everts were his ‘victims’. He finished in fourth position. Bad luck for Elzinga who was forced to leave the race after four laps, exhausted and ill.
Agitated
No more Elzinga at the start of the second moto. The European champion EMX250 was too ill to continue. Again, Geerts and Benistant had a good start and entered the first turn respectively in third and fourth place. Jago, clearly agitated after those two mistakes in the first moto, did not waste time. He passed de Wolf from the outside and jumped a lot further than Oriol to take the lead. De Wolf did not hesitate and smoothly followed the leader. Immediately, they took a gap on the rest of the pack. The Dutchman kept on pushing and in the final rounds he even came within a second of Geerts, but this time the World Championship leader did not make any mistakes: moto and GP win. His 18th GP win already.
Just like in Argentina, Geerts was joined on the box by his teammate Benistant. The Frenchman finished third in the second race, after an exciting battle with Lucas Coenen, who was breathing down his neck from start to finish.
Geerts will of course remain leader in the World Championship classification. He now counts 30 points more than his first pursuer de Wolf and 31 on Benistant.
#93 JAGO GEERTS
1st overall, 1st in World Championship
“Again, a GP win, so a good day. Although I’m a bit angry with myself because of the two mistakes in the first moto. First a crash and then I stall my bike. I came back in second but that cost me a lot of energy. I must avoid such mistakes in the future. Luckily, I managed a clear race in the second moto. De Wolf continued pushing till the end, so I had to work hard for it. “
#198 THIBAULT BENISTANT
3rd overall, 3rd in World Championship
“Third, just like two weeks ago in Argentina. Not bad to start the Championship with two podiums in a row. In the first moto my start was not so good, so place four was okay. My start in the second moto was better. I was just behind Geerts and de Wolf. I tried to follow them, but they were a bit too fast for me. After that Coenen kept putting pressure on me but I didn’t give in.”
#44 RICK ELZINGA
DNF+DNS, 12th in World Championship
“I felt something was not right after timed practice. It turned out to be a small health problem that meant that I can’t keep fluids inside me. So, I have the symptoms of dehydration, dizziness and blurry vision. On a track that is as demanding as Riola Sardo, it was not possible to ride here. From here, the focus is to get better and bounce back strong in Switzerland.”
Qualifying race
1. JAGO GEERTS (BEL/YAM) 10
2. Kay de Wolf (Ned/Hus) 9
3. Simon Längenfelder (Ger/Gas) 8
4. THIBAULT BENISTANT (FRA/YAM) 7
5. Kevin Horgmo (Kaw/Nor) 6
10. RICK ELZINGA (NED/YAM) 1
Race 1
1. Kay de Wolf (Ned/Hus)
2. JAGO GEERTS (BEL/YAM) +0:02.473
3. Simon Längenfelder (Ger/Gas) +0:15.579
4. THIBAULT BENISTANT (FRA/YAM) +0:42.062
5. Andrea Adamo (Ita/KTM) +0:51.410
RICK ELZINGA (NED/YAM) DNF
Race 2
1. JAGO GEERTS (BEL/YAM)
2. Kay de Wolf (Ned/Hus) +0:01.314
3. THIBAULT BENISTANT (FRA/YAM) +0:41.473
4. Lucas Coenen (Bel/Hus) +0:43.781
5. Roan van de Moosdijk (Ned/Hus) +0:59.753
RICK ELZINGA (NED/YAM) DNS
Overall
1. JAGO GEERTS (BEL/YAM) 47
2. Kay de Wolf (Ned/Hus) 47
3. THIBAULT BENISTANT (FRA/YAM) 38
4. Simon Längenfelder (Ger/Gas) 34
5. Lucas Coenen (Bel/Hus) 33
World championship classification (2/19)
1. JAGO GEERTS (BEL/YAM) 117
2. Kay de Wolf (Ned/Hus) 87
3. THIBAULT BENISTANT (FRA/YAM) 86
4. Andrea Adamo (Ita/KTM) 83
5. Simon Längenfelder (Ger/Gas) 79
12. RICK ELZINGA (NED/YAM) 32