Jago Geerts dominated the Grand Prix of Indonesia, in Lombok completely. The Belgian won the qualifying race and both motos. Good for his 20th victory in his 100th Grand Prix. That’s called an anniversary in style. Thibault Benistant and Rick Elzinga both struggled with illness, but still managed to finish 9th and 11th.

Last week the FIM World Championship riders did some island hopping in Indonesia. From Sumbawa to Lombok, where they had to face the brand new Selaparang track. Jago Geerts, a bit ill last week, was completely recovered. His wrist is also hardly bothering him. This time, Thibault Benistant and Rick Elzinga were the unlucky ones. They both had stomach flu.
Geerts immediately had a good feeling with the new track in Lombok: he had the fastest lap in time practice and grabbed pole position and ten championship points in the qualifying race. Elzinga surprised with a sixth position, Benistant finished eighth.

Impressive numbers
30 degrees and 70 percent of humidity: it was again huffing and puffing for the riders in Lombok. Elzinga – who woke up sick – surprised again, this time with the holeshot in the first moto. The Dutchman could not enjoy it for long however, because teammate Geerts quickly passed him. Jago had a tight pace and immediately made a nice gap. Nobody managed to follow him. Benistant, who was about 10th in the first turn, managed to win two places. After his successful start, Elzinga dropped back to P13.
Geerts and Benistant both had a blistering start in the second moto (P1+P2), but were both pushed to the outside by Längenfelder. Geerts dropped back to place four, but did not give in. In barely one lap he raced past Adamo, Van De Moosdijk and Längenfelder to the lead again. Jago imposed a killing pace and – with authority – he took distance from his competitors. Good for the 20th victory in his 100th Grand Prix participation. Also his 50th podium. Impressive numbers.
Benistant and Elzinga felt bad, but fought and did what they could. Thibault finished 9th, Rick 11th.

11 points closer
Geerts took the full 60 championship points in Lombok. He stays fourth in the ranking but comes eleven points closer to Adamo. With eight Grand Prix to go, Geerts is 47 points behind. Benistant remains second in the championship ranking, but sees Adamo move 17 points more ahead. After two Grand Prix in Indonesia the FIM World Championship returns to Europe. In two weeks’ time GP 12 is on the program in Loket, Czech Republic.

#44 RICK ELZINGA
11th overall, 11th in championship
“On Saturday everything went well: fourth in the time practice and sixth in the qualifying race. Just fine. Sunday morning I woke up with fever and a terrible headache. I had little energy. During the warm-up session I already felt it would be a tough day: at every landing I got a blow in my head. In the first moto I even had the holeshot, but I was at the outside and was pushed to the back. I managed to stay in 8th position for a long time, but then I felt really dizzy and I was forced to slow down. At the end of the second moto I had problems due to the fever. I had no strength left at all.”

#93 JAGO GEERTS
1st overall, 4th in championship
“One + one + one. I can’t wish for more. I have now 20 victories in 100 Grand Prix: That’s a pretty good average. I immediately felt good on the track in Lombok. It went good from the first practice on. In the first moto Adamo was pushing hard for about fifteen minutes, but I managed to keep control. In the second moto I was very lucky in the start. I was almost taken out. I then started to attack myself. Successfully. I quickly came in the lead and managed to make a nice gap. All in All, it was a perfect weekend.”

#198 THIBAULT BENISTANT
9th overall, 2nd in championship
“I had a very bad night from Friday to Saturday. Outside it was 30 degrees but I was in bed with my clothes, under a blanket. Not normal. Fever, headache, diarrhea… I felt terrible. All weekend long. My body felt very heavy. I was not focussed, but very dull. The races seemed to last an eternity. For me it was a struggle till the end. I did all I could to take as many points as possible, because the world championship is still long. I will work very hard now to bounce back in Loket.

Qualifying race

1 JAGO GEERTS (Bel/Yam)

2 Roan Van De Moosdijk (Ned/Hus) +0:04.330

3 Simon Längenfelder (Ger/Gas) +0:08.796

4 Andrea Adamo (Ita/KTM) +0:13.165

5 Liam Everts (Bel/KTM) +0:15.835

6 RICK ELZINGA (Ned/Yam) +0:32.513

8 THIBAULT BENISTANT (Fra/Yam) +0:34.853

Race 1

1 JAGO GEERTS (Bel/Yam)

2 Andrea Adamo (Ita/KTM) +0:08.643

3 Roan Van De Moosdijk (Ned/Hus) +0:12.398

4 Kay de Wolf (Ned/Hus) +0:13.846

5 Simon Längenfelder (Ger/Gas) +0:29.775

8 THIBAULT BENISTANT (Fra/Yam) +1:03.827

13 RICK ELZINGA (Ned/Yam) +1:57.799

Race 2

1 JAGO GEERTS (Bel/Yam)

2 Simon Längenfelder (Ger/Gas) +0:07.180

3 Andrea Adamo (Ita/KTM) +0:13.825

4 Liam Everts (Bel/KTM) +0:15.658

5 Lucas Coenen (Bel/Hus) +0:20.410

9 THIBAULT BENISTANT (Fra/Yam) +1:04.039

11 RICK ELZINGA (Ned/Yam) +1:33.349

Overall

1 JAGO GEERTS (Bel/Yam) 50

2 Andrea Adamo (Ita/KTM) 42

3 Simon Längenfelder (Ger/Gas) 38

4 Roan Van De Moosijk 35

5 Liam Everts (Bel/KTM) 33

9 THIBAULT BENISTANT (Fra/Yam) 25

11 RICK ELZINGA (Ned/Yam) 18

World championship classification (11/19)

1 Andrea Adamo (Ita/KTM) 488

2 THIBAULT BENISTANT (Fra/Yam) 462

3 Kay De Wolf (Ned/Hus) 452

4 JAGO GEERTS (Bel/Yam) 441

5 Liam Everts (Bel/KTM) 420

11 RICK ELZINGA (Ned/Yam) 178

Images by @fullspectrum.media