First-ever MX2 Grand Prix win at Lommel for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Ben Watson

2021 Yamaha YZ250FX

Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2’s Jago Geerts returned to his winning ways at the 16th round of the MX2 World Championship in Pietramurata, Italy finishing 3-1 for his fifth overall victory of the season. SM Action M.C. Migliori’s Maxime Renaux and Hutten Metaal Yamaha Official EMX250’s Thibault Benistant put in fantastic rides to finish fifth and sixth, respectively.

 

After celebrating his first-ever MX2 Grand Prix win last weekend in Lommel, Belgium, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2’s Ben Watson felt fit and confident going into the MXGP of Trentino. The 23-year-old Brit posted his best qualifying result of 2020. He placed third on the timesheets with a 1:41.513 ahead of his teammate Geerts who posted a 1:41.946 for fourth.

 

Desperate to keep his title hopes alive, Geerts powered his YZ250FM to the holeshot line and led the way for the first three laps of Race 1. A small mistake on Lap-4, where he stalled the engine going into a left-hand turn, cost him three positions and a potential race win. He ended up fourth at the checkered flag.

 

Watson got off to a fantastic start and emerged from turn-one inside the top-three. The ‘919’ took his time settling into his chosen race-lines but had his podium hopes spoiled by another rider that jumped from one side of the track to the other and landed on him.

 

After taking more than 150 kilograms of motorcycle and rider to the small of his back, the tall Brit courageously remounted his YZ250FM and put in a spirited ride to finish tenth.

 

In the second and final race it was the Hutten Metaal Yamaha Official EMX250’s Thibault Benistant who impressed. The ‘198’ ran in second position behind Tom Vialle for 11 laps before losing a position to the rider that eventually set the fastest lap of the race, Geerts.

 

With 8-minutes left on the clock, Geerts and Benistant could not believe their luck as they moved past Vialle, who had fallen from the lead.

 

Geerts took control of the race and was able to light the candles for the 13th time this season as the Race 2 winner.

 

In what was his second-ever MX2 Grand Prix, Benistant steered his GYTR kitted YZ250F to a remarkable second-place finish.

 

After finishing eighth in Race 1, Renaux put in an excellent performance for fifth and fifth overall.

 

The start is a crucial element of a good result in Grand Prix racing. With limited line choice at the tight and compact venue of Pietramurata, Watson’s surge from outside of the top-20, after a poor start, to sixth position was an astonishing display of the 23-year-old’s skillset.

 

Benistant fell in Race 1 when he clipped the rear wheel of another rider and only recovered for 15th. The 22-points scored for his career-best second place finish in the final race bumped the youngster up to sixth overall in the Grand Prix classification, 2-points ahead of Watson in eighth.

 

The penultimate round of the MX2 World Championship will take place in two-days’ time, on Wednesday 4th November, here in Pietramurata, Italy.

 

 

Jago Geerts

MX2 Grand Prix of Trentino Winner, 43-points

2nd MX2 Championship Standings, 620-points

“I am really happy with how the day went except for in the first heat when I stalled the bike, but in the second heat I was feeling really good on the track. My speed was good, and I was really happy. We had a really good day testing with the team on Wednesday, so I want to thank the crew for that and now I need to focus on keeping this rhythm.”

 

Ben Watson

8th MX2 Grand Prix of Trentino, 26-points

6th MX2 Championship Standings, 466-points

“On paper today was not good, especially after the last GP, but in terms of my riding, I was really happy with how it went. First race I had a good start, and then on the second lap I had a big crash with another rider that was completely out of my hands. I had to come from really far back to finish 10th which was not so bad. In the second race I got held up big time in the second corner. I came from really far back to sixth, which is really good on this track where it is really hard to pass, there is not much line choice. Overall, I was happy with the riding, just a little bit disappointed with the result.”

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