Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2’s Jago Geerts celebrated the 12th round of the FIM Motocross World Championship at the brand-new Xanadu-Arroyomolinos venue in Madrid, Spain, from the second step of the podium. Teammate Ben Watson finished seventh overall after another serving of tough luck in the opening race.
The disadvantages of running a one-day format at a brand-new venue were magnified. Both riders only had 40-minutes on track before the racing started. During this time, they had also to post their fastest lap, which left minimal time to make any significant changes to the bike. Geerts ended up qualifying in eighth, while Watson was not prepared to take any risk and wrapped up the session in 18th.
After a good jump off the gate in the opening race, Geerts quickly settled into fourth position after some typical first-lap bar-banging. The young Belgian set the fastest lap of the race on Lap-3 before sliding out in front of the pit-lane. A quick remount was made, but too much time was lost and the ‘193’ had to be content with fifth position at the flag.
Another unlucky start for Watson saw another rider fall in front of him at turn-four. The tall Brit had to man-handle his YZ250F out of a deep rut to rejoin the race at the back of the pack. Despite the challenge of coming through the field on a rough and rutty track, the ‘919’ managed to break into the top-10 with a ninth-place finish.
A quick change of the rear sprocket going into the final race worked in Geerts’ favour off the start with the Belgian ripping a fantastic holeshot ahead of the championship leader, Tom Vialle, followed by his teammate, Watson.
Geerts was punted out of the lead on Lap-1 but got his revenge when Vialle stalled his bike on the final lap. Gladly accepting the gift, the ‘193’ capitalized on the Frenchman’s error and stormed to his 10th race win of the season – 11th of his career.
Watson was not a fan of how the circuit had been watered and took his time to get comfortable. The Brit was shuffled back to sixth and despite his best efforts to finish inside the top-five, he had to make do with that position at the flag.
Both Geerts and Watson have retained their positions in the championship standings.
The next three rounds of the FIM Motocross World Championship will take place within the space of a week at a track 15-minutes from Geerts’ home in Belgium, Lommel.
Jago Geerts
2nd MX2 Grand Prix of Spain, 41-points
2nd MX2 World Championship Standings, 473-points
“The first heat I had a good start, but someone crashed in front of me and I lost some places, I finished fourth. The riding was okay, it could be a little bit better. In the second heat, Tom (Vialle) passed me and I just chased him the whole moto, then he made a small mistake and I could win. I am happy with how the day went; it was pretty good so now I am looking forward to the next round in Lommel. It’s always nice to go there because it’s really close to my home and I like the track.”
Ben Watson
7th MX2 Grand Prix of Spain, 27-points
7th MX2 World Championship Standings, 314-points
“Obviously today didn’t go how I wanted. I looked at the track yesterday and I liked the look of it, but I didn’t really know how the ground was going to chop up with the riders. It looked like a good circuit considering no one has been here. That’s the same for everybody. In qualifying, I struggled. I didn’t take any risk and if you want to be fast in Timed Practice you need to take a risk. So, I came out of qualifying with not a very good feeling, I was 18th. In the first race I was in a good position by I came down into a tight right hander, I was in a deep rut and a guy crashed in front of me, so I had nowhere to go. I came back to nine, it was so difficult to pass with the racing being as close as it is. Not what I wanted. I had a better start in the second race, but I thought the put water in strange places, I don’t think the track waterers had any experience. I didn’t feel good in the beginning, I kind of struggled and then got back to sixth. Not really what I wanted, but I know I’ve got some good races coming up.”
