Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2’s Jago Geerts reclaimed the MX2 championship lead after a dominant performance at the MX2 Grand Prix of Latvia, where he went 1-1 for his second Grand Prix win of the season. Thibault Benistant rounded out the top five after a top-three finish in the opening race and a hard charge to 10th position in Race 2.
Geerts was back on form at the Zelta Zirgs circuit in Latvia for the sixth round of the MX2 World Championship. On Saturday, the recently turned 22-year-old was in a league of his own as he stormed to a flag-to-flag victory in qualifying to secure Pole Position for the fourth time this season. At the same time, Benistant was caught in a racing incident at turn two and had to fight back to ninth.
Riding a wave of confidence, Geerts was untouchable in the opening race of the Latvian Grand Prix. The Belgian ace emerged from turn one in second position and stalked the early race leader, Simon Laengenfelder, for the first 12-minutes before making a pass.
After taking the lead on lap 5, the ‘93’ sailed to an easy race win.
At the same time, Benistant started inside the top five and used his incredible race craft to chip away at the riders ahead. After a steady and carefully calculated ride, the crafty Frenchman made a fantastic pass on Laengenfelder for third with two laps remaining.
A third-place start in the second race of the weekend saw Geerts put in another sensational performance. The ‘93’ impressively powered his YZ250FM around the outside of Mattia Guadagnini on lap-3 and continued to build his pace as he whittled down a 5-second gap to the early leader Kevin Horgmo.
With 5-minutes left on the clock, the Yamaha ace set the fastest lap of the race and made a great pass for the lead on lap 11. Geerts continued his Latvian masterclass and charged to another incredible race win – it was his sixth of the season and 26th of his career.
Benistant brawled to a top-10 finish after starting from the back of the pack.
After an incredible MX2 debut two weeks ago, Hutten Metaal Yamaha Official EMX250’s duo of Rick Elzinga and Andrea Bonacorsi were back in the pro-ranks for a second stab at scoring points. Once again, the current EMX250 Championship Leader, Elzinga, made an impression. The tall Dutchman got off to another phenomenal start in Race 1 and ran the pace of the top MX2 riders to finish an incredible seventh position in just his second-ever Grand Prix. At the same time, Bonacorsi did well to score 3-points for 17th. However, both riders made a few too many mistakes in Race 2. Elzinga still managed to finish in the points. He was 18th, which placed him in 13th overall, while Bonacorsi finished 25th for 22nd overall.
The next round of the FIM Motocross World Championship will take place on the weekend of May 8th in Maggiora, Italy.
Jago Geerts
MX2 Grand Prix of Latvia Winner, 50-points
MX2 Championship Leader, 244-points
“It was a really nice day for me. I got two really good starts and managed to stay out of trouble the whole day, which was good after what happened two weeks ago. I am just really happy with my speed and the way I was riding, and to get the two moto wins. I just really have to thank the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 team, my family and all of the people I have around me. I hope we can continue like this, and I look forward to the next few rounds.”
Thibault Benistant
5th MX2 Grand Prix of Latvia, 31-points
13th MX2 Championship Standings, 94-points
“We have some positive points and some negative points to take away from today, but overall it was more positive. I am a little bit disappointed about the result because the first race was really good to finish third. The second one, I had a bad start and to fight hard to come back through. Going forward, I need to be more consistent and then I know the podiums will come.”
