Hutten Metaal Yamaha Official EMX250’s Thibault Benistant extended his EMX250 Championship lead after dominating the third round of the EMX250 Championship with an impressive 1-1 result in Kegums, Latvia.
Benistant started the day with the second-fastest lap time in Qualifying, only 0.241 off of his Hutten Metaal Yamaha Official EMX250 teammate Gianluca Facchetti who went Pole with a 1:53.038 lap time.
Occupying the first two gates, both Hutten Metaal Yamaha riders got their GYTR kitted YZ250Fs off to incredible starts with Benistant exiting turn-one in second position and Facchetti in fifth. Polesitter, Facchetti, took full advantage of his good start and held onto the front runners for 9-laps until an unfortunate technical error forced him out of the race.
Buoyed by his maiden EMX250 race and round victory here in Kegums two days ago, Benistant charged to another convincing race victory after an exciting mid-race battle with French compatriot Tom Guyon. He eventually won the race by 11-seconds.
The start of the final race could not have gone any better for the Championship Leader, Benistant, who ripped a massive holeshot onboard on his GYTR kitted YZ250F and led the first lap. After a brief challenge from the former series leader Bastian Boegh Damm on the opening lap, Benistant picked up the pace and on Lap-4 he passed Boegh Damm and inched away for his third EMX250 race win.
Unlucky in Race 1, Facchetti responded well in Race 2 by going bar-to-bar with some of EMX250s main protagonists for the first 20-minutes before fading back to 12th. 9-points awarded for 12th bumped the 18-year-old Italian up to 18th overall for the day.
Back-to-back round victories and a perfect score for Benistant at the EMX250 round of Riga sees the 18-year-old stretch out a comfortable 24-point lead over Isak Gifting. Facchetti is 14th in the championship chase.
The Hutten Metaal Yamaha Official EMX250 team has three days off before lining up again in Kegums for the fourth round of the EMX250 Championship on Saturday 14th August.
Thibault Benistant
1st EMX250 Round of Riga, 50-points
EMX250 Championship Leader, 129-points
“I am really happy! I managed to take the holeshot and I can not ask for more than this. We made a really nice job in winter with my trainer, so I really have to thank my team. I did get passed by Bough Dam, but I looked at his lines and then managed to pass him again and take the victory. I am really happy.”
