Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2’s duo of Jago Geerts and Thibault Benistant ended a thrilling Monster Energy MXGP of France, round 10 of the FIM Motocross World Championship, on the second and third steps of the podium.
The rough and bumpy uphills and steep and rutty downhills of Ernee suited Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2’s duo Geerts and Benistant perfectly. Both riders proved their potency with lap times inside the top three in the Free and Timed Practice sessions.
A wicked storm inundated the Ernee circuit making for a wet and challenging qualifying race. Benistant bode his time and cleverly tip-toed around the circuit for an easy third, while Geerts did not complete a lap after crashing at turn one – he was classified 25th.
Starting from the outside gate due to the Qualifying Race result, Geerts phenomenally used all the power and torque of his YZ250FM to make it to the first corner inside the top-five, while Benistant experienced an unusual issue on the gate and missed the drop completely.
Geerts made some quick passes on the opening lap, determined to keep the early leaders in sight. Despite nursing a stiff and sore shoulder, the ‘93’ wasted no time blitzing past the poleman Simon Laengenfelder and Kevin Horgmo to take second position before reeling in the French fan favourite Tom Vialle.
At the halfway mark, Geerts fell in the right-hand turn before the finish line while challenging the leader but bounced back with a vengeance and put in a pulsating performance to finish 1.4 seconds from Vialle at the flag. Benistant powered his YZ250FM through the pack as fast as possible, and managed to salvage eighth.
In the final race of the day, the 39,000 fans in attendance were treated to an entertaining three-way battle between two Frenchmen and a Belgian. Vialle took the holeshot but was quickly passed by his equally popular compatriot, Benistant, as Geerts stormed from seventh up to third.
On lap-3, Geerts passed the championship leader, Vialle, and set his sights on his fast-moving teammate, eventually setting the fastest lap of the race with three laps remaining. After affirming he was the fastest man on track, Geerts got close to Benistant and challenged the win but was ultimately refused victory with a lapped rider slowing his pace on the final lap. Benistant held on for an inch-perfect race win and catapulted himself onto the third step of the podium, while Geerts was denied the Grand Prix win by 1-point.
Geerts remains second in the MX2 Championship Standings. He is 11-points shy of Vialle, while Benistant has moved up to ninth.
The next round of the FIM Motocross World Championship will mark the third of three back-to-back Grands Prix, and it will take place at another classic old school circuit in Teutschenthal, Germany – on June 11th and 12th.
Jago Geerts
2nd MX2 Grand Prix of France, 44-points
2nd MXGP Championship Standings, 416-points
“I am quite happy with today, especially after yesterday’s crash; I was not even sure I could ride. The physio did a really good and I managed two times second. It was quite difficult off the start, I was really far outside, but I managed to take two pretty good starts and finished two times second. Overall it was a good day and I will now focus on taking points back in the championship next weekend in Germany.”
Thibault Benistant
3rd MX2 Grand Prix of France, 34-points
9th MX2 Championship Standings, 221-points
“The weekend overall was quite good for me. I was feeling really good in Free Practice, Timed Practice and the Qualifying Racing. Today was a bit emotional because I had a small issue on the start in Race 1, so I could not start with the other guys. So, this was a little bit frustrating and I had to fight really hard to come back as fast as possible. In the second moto I just gave everything, and it was just amazing with all the fans cheering and I felt so good on the bike, I just wanted to win that race so bad, and I managed, so it felt amazing.”
