Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2’s Jago Geerts made a remarkable return to the podium at the 10th round of the FIM Motocross World Championship in Sumbawa, Indonesia. The former championship leader, who suffered a fractured wrist a month ago, finished third, 3-points clear of teammate Thibault Benistant, who has closed the gap in the championship fight by rounding out the top five.
The MX2 riders faced a gruelling test in Sumbawa, with sweltering heat and humidity adding to the challenge of navigating a fast-paced, loamy, and bumpy circuit. Geerts, despite feeling under the weather and racing with a fever, managed to secure an impressive holeshot in Race One but fell from the lead on lap two. The Belgian rider remounted in seventh and battled his way to a fifth-place finish.
At the same time, Elzinga followed Geerts closely around turn one and held third place for six laps before fading back to 12th. Benistant, meanwhile, fought back from a mid-pack start to finish sixth.
Race Two kicked off with a chaotic start, as Geerts and Benistant went bar-to-bar with some fierce competition and ultimately gave their all to finish third and fourth, respectively.
Feeling the effects of the weather, Elzinga did his best to secure 13th place, and was classified 12th overall.
After an intense round of racing in challenging conditions, Benistant has narrowed the gap in the MX2 title fight to 5-points, while Geerts has climbed to fourth in the standings. Elzinga remains 12th.
The next round of the FIM Motocross World Championship will take place in Lombok, Indonesia, on Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd of July.
Geerts: “I came here expecting to be on the podium, but on Saturday I woke up with a fever so that made it really difficult for me this weekend, struggling with my fitness in this heat. Today I felt a little bit better, but still not great, so I am really happy to make the podium. From here, I will focus on resting and recovering so that I can come back fighting fit in Lombok.”
Benistant: “In the first race I had a really bad start and then had to come back through the pack to fifth. In the second race, the start was much better, but again, I always struggle a bit in the first 15 minutes of the race, so this is something I will work on to improve. I felt really good at the end of Race Two, but I need to find that same rhythm and feeling at the start of the race. Anyway, I am still quite consistent, which is important. I keep taking good points for the championship, and this is positive.”
Elzinga: “This weekend started really well for me. I felt good on the track straight away, and you saw that with my time in Timed Practice. In Race One, I got a really good start and stayed in third for about 10-minutes, but slowly started to fade back, and after 20-minutes, I had no energy at all. I really struggled to race in the heat this weekend, so 12th overall was the best I could do.”
Words and images: Yamaha
