Video: The title deciding moments in MX2
It was the title that would feel the best to win and the worse to lose, such was the intense competition and sensational speed of long term rivals, Jago Geerts and Tom Vialle, throughout a rollercoaster MX2 world championship season, but in the end it was Vialle who took the title in part thanks to his own crash in that captivating final moto!
But Vialle did win four of the last five motos and beat Jago Geerts in all five with Geerts having two costly seventh place finishes including crashing out of the lead in Finland on a track he had no equal – that race was won by Vialle and that turned the whole momentum of the series.
When his back was against the wall, Vialle performed ,but even he admitted that he got a bit of luck in the last moto when he went down, thinking he’d lost the title to Jago only to see his Belgian rival get tripped up by the wayward KTM and ultimately handing Vialle a 5 second advantage!
See the pivotal moments of an incredible final moto below:
Vialle said: “Unbelievable. That was the hardest race of my career. I didn’t get the best start in the second race, but I passed Kay and Thibault and was second behind Jago. I felt good actually and then after two laps, I passed Jago on the start straight. Then Jago was pushing a lot, he passed me two times but I passed him back and then I had a little tip over, and I crashed… When I crashed, I thought, this is it, it’s finished, because we were both so fast, but when I saw that Jago crashed with me, I thought “no way” this is not possible and I managed to get going quickly. It was crazy and I was lucky there a little bit, but that is part of the game. It was a long race eventually, I was watching the clock a lot. I am happy, it was a tough season and to finish like this is so nice”.
A dejected Geerts said: “Honestly, I’m very disappointed. I really can’t believe my luck. I felt good on the track today and gave everything. In the first race I missed the start a little bit and then had a little crash, but still finished second. In the second race, I was just really unlucky with Tom crashing right in front of me and I could not avoid his bike. It cost me a lot of time, and then I had to push so hard to come back that I fell again, and from there it was game-over.”
“”I would rather go home immediately now and relax. But losing is also part of the sport and do you want to know how I feel? It’s a sour pill to swallow when you know you are the fastest rider on the track and the decision comes only in the last laps. Second for the third time in the World Championship MX2. Thanks to all of you for your support.”
Image: Niek Kamper
Words: Jonathan McCready
