The incredible Dolomite mountains provided a picturesque backdrop for the MXGP of Trentino, round 14 of the FIM Motocross World Championship, that saw Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2’s Jago Geerts make a long-overdue return to the podium. The Belgian finished second in both races for second overall. Maxime Renaux continues to lead the MX2 World Championship by 92-points after salvaging enough points to finish eighth overall.
Another hotly contested Timed Practice session saw Geerts and Renaux set the pace with near-matching lap times. Geerts posted a 1’38.637 to go pole for the fourth time this season, edging the championship leader who ended the session in second position with a 1’38.643 lap time. During the session, Thibault Benistant hyper-extended his left knee but managed to post a 1’39.819 lap for ninth.
In the opening race of the day, it was ‘The Rookie’ Benistant who got off to the best start, exiting the first turn inside the top-three with Geerts in tow. Geerts took a conservative approach to the first few laps of the race before launching an attack on Benistant and the rider in second, Isak Gifting.
On lap-8, Geerts passed his teammate and reeled in Gifting to challenge second position.
After a gripping bar-to-bar battle with the Swede, Geerts forced a pass on the final lap and secured second position.
Renaux finished sixth, which was a good result for the Frenchman after hitting the first sector of the opening lap in 18th position. The ‘959’ missed his jump off the gate and was squeezed through the ‘s’-bend of first corners, but soon set about his race and carving through the pack. At the flag, he was awarded 16 points for his efforts. Benistant was unable to finish due to a technical issue.
In the final race of the day, Geerts got off to another fantastic start and emerged from turn-one in fourth position. The young Belgian quickly made a pass for third and eventually inherited second from a fallen Rene Hofer two laps later.
As Geerts challenged the defending World Champion Tom Vialle for the victory, Renaux was faced with the task of limiting the damage after crashing at turn-one. Riding with his heart on his sleeve, the red-plate holder, Renaux, put in a heroic ride around the one-lined ‘Arco’ circuit to salvage eighth.
Benistant reaggravated his knee injury when he dabbed his leg and fell from ninth in race two. The ‘198’ remounted his YZ250FM outside of the top-20 and bravely fought through the pain barrier to finish 17th. At the end of a dramatic and challenging Grand Prix of Trentino, Renaux continues to lead the MX2 World Championship by 92-points over Geerts. Geerts and Benistant have maintained their positions in the series and are second and seventh, respectively.
The Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 team will back on the gate here in Pietramurata in two days, with the 15th round of the 2021 series taking place on Wednesday 27th October.