Yamaha secures third consecutive MX2 Manufacturer's world title as Geerts falls short in Turkey
By Team TMX on 4th Sep 22
MXGP Jago Geerts Afyon Thibault Benistant Rick Elzinga
Jago Geerts fell agonisingly short of winning his first FIM Motocross World Championship title at the MXGP of Turkey. However, his series points total with team-mate Thibault Benistant helped Yamaha secure a third consecutive MX2 Manufacturers world title.
Geerts arrived in Afyonkarahisar as the MX2 red plate holder with a slender two-point advantage over his only remaining rival Tom Vialle.
Starting from P2, Geerts narrowly missed the jump in the opening race of the day and was squeezed going into turn one. The #93 barged his way into the top-five and, soon after, into second before falling on lap 10.
The Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 ace made a quick remount and charged hard to the flag but lost too much time in the incident to challenge the race leader, Vialle, and had to settle for second.
Vialle and Geerts were again battling at the tip of the MX2 field in race two. The maths were simple, whoever won the moto would take the MX2 championship crown.
Sadly for Geerts, a mistake from Red Bull KTM's Vialle left the closely following Belgian nowhere to go. Geerts ploughed into the #28 bike and was thrown over the handlebars. Vialle was able to remount first and Geerts' championship hopes were gone.
"Honestly, Im very disappointed," said Geerts. "I really cant 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."
This season, the Hans Corvers-led Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 team celebrated an incredible 25 years in blue. Thanks to the efforts of its two riders, Geerts and Benistant, the team celebrated nine pole positions, 16 race wins, and 22 podium finishes, seven of which were Grand Prix victories. Both riders ended the season inside the top five, with Geerts taking his third consecutive silver medal and Benistant finishing fifth. As a result, Yamaha has retained the Manufacturers world title for a third straight season.
Thibault Benistant: "There were some positive points and negative points this weekend. I felt good in Qualifying but had a bad start in the first race today. I stretched my injured shoulder, and this made the races difficult. I just had to ride through the pain. I worked really hard with Yamahas physio to have it as strong as possible this weekend. We did what we could, but it was not enough to take away the pain.
"In the end, this was the last GP of the year and I managed to take some positive points, so now I just look forward to recovering and coming back strong next year."
While disappointment for Geerts will take some of the shine off the MX2 Manufacturers world title, the team are in a strong position heading into the 2023 season. Geerts in his final MX2 season and Benistant will be joined by the EMX250 champion Rick Elzinga next year and will be one of the hot favourites for silverware.
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