Drama for Geerts, Vialle benefits!
Just when Jago Geerts seemed to have everything under control, things went wrong in the second moto. Geerts worked his ass off to limit the damage. Despite an excellent 7th place given the circumstances, Vialle was able to take full advantage. Vialle won the Finnish GP (2-1) ahead of Kay De Wolf and Jago Geerts.
After his qualifying victory yesterday, Jago Geerts proved his good form in the MX2 opening round of the Finnish GP. The Monster Energy Yamaha star rider rode smoothly to victory with a second lead over title rival Tom Vialle.
Head start for Geerts ahead of Vialle, Van de Moosdijk and De wolf. Vialle took advantage of a steering error by Geerts in the opening lap, but he immediately hit back hard! The World Championship leader then pushed hard for several laps to build up a lead of 4 seconds.
With the unchanged situation at the front, attention turned to the duel for P3 early in the race. Mikkel Haarup, who was 5th, was chasing Negaan Husqvarna duo Van de Moosdijk and De Wolf. Although the Dane first cut his teeth on De Wolf, he was then able to beat Kay's teammate Van de Moosdijk.
De Wolf finished a solid first series in third. Things went wrong for Haarup at the very end. The fast Dane crashed in the waves, lost fourth place and had to settle for P8. Van de Moosdijk was thus awarded fourth place.
Liam Everts hung 7th for a long time but finally had to bow to Kevin Horgmo. Due to Haarup's bad luck, Liamski still finished 7th in the wake of Thibault Benistant and Kevin Horgmo. The decisive second round starts at 15:10 PM!
Drama for Geerts and Van de Moosdijk
Jago Geerts second raced to the holeshot, but Everts, van de Moosdijk and Vialle were also well away. Things went wrong for Geerts in the first round. He went just a little too wide coming out of a left, slid away at the front and even got pinned under the bike for a moment. Liam Everts thus took the lead, but soon had to make way for Vialle, Van de Moosdijk and De Wolf.
Geerts' impressive recovery and a mistake by Vialle heralded an exciting and dramatic second half. 'The Jag' had lost about 30 seconds on his off-piste excursion. Driven to rectify the situation, he cut like a knife through butter. While planning an attack on Haarup - 7th at the time - the Big Van World MTX Kawasaki rider made a mistake. Geerts could no longer avoid Haarup and so they both went down! In the meantime, Van de Moosdijk, on the way to the overall victory, had good weather at the front.
The surprising twists were not over yet. Two laps before the end, Van de Moosdijk collapsed. Roan was knocked back to P3. Kay De Wolf smelled his chance to take the series victory. Whatever Kay tried, he just couldn't land a decisive attack! For example, ex-MX2 world champion Vialle was able to add 25 strategically important points to his credit. De Wolf finished second ahead of a disappointed Van de Moosdijk.
After a great heat, Liam Everts finished 4th. GasGas factory rider Simon Längenfelder finished fifth. There are still 100 points to be earned in the next two GPs. This means that the battle in the MX2 World Championship is far from over. Of the 23 point lead with which Geerts arrived in Finland, there are now 15 left. Vialle's second home race of the season next weekend in St-Jean d'Angely will therefore be extremely important!
MX2 Race 1
1. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), 35:36.173; 2. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), +0:13.983; 3. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:19.261; 4. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, Husqvarna), +0:26.318; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:41.242; 6. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Kawasaki), +0:41.439; 7. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:47.176; 8. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Kawasaki), +0:51.479; 9. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:57.633; 10. Andrea Adamo (ITA, GASGAS), +1:30.319; 11. Kay Karssemakers (NED, KTM), +1:32.859; 12. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +1:35.974; 13. Tom Guyon (FRA, KTM), +1:41.315; 14. Stephen Rubini (FRA, Honda), +1:55.668; 15. Marcel Stauffer (AUT, KTM), -1 lap(s); 16. Jakub Teresak (CZE, KTM), -1 lap(s); 17. Kimi Koskinen (FIN, GASGAS), -1 lap(s); 18. Kjell Verbruggen (NED, Kawasaki), -1 lap(s); 19. Joel Rizzi (GBR, Yamaha), -1 lap(s); 20. Leopold Ambjörnson (SWE, Husqvarna), -1 lap(s); 21. Albin Gerhardsson (SWE, Husqvarna), -5 lap(s); 22. Filip Olsson (SWE, Husqvarna), -14 lap(s);
MX2 Race 2
1. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 33:57.862; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:01.313; 3. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, Husqvarna), +0:17.544; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:21.667; 5. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), +0:27.197; 6. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Kawasaki), +0:28.570; 7. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), +0:50.002; 8. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:58.595; 9. Tom Guyon (FRA, KTM), +1:03.891; 10. No Banner (SLO, KTM), +1:13.468; 11. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Kawasaki), +1:18.670; 12. Stephen Rubini (FRA, Honda), +1:26.903; 13. Albin Gerhardsson (SWE, Husqvarna), +1:42.499; 14. Andrea Adamo (NOW, GASGAS), +2:00.320; 15. Joel Rizzi (GBR, Yamaha), +2:01.894; 16. Jacob Teresak (CZE, KTM), -1 lap(s); 17. Kjell Verbruggen (NED, Kawasaki), -1 lap(s); 18. Leopold Ambjörnson (SWE, Husqvarna), -1 lap(s); 19. Marcel Stauffer (AUT, KTM), -10 lap(s); 20. Kay Karssemakers (NED, KTM), -11 lap(s); 21. Kimi Koskinen (FIN, GASGAS), -16 lap(s);
MX2 GP Finland
1. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 47 points; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 42 p.; 3. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 39 p.; 4. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, HUS), 38 p.; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 32 p.; 6. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, CAW), 30 p.; 7. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 29 p.; 8. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 28 p.; 9. Mikkel Haarup (THEN, COW), 23 p.; 10. Tom Guyon (FRA, KTM), 20 p.; 11. No Banner (SLO, KTM), 20 p.; 12. Andrea Adamo (ITA, GAS), 18 p.; 13. Stephen Rubini (FRA, HON), 16 p.; 14. Carsemakers (NED, KTM), 11 p.; 15. Jacob Teresak (CZE, KTM), 10 p.; 16. Albin Gerhardsson (SWE, HUS), 8 p.; 17. Joel Rizzi (GBR, YAM), 8 p.; 18. Marcel Stauffer (AUT, KTM), 8 p.; 19. Kjell Verbruggen (DOWN, CAW), 7 p.; 20. Leopold Ambjörnson (SWE, HOUSE), 4 p.; 21. Kimi Koskinen (FINE, GAS), 4 p.; 22. Philip Olsson (SWE, HUS), 0 p.;
Motocross World Championship standings after 16 laps
1. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 676 points; 2. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 661 p.; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 535 p.; 4. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, CAW), 476 p.; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 434 p.; 6. Mikkel Haarup (THEN, COW), 410 p.; 7. Kay de Wolf (DOWN, HOUSE), 390 p.; 8. Andrea Adamo (ITA, GAS), 383 p.; 9. Stephen Rubini (FRA, HON), 358 p.; 10. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 257 p.; 11. Isaac Gifting (SWE, KTM), 255 p.; 12. No Banner (SLO, KTM), 244 p.; 13. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, GAS), 172 p.; 14. Kay Karssemakers (NED, KTM), 164 p.; 15. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, HUS), 150 p.; 16. Tom Guyon (FRA, KTM), 147 p.; 17. Hakon Fredriksen (NOR, HON), 125 p.; 18. Conrad Mewse (GBR, KTM), 113 p.; 19. Jeremy Sydow (GER, KTM), 104 p.; 20. Jakub Teresak (CZE, KTM), 90 p.; 21. Petr Polak (CZE, HON), 84 p.; 22. Kevin Brumann (SUI, YAM), 82 p.; 23. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 49 p.; 24. Filip Olsson (SWE, HUS), 43 p.; 25. Guillem Farres (ESP, KTM), 38 p.; 26. Tomas Kohut (SVK, KTM), 38 p.; 27. Joel Rizzi (GBR, YAM), 37 p.; 28. Gianluca Facchetti (ITA, KTM), 32 p.; 29. Albin Gerhardsson (SWE, HUS), 30 p.; 30. Marcel Stauffer (AUT, KTM), 26 p.; 31. Valerio Lata (ITA, KTM), 26 p.; 32. Delvintor Alfarizi (INA, HON), 23 p.; 33. Jorgen-Matthias Talviku (EST, HUS), 23 p.; 34. Leopold Ambjörnson (SWE, HUS), 23 p.; 35. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, YAM), 21 p.; 36. Bastian Boegh Damm (DEN, KTM), 21 p.; 37. Ananda rigi Aditya (INA, HUS), 19 p.; 38. Pierre Goupillon (FRA, KTM), 19 p.; 39. Kjell Verbruggen (NED, KAW), 19 p.; 40. Noah Ludwig (GER, KTM), 19 p.; 41. Diva Ismayana (INA, KAW), 18 p.; 42. Nakami Vidi Makarim (INA, HUS), 18 p.; 43. Dharwin Lingam (MAS, KAW), 17 p.; 44. Pablo Jeremias Pascual (ARG, KTM), 16 p.; 45. Luciano Righi (ARG, HUS), 16 p.; 46. Tim Edberg (SWE, YAM), 14 p.; 47. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, KTM), 13 p.; 48. Fermin Ciccimarra (ARG, YAM), 12 p.; 49. Maxime Grau (FRA, HUS), 11 p.; 50. David Braceras (ESP, KTM), 9 p.; 51. James Carpenter (GBR, KTM), 7 p.; 52. Samuel Nilsson (ESP, KTM), 7 p.; 53. Glen Meier (DEN, KTM), 7 p.; 54. Kimi Koskinen (FIN, GAS), 4 p.; 55. Christopher Mills (GBR, KTM), 4 p.; 56. Florent Lambillon (BEL, SUZ), 4 p.; 57. Dorian Werlé (FRA, KTM), 4 p.; 58. Mike Gwerder (SUI, KTM), 4 p.; 59. Maximilian Spies (GER, KTM), 4 p.; 60. Nico Greutmann (GER, HUS), 3 p.; 61. Adam Collings (GBR, KTM), 2 p.; 62. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 2 p.; 63. Bobby Bruce (GBR, GAS), 2 p.; 64. Eric Tomas (ESP, YAM), 1 p.;
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