Nederlands
Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2’s Thibault Benistant maintained his strong and consistent start to the FIM MX2 Motocross World Championship with a fighting fifth overall in Lugo, Spain, while teammate Rick Elzinga wrapped up the sixth round of the series eighth overall.
After celebrating his first MX2 Qualifying Race win of the season, Benistant made the most of Pole Position by charging to an incredible holeshot in Race One. From there, the ‘198’ led the way for two laps before making a small mistake which allowed the defending World Champion Andrea Adamo into the lead. Able to maintain his strong pace, Benistant maintained second before dropping to third, but suffered a massive high-side with just three laps remaining. Fortunate to escape injury, the tenacious Frenchman re-joined the race in fifth and held his position to the finish.
A little shaken from his fall in Race One, Benistant eased into Race Two. After starting outside of the top-10, the 21-year-old quickly felt at one with his Yamaha YZ250FM and began a race-long charge forward. He eventually made a pass for sixth on the penultimate lap and finished in that position, which was enough to round of the top five in the overall classification.
One week on from his maiden podium finish in MX2, Elzinga had high hopes of replicating that success in Spain. However, mistakes in both races combined with an ‘off feeling’ resulted in two eighth place finishes.
As a result, both Benistant and Elzinga have maintained their positions in the MX2 Championship Standings. Benistant is fourth, just 3-points shy of third, while Elzinga remains seventh.
The Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 team now looks forward to the MXGP of France, which will take place next weekend, on May 18th and 19th in Saint Jean d’Angely.
Thibault Benistant: “Of course, I’m a little disappointed with today after winning the Qualifying Race yesterday. I had a really good start in Race One and ran in second for a while, but I was riding a little tight. I was passed and then I had a big crash. I got up in fifth and then stayed there to the finish. I had a bad start in Race Two but after a few laps I felt really good on the bike, the best I’ve felt all year, so we have something positive to build on for the next races.”
Rick Elzinga: “It’s been a difficult weekend for me as all weekend I just felt a little ‘off’. I was struggling with my riding and made too many mistakes in Race One and ended up eighth, but that could have been a fifth or a sixth. Race Two was similar and I was eighth again for eighth overall. All weekend I was just missing a little bit of speed, but I guess I was consistent. I’m already looking forward to progressing next weekend.”