GEERTS – CHASING THE RED PLATE

It isn’t hard to be impressed with Monster Energy Yamaha MX2 factory rider Jago Geerts as is the man of the moment in the MX2 class. While his injury from the French Grand Prix saw him go from having a large point lead, to being 63 points behind, it was easy to write him off, but since his surprising return at the MNC MXGP of Sumbawa-Indonesia, he has reduced that lead with MX2 Championship leader Red Bull KTM Factory’s Andrea Adamo to just 13 points as they head into Finland this weekend. 

The quiet, but very talented Belgian rider is more than impressed with his current form, and his points haul at home at Lommel last weekend gave him every reason to be proud of his current situation.

"60-points this weekend,” Geerts said last weekend. “And in front of my home crowd, to win three races, it’s an amazing feeling. I felt good on the track all weekend, and actually, as the weekend went on, I kept feeling better and better. The second race in particular, I felt so good out there and didn’t make any mistakes, so hopefully, I can continue like this for the rest of the season and be in the fight for the title."

While Geerts is happy with how the 2023 MX2 championship is now going, his team owner, Hans Corvers is over the moon with the current situation, considering that after the MXGP of France, his rider was possibly going to lose another shot at a MX2 World Title, before he moves up to the MXGP class in 2024.

“Yes,” Corvers said. “It is his last year in MX2, and everyone expects him to fight for the title, after fighting with Maxime (Renaux) and Tom (Vialle) for the last few MX2 titles. Then we broke the wrist, and we thought it was over. To miss the two Indonesian rounds, it would have been over, but it was a miracle that he could come back in 23 days. Thanks to the surgeon that he could come back in that time, ride a GP and collect 23 points. So, we came back on track, 63 points behind and then you have to attack. You can’t lose points anymore, you have to attack, you have to fight. We came to Lommel, 40 points behind and we thought, if we can get 10 points back in Lommel, that should be really nice, but we got a gift in Lommel, because 27 points in one GP, that is a lot. So, our team, Jago, the family and the fans, everyone is really, really happy how it went in Lommel. Just 13 points behind with six races to go means that it will be a battle until the end”

So, with both Geerts and Corvers smiling in Finland this weekend, it will take a lot more of those 60 points scoring weekends by Geerts to finally see a Belgian rider be crowned MX2 World Champion, and we know as Corver mentioned that Andrea Adamo won’t be just handing the points lead to Geerts.

Photo Credit: Yamaha