Having turned 18-years-old only 8 days ago, Benistant is already showing incredible maturity and racecraft despite his tender age. The young Frenchman had his GYTR kitted YZ250F flying around the flat, fast and sandy Kegums circuit. He dominated the Free and Timed practice sessions and was the convincing winner of Race 1 after battling from a mid-pack start to win by 13-seconds over the runner-up.
In the final race of the day, the 198’s form and precision was just as incredible as he patiently pushed forward from fifth position to finish second after a nail-biting last-lap battle for the lead. As a result of his astonishing performance in both races, he now leads the championship by 5-points.
Hutten Metaal Yamaha Official EMX250’s Gianluca Facchetti also showed potential in the Free and Timed Practice sessions as the fourth fastest rider in Free and fifth fastest in Timed. Irrespective of his natural speed around Kegums, the young Italian struggled to bounce back from a crash in the early stages of the opening race but was able to end his day with a strong performance in Race 2 where he finished seventh.
Last year’s winner of the bLU cRU FIM Europe YZ125 Cup Mairis Pumpurs swapped his MJC Yamaha Official GYTR kitted YZ125 for a YZ250F this weekend. Despite struggling physically with the heavier and faster machine during the 25 minute plus 2-lap duration of each race, the 16-year-old Latvian shone with a top-five time in Qualifying and was able to claim 6-points for 15th position in Race 1.
Facchetti remains 13th in the Championship chase after a fiery comeback in the final race of the day bumped him up to ninth overall for the day, while Pumpurs is now 28th in the championship after finishing 23rd overall in his first ever EMX250 race.
The next round of the EMX250 Championship will take place in two days time, on Tuesday 11th August, right here in Kegums, Latvia.
