The high-speed uphills and steep, rough and rutty downhills of Faenza suited Renaux down to the ground. The talented Frenchman rocketed to the top of the leader board in the Qualifying Practice and went pole for the first time in his career, while Geerts rounded out the top-five.
In the opening race, Geerts used the power of his YZ250FM to chase the championship leader, Tom Vialle, uphill to turn-one with Renaux in his wake. The Belgian knows he is a major title contender but also realizes the importance of remaining calm. He now places a bigger emphasis on consistency and valuable championship points over leading races, which is why he sat conservatively behind the early race leader for the half of the race.
On Lap-8, Vialle crashed out of the lead and handed Geerts an easy race victory ahead of Renaux who finished in second place.
In Race 2, the ‘193’ rocketed out of the gate to clinch his third holeshot award this season but was quickly nudged back to second position by an ambitious Renaux who blasted into the lead and never looked back.
Renaux was unmatched in the final race and impressively led all 17-Laps for a convincing race victory, while Geerts finished third after he was demoted by Vialle on the opening lap.
With Renaux and Geerts mounting the top two steps of the podium, Yamaha has a healthy 20-point lead in the Manufacturers Standings, while Geerts has closed the gap to the top of the championship to 3-points and Renaux has strengthened his grip on third.
Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2’s Ben Watson crashed out of a top notch position in the opening race and could not finish after damaging his front brake in the incident. The Brit was bumped up to 14th overall in the Grand Prix classification after finishing ninth in the second and final outing.
The next round of the FIM Motocross World Championship will take place here in Faenza, Italy, in two-days’ time, on September 9th.
For full results from the MX2 Grand Prix of Italy, click here.
