Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP’s Andrea Bonacorsi has placed seventh overall at the MXGP of The Netherlands in Arnhem. Despite a costly fall in Race One, the Italian finished seventh, then followed that up with ninth in Race Two. Making his long-awaited return to MXGP, Jago Geerts just missed out on a top-10 finish with 11th overall at what will be one of the toughest events on the calendar. For Calvin Vlaanderen, a first-turn crash in Race One limited him to a 14th place finish while suffering from severe pain in his left knee. Vlaanderen then made the difficult decision not to line up for Race Two.
From the hardpack and rugged, edgy race surface in Uddevalla, Sweden last weekend, Arnhem in The Netherlands today was completely different, with its deep sand, big holes, and ever-changing lines serving up another serious test of man and machine.
Bonacorsi was eager to compete in Arnhem as the Italian is very capable in sand and in recent weeks, he’d developed some new settings for his Yamaha YZ450FM machine with the team. From outside the top 10 in Race One, the 21-year-old quickly broke free from a mid-pack battle to move into seventh before falling and dropping to eighth. With just a few laps remaining, Bona regrouped, repassed Kevin Horgmo, and came agonisingly close to passing Jeremy Seewer for sixth but came up just short at the finish.
Despite the confidence boost from his performance in the opening race, Bonacorsi took a little longer to get into his rhythm in Race Two but when he did, he passed a rival every lap for five laps to move from 14th to ninth by mid-race. However, eighth was just out of reach at the end and with his ninth-place finish, he secured seventh overall to maintain 12th in the Championship Standings.
Making his MXGP debut after months of recovery and rehabilitation following his crash at the season opener in March, Geerts certainly impressed at what will be one of the more physically demanding Grands Prix of the year. An impressive ninth in the opening race was followed up by a 13th in Race Two for 11th overall and as the Belgian spends more time aboard his Yamaha YZ450FM, his speed and endurance will only continue to improve.
Vlaanderen was frustratingly ruled out of the MXGP of The Netherlands after Race One. Following a first-turn fall in the opening race, Vlaanderen experienced pain in his left knee but showcased his remarkable determination by completing the race in 14th. However, he was unable to line up for Race Two due to the severe pain and discomfort.
Further updates regarding the extent of Vlaanderen’s injury and his potential return to action will be shared on Yamaha-Racing.com in due course. As it stands, the 28-year-old remains fourth in the Championship Standings.
After another mixed weekend for the team, the next event on the MXGP World Championship calendar is the MXGP of Switzerland next weekend on August 24-25.
Click here for all the results from the MXGP of The Netherlands.
Andrea Bonacorsi
7th MXGP of The Netherlands, 26-points
12th MXGP Championship Standings, 248-points
“I feel really good about today. I didn’t have the best starts, but I worked my way through pretty well in both races. In the first race I was running seventh and trying to pass for sixth and then I crashed with two laps to go. But I caught back up to sixth at the finish although I ran out of time to make a pass. In the second one I took a little too long to find my flow and ended up ninth for seventh overall. The changes we’ve made with the team worked really well so I’m happy with the progress and looking forward to the rest of the season.”
Jago Geerts
11th MXGP of The Netherlands, 19-points
32nd MXGP Championship Standings, 19-points
“I’m happy about my weekend. I had good starts in both races and finished inside the top 10 in the first one in ninth. Then I was 13th in Race Two, so for my first GP in a long time I can be happy. My speed is good for the first 10 to 15 minutes, but it’s difficult to maintain it after so much time off. But with time and more races we’ll get there and I’m really happy to be back at the races with the team.”
Calvin Vlaanderen
17th MXGP of The Netherlands, 7-points
4th MXGP Championship Standings, 550-points
Photocredits – Fullspectrum Media
