15-04-2024	MXGP News
Impressive second for Benistant at MXGP of Trentino as Bonacorsi delivers career best result

Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2’s Thibault Benistant returned to form at round four of the MX2 World Championship with an impressive runner-up finish at the MXGP of Trentino. Adding to the team’s success in Pietramurata, Italy, was Andrea Bonacorsi, who delivered a stunning career-best result of sixth overall in front of his home crowd. At the same time, Rick Elzinga put in a hard-charge for ninth overall.

In Race One, Benistant got off to a great start and ran third before passing Sascha Coenen on Lap 12. Continuing to ride with a high pace, the French sensation closed in on the eventual race winner, Kay de Wolf, during the final laps of the race and crossed the line just under four seconds adrift of victory. 

Another strong start in Race Two saw Benistant quickly engage in a battle for a place on the podium. Holding fifth until just past the halfway point of the race, Benistant capitalised on a mistake by Mikkel Haarup and moved into fourth. From there, the 198 chased home his teammate Bonacorsi and secured fourth for second overall. As a result, he has regained third position in the MX2 Championship Standings. 

Bonacorsi, spurred on by his passionate home crowd, delivered a career-best race and overall result in Pietramurata. Despite having a rider fall in front of him at turn one, the 20-year-old put in a spirited ride through the field to finish 12th in Race One. 

In Race Two, ‘Bona’ emerged from the first corner in second and immediately gave chase to the early leader. After slipping to third on lap seven, he maintained his impressive pace and kept the position to the flag. Following his breakout ride, Bonacorsi maintains 12th in the championship chase, but has closed the gap to the top 10. 

One week on from his impressive sixth-place finish in Sardinia, Elzinga carried that same speed and momentum into round four and placed fourth in Race One. An unfortunate crash at the start of Race Two gave the Dutchman a lot of work to do on a circuit that proved challenging to pass on. Maintaining his razor sharp focus, the 44 fought back to 13th, which was enough to maintain ninth position in the MX2 Championship Standings. 

The next round of the FIM Motocross World Championship will take place in Agueda, Portugal, on the weekend of May 5th. 

Click here for all the results from the MXGP of Trentino. 

“It wasn’t an easy weekend for me despite being on the box. I rode well, but there is still room for improvement and to show what I am really capable of. I know my speed can be better. Of course, I’m happy to finally be on the podium for the first time this year; it’s a big step in the right direction. But I want more, so we will keep working. It’s still a long season.”

— Thibault Benistant

“Today I was able to show what I can do with a good start. I know I can run up front in MX2 and I proved that I can in race two. I’m really proud of myself with sixth overall and now we’ll keep working and focus on the next race in Portugal.”

— Andrea Bonacorsi

“I’m not a ‘hard-pack’ rider, but I tend to ride well here. I felt good on the bike all weekend and put in a really good ride in Race One after making a mistake. I really pushed and made it all the way up to fourth. So, I was happy with that. In the second one I had another good start but in turn one a few of us crashed and my bike got tangled with another rider. It took two laps to catch the pack, but I kept pushing and ended up in 13th. My speed is good, and I’m happy with my riding, so we’ll keep working ahead of Portugal.”

 

Foto: Fullspectrum Media

Online: Stefan Uhlmann