MX2: Watson takes first GP win as Vialle takes another step towards the title

The 15th round of the MX2 World Championship took place in Lommel for the third and final Grand Prix at the famous Belgian track, the Grand Prix of Lommel. Tom Vialle came into this round as the championship leader with a 61-point lead over Jago Geerts. 

Tom Vialle made the holeshot in the first moto ahead of Jago Geerts and Ben Watson, although wildcard Thibault Benistant – the newly crowned EMX250 champion – was able to get in amongst the leaders. Behind, Maxime Renaux fought through to fourth ahead of Ben Watson and Conrad Mewse.

Fourth soon became second for Renaux, though, as Geerts fell in the middle of the first lap and he was able to pass Benistant as well. 

Watson began his fight up the order by fending of Roan van de Moosdijk, before passing Benistant and Renaux to get up to second place. After passing the #959 of Renaux, the #919 began hauling in Vialle out front as they entered the second half of the race.

With five minutes to go, Watson had caught Vialle and the Yamaha rider wasted no time in passing the red plate holder. The Brit built a gap of just over two seconds after a couple of laps of leading. 

Vialle, behind, had initially been pushed on by pressure from behind courtesy of Renaux who was only four seconds behind his compatriot before Watson took the lead. However, the #28 then seemed to tire and lost out to Renaux eventually. 

The #959 was unable to do anything about Watson, though, who took his second race win in the space of one week by almost eight seconds ahead of Renaux and Vialle, who ended up 19 seconds adrift. It has certainly been a good week in Belgium for Watson, who gave himself the best opportunity of his career to take a maiden overall victory in the second moto.

Behind Vialle was the wildcard, Benistant, who impressed hugely on his MX2 debut to finish fourth. The Frenchman was supposed to arrive in the World Championship for the first time in Pietramurata next week, but having been crowned EMX250 champion one week ago decided to bring the debut forward. It was clearly an inspired decision, and one which shows off the level of the EMX250 championship, and the riders who fight at the front of it. 

Thomas Kjer Olsen was five seconds adrift of the #198 at the end of the race, having been unable to find a way through earlier in the race when he was closer to the debutant. In the end, Olsen actually ended up fending off pressure from van de Moosdijk, who had an inconsistent ride to sixth place, but was fast when he hooked the lap up. 

Jed Beaton was close to recovering a top six from a poor start outside the top 10, but the Australian just ran out of time and ended up seventh, ahead of Isak Gifting who had spent the early part of the race inside the top six before a mistake dropped him down the order. 

Behind the Swede was Conrad Mewse, back in action after missing Limburg on Wednesday for tonsillitis; the #426 started well, inside the top six, but faded in the second half and finished ninth, ahead of Cyril Genot who rounded out the top 10. 

Bas Vaessen was 11th on the second Hitachi KTM, ahead of Alvin Ostlund and Jago Geerts who was only able to recover to 13th after his crash on the first lap, as a second crash a few minutes in paused his progress. Behind the #193 was Kevin Horgmo, while Nathan Renkens completed the top 15. 

In 16th was Bailey Malkiewicz, the Australian finishing ahead of Morgan Lesiardo, Johannes Nermann, Petr Polak and Glen Meier who completed the top 20. 

At the start of the second moto, it was Jago Geerts who took the holeshot ahead of Roan van de Moosdijk, although the Dutchman was quickly overtaken by Tom Vialle who went through into the third turn. This devolved into a bit of an early duel between the #28 and the #39 with the two swapping places a couple of times on the opening lap, the Dutchman eventually coming out on top. 

There was a change for the lead 10 minutes in, as Jago Geerts crashed for the third time of the day. That left van de Moosdijk in the lead ahead of Isak Gifting who had climbed up to third previous to the crash of Geerts which promoted him to second and Tom Vialle to third, while Geerts dropped to fifth.

Initially, Gifting’s pace was strong and he was closing in on van de Moosdijk. However, the #39 was able to respond and stretch away to the tune of 7.8 seconds by the finish, as he took his first moto win in the MX2 class in fine style. 

Similarly, Isak Gifting’s first top three finish in MX2 was achieved with a fine ride, battling with those who have proven to be the best in the class this year and over recent races, such as Watson, Olsen and Vialle. The Swede may have started the year as an EMX250 rider but he has made a fine case for himself as a Grand Prix regular in 2021.

Behind Gifting was Thomas Kjer Olsen, who took his first top three moto finish of these three Lommel races that have proved tricky for both himself and his Rockstar Husqvarna teammate, Jed Beaton. Olsen was nine seconds off the win, and five seconds in front of race one winner, Ben Watson in fourth, while Maxime Renaux recovered from an ill-timed start to finish fifth. 

Tom Vialle crossed the finish in sixth place, having faded again in the second half as he did in the first moto. It seems that the Lommel triple header has weighed particularly heavily on the Frenchman by the end of it, which we have now reached, although he will still go to Trentino next week more than 20 points better off in the championship than when he arrived in Belgium a week ago. 

Directly behind Vialle was Geerts, who paid for another double crash, adding more mistakes to the pile which have contributed to the failure of his championship challenge. It is not over for the Belgian, but with 74 points to make up over three rounds it would take something special to come back from here. 

Behind Geerts was Jed Beaton, who had a lonely ride to ninth in the end, nine seconds adrift of Geerts and 11 seconds ahead of Alvin Ostlund who was able to get himself once again back into the top 10 of a moto, four seconds ahead of Stephen Rubini in 10th. 

Thibault Benistant was unable to repeat the form that saw him take fourth in the first race, but the Frenchman was nonetheless able to take 11th having fought inside the top 10 for the first half of the race. We have seen in the past, for example with Vialle last season, that the first races for EMX graduates in Grand Prix racing can be tough physically, as they are not used to racing for 35 minutes flat out since the races in the European Championship are shorter. However, as with Vialle last season, Benistant proved his speed in the first race and surely will be able to continue to show his potential when he finishes his season in the Pietramurata triple header before joining Renaux and Geerts in the factory Yamaha team in 2021.

Bas Vaessen was just over one second behind Benistant, the Dutchman finishing 12th, and 26 seconds ahead of Conrad Mewse who really seemed to suffer physically in this GP. 

After Mewse came Bailey Malkiewicz, while Nathan Renkens was 15th, ahead of Kevin Horgmo, Morgan Lesiardo, Petr Polak, Johannes Nermann and Glen Meier who completed the top 20. 

In the overall, Watson’s fifth place was enough for him to take his first ever Grand Prix victory. WIth just three races left in the MX2 class before he is forced up at the end of the season to MXGP, it was important for Watson to leave the 250 class with an overall triumph, to give himself the confidence that he is capable, if nothing else. He proved that today, recovering from a bad start in the second moto to hold onto the top spot in the GP and head to Pietramurata as the most recent winner in the MX2 class. 

Joining Watson on the podium were van de Moosdijk, for his first top three since Mantova two, and Renaux, who edged out Olsen by two points. Olsen, in turn, edged out Gifting by one point, the Swede beating Vialle who took his worst GP finish since the first Mantova race when he was also sixth following a broken front wheel in the second moto. 

Behind Vialle was Thibault Benistant, seventh overall on his Grand Prix debut, ahead of Jed Beaton, Jago Geerts (also his worst overall result since Mantova one), and Alvin Ostlund who completed the top 10 overall.