ANDREA ADAMO CROWNED 2023 MX2 WORLD CHAMPION ON HOME SOIL WHILE GEERTS WINS IT IN MAGGIORA.
The MXGP of Italy concluded from the best of manner for all the Italian crowd with the crowning of home hero Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Andrea Adamo. Adamo won in Maggiora his first MX2 World Championship after showing an incredible mental strength and not let the pressure get to him.
The Italian bided his time this season to get his first Red Plate on the 8th round in Latvia. Adamo had to fight off with Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Kay de Wolf for the Red plate in a give and take that last until Indonesia where the KTM rider grasped the Red Plate to never let it go again. His first rival of the season was Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Jago Geerts who held the Red Plate for the first part of the season before getting injured although the Belgian came back for more but Adamo superbly continued to perform and keep the leadership of the Championship.
Geerts got injured again in Finland and Adamo had then to deal with the pressure from his teammate Liam Everts right until this Grand Prix of Italy. But it was the time of Adamo to shine in front of his fans who came in large number to support him throughout the weekend. However Adamo’s determination has been second to none with few unlucky events during races that made him fight his way back several times showing epic comebacks which contributed to excellent record this season. Adamo got 10 podiums, 4 Race wins and 2 Grand Prix victories. His consistency was simply the best of any riders this season and Adamo will now be able to enjoy the last Gran Prix of the season in Great Britain before the huge 2023 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations in Ernée with Team Italy.
In Race 1, Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Simon Laengenfelder clinched the FOX Holeshot and pulled away quickly in front of Jago Geerts and Red Plate Andrea Adamo. Laengenfelder was on a league of his own during that race as he controlled it from start to finish to win his second race of the weekend after the RAM Qualifying Race.
Adamo who found himself in 3rd place after a good start tried to close in on Geerts and ecen maage to show a wheel a couple of times but Geerts showed amazing composure and answered Adamo’s attacks by speeding up his pace to stay in front. Adamo then got a scare when he landed on the side of the track hitting his chest off the handle bar. Geerts got off the hook and finished in 2nd place in the end.
For Adamo things tensed with his closest rival Liam Everts closing in on him to try to deny Adamo the mighty win home soil. Adamo managed to keep a cool head to bring it home in 3rd place while Everts solidly stayed 4th.
Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Lucas Coenen disrupted the status quo in front him as the rookie found himself in 10th place on the opening lap to simply making his way forward with great talent. L.Coenen managed to get to 6th on lap 12 of 17 behind the consistent F&H Kawasaki Racing Team’s Kevin Horgmowho was fighting earlier with Everts and Adamo for the 3rd spot. The young Belgian didn’t settle and managed to pass Horgmo with two corners to go, to finish 5th while Horgmo finished 6th.
The other great comeback was the one from Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Thibault Benistant who was 2nd after the start but went off track and lost some positions to see himself in 5th on the turn of the opening lap. The Frenchman crashed again a lap later to move down to 11th place but made a terrific comeback to finish 7th in the end showing his talent along the way as he overtook his teammate, Rick Elzinga. Elzinga finished 8th in the end in front of Kay de Wolf made a couple of mistakes during the race.
In Race 2, Laengenfelder clinched his 10th FOX Holeshot but this time not for long as Geerts made a wonderful move to pass him and take the lead. Geerts would never let the lead go as he fought and won the intense battle with Laengenfelder during the whole race. Geerts in the end held onto the lead to win his first Grand Prix since Flanders. Laengenfelder missed out on the perfect weekend and settled for 2nd to get on the 2nd step of the podium.
For Adamo, things looked simple on paper, he had to gain 4 points on Everts to be crowned Champion. Adamo got a better start than his teammate in 5th position with Everts being 8th on the opening lap. Everts showed great fighting spirit as he got right behind Adamo on lap 6 of 18. This is when Adamo decided to push up and take his destiny into his own hands. Adamo quickly passed Benistant and WZ Racing Team’s Oriol Oliver over the course of 2 laps. Adamo kept pushing to keep his 3rd place while Everts needed to overtake a couple of riders to deny the Italian. However on lap 15 Everts crashed and retire from the race and got disqualified for accepting outside assistance. The Championship was decided as Adamo crossed the line in 3rdplace seeing all his team and family there to greet and celebrate with the 2023 MX2 World Championship.
Benistant settled in the end for 5th to get the 5th overall while Oliver settled for 11th after crashing out of 4thplace. De Wolf rode solidly again to finish 4th from the 9th place on the opening lap to finish 4th overall showing that he is getting back his rhythm before the Nations. Horgmo stayed again consistent to finish 6th overall. L.Coenen showed again an impressive comeback from the 22nd place on the opening lap to the 7th place in the end and get 7th overall. F&H Kawasaki Racing Team’s David Braceras got a good result to go 14-8 to go 8th overall.
Andrea Adamo: “What an emotion, I didn’t plan to win here in Italy because I was expecting to win it in Materley but today I did two good races. I’m sure that with a better start I could have fight with Simon (Laengenfelder) and Jago (Geerts), but today I just enjoyed the races and got two 3-3 that was enough to bring me the championship. What a moment it weas to win in front of the home fans too.”
Jago Geerts: “I’m really happy to win a GP again; today I was fast and I had a good feeling with the bike and of course is always nice to be back on top. I’m still not 100% but I’m improving week by week and now my goal is to have a good and solid race in Matterly and of course for the end of season at the FIM Monster Energy Motocross of Nations with Team Belgium.”
Simon Laengenfelder:” It was a very good weekend for me, I think one of the best weekend after winning the RAM Qualifying Race I had good feeling in Race 1 and I managed to win it while in Race 2 the track was much faster and they ripped it and it was really nice to ride like that so finally I’m happy to be there on the podium again.
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), 34:26.934; 2. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), +0:06.611; 3. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:12.500; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:14.193; 5. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:14.994; 6. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Kawasaki), +0:15.897; 7. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:19.805; 8. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:24.197; 9. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:25.117; 10. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, Husqvarna), +0:25.709
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), 34:50.402; 2. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:02.578; 3. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:35.057; 4. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:36.125; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:36.580; 6. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Kawasaki), +0:50.681; 7. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:56.675; 8. David Braceras (ESP, Kawasaki), +0:58.744; 9. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Honda), +1:06.447; 10. Valerio Lata (ITA, KTM), +1:08.017
MX2 – Grand Prix Top 10 Classification: 1. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 47 points; 2. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 47 p.; 3. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 40 p.; 4. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 30 p.; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 30 p.; 6. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 30 p.; 7. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 30 p.; 8. David Braceras (ESP, KAW), 20 p.; 9. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, HON), 20 p.; 10. Valerio Lata (ITA, KTM), 20 p
MX2 – World Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 779 points; 2. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 706 p.; 3. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 702 p.; 4. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 702 p.; 5. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 558 p.; 6. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 541 p.; 7. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 531 p.; 8. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, HUS), 523 p.; 9. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 493 p.; 10. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 377 p
MX2 – Manufacturers Classification: 1. Yamaha, 922 points; 2. KTM, 882 p.; 3. Husqvarna, 837 p.; 4. GASGAS, 764 p.; 5. Kawasaki, 559 p.; 6. Honda, 372 p.; 7. Fantic, 23 p.
Text/Bild: Infront