Hutten Metaal Yamaha Official EMX250’s Thibault Benistant was flawless at the ninth and penultimate round of the EMX250 Championship in Lommel, Belgium, posting two race wins for a perfect 50-point score. The GYTR YZ250F mounted rider now leads the EMX250 Championship by 24-points.
Under grey wintery skies, Benistant pulled an all-important holeshot in Race 1 and used the undeniable power, torque and handling of his GYTR kitted YZ250F to lead every lap unchallenged for his sixth race victory of the season.
After extending his championship lead to 21-points in the opening race, Benistant knew he had to be smart while challenging for another EMX250 round win – his fifth of the season. In the final race, the ‘198’ got off to a top-three start and quickly moved up into second position after the initial race leader crashed on Lap-1. Settling into an astonishing race pace around the punishing Lommel circuit, the fiery Frenchman went bar-to-bar with Jorgen-Matthias Talviku for top honors. On Lap-3, Benistant ripped around the outside of Talviku to take over the lead and never looked back.
The Hutten Metaal Yamaha rider secured his seventh race win of the season to strengthen his grip on the championship lead.
Hutten Metaal Yamaha Official EMX250 Teammate Gianluca Facchetti had two good starts but crashed on the opening lap of both races. A few more small errors and the young Italian ended up withdrawing from both races.
Thibault Benistant and the team will be back in Lommel on Tuesday 20th October for the tenth and final round of the 2020 EMX250 Championship.
Thibault Benistant
EMX250 Round of Flanders Winner, 50-points
EMX250 Championship Leader, 376-points
“I am really happy to win both races today. It was my goal. I was never really thinking about the championship, I am just taking it race by race and to give my best every time. I am really happy to be on top of the box. I feel really good going into the last round, I know I have the speed and physical fitness to do the same again.”
