Will 2022 finally be Jago Geerts' year?
By Andrew Hill on 31st Mar 22
Whisper it quietly, but 2022 could finally be Jago Geerts' year.
Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2's Geerts has finished in the championship medal positions in each of the last three years and has entered the previous two seasons as one of the favourites for the MX2 title.
And deservedly so. There's no doubt Geerts is incredibly talented, and his pedigree from the early years has only fed the expectations.
Winning the 2014 EMX85 championship brought the young KTM pilot some attention, and then in 2016, he was crowned the Junior Motocross World Champion and the EMX125 champion.
Geerts remained with KTM the following year in EMX250 before being snapped up by Yamaha for his first season in MX2. In that debut campaign, he was named Rookie of the Year as he finished eighth in the standings, with one podium coming at the Grand Prix of Latvia.
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He has featured inside the top three riders every year since and has amassed a further 29 podiums, 24 moto wins, and 11 Grand Prix victories (including this season's tally).
Keeping it rubber side down is perhaps one of the reasons why Geerts hasn't added an MX2 championship to his trophy cabinet just yet. This year, though, the 21-year-old from Balen in Belgium looks more in control with instead Red Bull KTM's Tom Vialle, the one who is pushing too hard and making mistakes.
With five years now at factory Yamaha, Geerts is settled and experienced and is using the combination to great effect as he leads the MX2 championship into Round 4 in Portugal this weekend.
Geerts looks fitter, stronger and faster than ever and has a 26-point advantage at the top of the table with three podiums out of three, including three moto wins in a row and one GP victory.
Like many GP riders, Geerts has taken advantage of the FIM Motocross World Championship break to recharge with some riding on Saturday and Sunday as a recovery day.
Thanks to its enforced absence from the MXGP schedule, Geerts doesn't have a lot of experience with the circuit in Agueda, but he is a fan.
"I only rode two GPs in Portugal in 2018 and 2019, and I finished third in the first moto in 2019. That was a fun race coming from around 10th to third after some good battles. I like the track there it is pretty fun. It's a special track and a bit like the old-school tracks so it's fun to ride."
Could a long 14-year wait finally come to an end in 2022? Not since 2008 when Sven Breugelmans (KTM) lifted the MX3 world crown has the Belgian fans had that oh-so-special feeling of seeing one of their own on top of the world. This could be the year the nation with the proudest history in motocross finally has a world champion again.
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