The Crossdromo Internacional de Agueda hosted the MXGP of Portugal, the tenth round of the season. The Portuguese track, world-famous for its brick-red clay surface, presented itself in typical fashion: extremely technical, characterized by deep ruts requiring surgical precision in line choices and massive jump sections that leave no room for error.

In the premier MXGP class, Jago Geerts (Beta RX450) experienced a weekend of two halves. The Belgian started on the right foot on Saturday, clocking the tenth fastest time in free practice and twelfth in timed practice, but an unfortunate qualifying session forced him to stop on the eighth lap, complicating his grid position for Sunday. In Race 1, Geerts defended hard to finish sixteenth. In Race 2, despite a difficult start that saw him drop back on the opening lap, he put on a brilliant old-school comeback, climbing back up to fourteenth position. This placement earned him 15th overall for the day and confirmed his 16th place in the championship standings.
“It was a rather uninspired weekend for me. On Saturday, an unfortunate qualifying session ruined my chances of a good start in the official motos. In the second moto, I rode well and the result was satisfying. We will build on this to do better in the next races,” Geerts analyzed.

The most painful notes and, at the same time, the biggest regrets came from the EMX250 European Championship. Alexis Fueri (Beta RX250 2T) had started the weekend in amazing shape, setting a fantastic second fastest time overall in Saturday’s free practice. Unfortunately, during timed practice, as he launched himself to lock in a fast lap, the Frenchman was the protagonist of a spectacular and violent crash on the long and airy finish-line jump. The severe chest contusions he suffered prevented him from taking the start in the official motos.
“The weekend had started in the best possible way. Unfortunately, during timed practice, I crashed badly on the long finish-line jump. I suffered a severe chest contusion which didn’t allow me to continue the weekend,” said a understandably disappointed Fueri.

An uphill weekend as well for garage mate Brando Rispoli (Beta RX250 2T). Twenty-first in timed practice, the Tuscan rider got a poor start in Race 1; despite a good progression that brought him firmly back into the points zone, a slide in the closing laps dropped him back to 28th position. In Race 2, despite a much better launch out of the gate, Rispoli struggled to find the right rhythm on the deep Portuguese ruts, crossing the finish line in twenty-second place.
“All weekend long I couldn’t find the feeling with the bike and the track. On Saturday, I wasn’t physically 100%, and on Sunday I struggled a lot too. It’s a shame that the results were below expectations,” Rispoli commented.