Hard Fought Fifth for Watson

24-03-2019

Hard Fought Fifth for Watson

Monster Energy Kemea Yamaha MX2's Ben Watson delighted his home crowd with two hard-charging performances for fifth overall at the second round of the FIM MX2 World Championship in Winchester, England. Teammate Jago Geerts bounced back from a challenging first race with an impressive sixth place finish in Race 2 for ninth overall.

Two action-packed races saw the best 250cc riders in the world go head to head at the spectacular Matterley Basin circuit. Unusually warm weather and glorious blue skies encouraged a healthy showing of British fans that were unafraid to make some noise for the home riders. Flying the flag high for the Brits this weekend, Ben Watson gave the spectators what they came for as he drove home a fourth place finish despite being thrown off his rhythm with a small crash on Lap 2.

In a stacked field of talented 250cc riders, any mistake is costly. Unfortunately for Geerts, one too many errors cost him points. The gritty Belgian never gave up and was able to remount his YZ250F in time to claim 5 points with a 16thplace finish.

Race two saw Watson charge from 12th, through the pack with a vengeance. The crowd showed their support with air-horns and roars of excitement as he made a series of incredible passes on his way to a hard-fought fifth place. He finished up fifth in the Grand Prix overall and moved up to fifth in the MX2 Championship standings.

Geerts was able to bounce back from another small error for a deserving sixth place finish, and crucial points in the MX2 championship chase. He was ninth overall in the Grand Prix classification, and is now ninth in the Championship Standings.

The next round of the FIM MX2 World Championship will take place next weekend, March 31st in Valkenswaard, The Netherlands.

Ben Watson

The weekend was not so bad, but also not what I want. I had a good start yesterday where I was able to ride my own race. I think my riding can be better. I felt good in warm-up this morning, but I crashed early on in the first race and lost my rhythm completely. In the second race I had a terrible start and found it difficult to come through. I feel like I could have ridden better as well. Still, solid points on the board. It's a really long season, so to be inside the top-five is not bad.

Jago Geerts

The first heat I crashed and was riding in 15thand then collided with another rider and only came back to 16th. I had another small crash in the second, but I felt my riding was pretty good so I was able to finish sixth.