Jago Geerts took his time to settle in but made positive progress in every single session. By time the gates had dropped for the first MX2 race of the season, the young Belgian was raring to go. He got his YZ250F off to a great start and challenged the top-three for the first few laps of the race before an issue with his goggles forced him to slip back to fifth on lap-4.
As Geerts kept the front-runners in check, Watson had to work hard to push forward from a tenth place start. The tall Briton hung off the back of his YZ250F on the fast-paced circuit as he tried to keep his weight on the rear wheel for optimal traction.
With 5-minutes to go, Watson had a lucky escape as he watched his teammate crash on the 'dragon-back' section of the track. He narrowly jumped Geerts' and his bike to take home sixth place. Geerts remounted his bike and eventually came home in eleventh.
The second and final race of the weekend started off promising for Watson as he forced his way into the top-three on the opening lap before blowing through a berm and going off the track, a mistake that cost him two positions. Pushing too hard on the strange, dark and grainy volcanic soil of Neuquen can be detrimental. Watson learned the hard-way as many little mistakes and a small crash saw him drop back to tenth.
Watson eventually laboured his way back to seventh as his teammate, Geerts, impressively adapted to the conditions and finished sixth after a powerful surge from fourteenth place at the start of the race.
The next round of the FIM MX2 World Championship will take place on Watsons' home soil at the circuit of Matterley Basin, Winchester, England on the weekend of March 24th.
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