Ben Watson “In Spain I experienced one of the worst GPs of my career.”
Over the weekend, the unique Lugo track hosted the Grand Prix of Galicia, round six of the FIM 2024 Motocross World Championship and the second race of the Season to be held in Spain.
Ben Watson (Beta 450RX) immediately set an encouraging 12th position in time trials, despite a crash. In qualifying, the English rider moved up to 15th position over the first few laps and defended that position until the chequered flag. In race one, after an unlucky start, Watson started to make a comeback but on lap 11, while he was 15th, he was forced to withdraw as his bike was hopelessly damaged after a crash. Badly hurt from previous crashes, the rider finished 16th in race two. With the five points gained over the weekend, Ben Watson now finds himself in 11th position in the Championship Standings.
Ivo Monticelli finished 20th in qualifying. The rider got a good start in the first heat and was close to the top ten for a few laps, but then lost a few positions during the race, finishing 15th. Less lucky was the second heat, which Ivo finished close to the points zone, 21st. 18th in the Day’s Overall and with six points gained, Ivo holds the same position in the Championship Standings. He is the best Italian in the MXGP classification.
Ben Watson
“In Spain I experienced one of the worst GPs of my career. Despite the swollen knee from the crash in Portugal, the weekend had started very well. In time trials I was 12th and I felt really good on the bike. I tried to push to improve my time but I crashed badly and when I got back up I was pretty banged up. Sunday morning in the Warm-Up I was not at my best and I struggled to find the feeling with the track. In the first heat I didn’t get a good start but slowly managed to recover. Unfortunately I crashed at the end and once I was back on the bike I realised that my bike was too damaged to continue. In the second round I tried to get to the finish line without exaggerating, trying to collect as many points as possible. Over the next few days I will have to recover in terms of physical fitness in order to get to the French competition in the best condition.”
Ivo Monticelli
“Also in this race I struggled to find the feeling with the track. In the first heat I didn’t get off to a bad start; I tried to keep a good pace and finished 15th. Unfortunately, the speed I had did not allow me to finish further ahead. Lack of speed has been my main problem lately but I think my result was still positive. In the second heat I got off to a good start but on the re-start, which came after the red flag which was shown at the end of the first lap, I found myself far behind. I finished 21st, just outside the points zone. Another difficult weekend for me. The fact that I haven’t competed regularly in the world championship is making itself felt because I can’t be fast enough when the track starts to dig in. We will work hard during the week to improve in this aspect and try to finish ahead in France.”
The next appointment for the MRT Racing Team Beta Factory is this coming weekend in France for the 7th round of the MXGP.
Words and Images by MRT Racing
