The Grand Prix of Lombok, the eleventh round of the 2023 MXGP Motocross World Championship held on the new track built on the island with the same name, closed the double Indonesian trip of the MRT Racing Team Beta Factory. Unfortunately, the back injury suffered last weekend in Sumbawa did not allow Alessandro Lupino, who is back in Italy, to line up at the start of the race.
Ben Watson (Beta RX450) made the best start to the weekend by placing his bike in ninth position in time practice. The British rider got a great start in qualifying and held the sixth position for a few laps. Unfortunately, a small crash pushed Ben out of the top ten, but in the final laps he managed to climb back up to eleventh place. Luck did not help Watson in the first heat when he suffered a bump in his knee and was forced to stop immediately after the start. In the second race Watson got off to a good start, but after a crash he was again forced to chase finishing 12th.
With the two Indonesian GPs archived, the 2023 FMI Motocross World Championship will stop for a week and will resume its race in mid-July with the race in Loket, the historic circuit that will host the Grand Prix of the Czech Republic, the twelfth round of the season.
Ben Watson: “The second Indonesian race was also not easy. As soon as I got on the track, I didn’t have a good feeling with the bike but together with the team we made some changes to the setting that allowed me to improve a lot in the time practices. In qualifying I started sixth, but a small crash made me lose some positions. On Sunday things were better and I got two good starts. In the first race I hit my knee and had to stop immediately because I was convinced I had seriously injured it. In the second one, while occupying the ninth position, I crashed and as soon as I got back on the seat I realized I had damaged the bike. At that point I tried to finish the race without making any more mistakes. I can’t wait to get out on the track in the Czech Republic to get back to my rightful positions.”
