Over the weekend just passed, the Arnhem circuit in the Netherlands, marked by a very sandy ground, hosted the Grand Prix of the Netherlands, round 16th of the FIM Motocross World Championship 2023. The weather was mostly warm, quite unusual for these latitudes.
Ben Watson (Beta 450RX) kicked off the weekend by setting the 15th best time in time trials. In qualifying, after starting just behind the top ten, the British rider began a good comeback unfortunately spoilt by a crash that saw him finishing 18th. In the first heat he made the most of his excellent driving skills in the sand, finishing 11th. He also confirmed this position in the second heat, at the end of an exciting comeback, after an off-track excursion on the first lap had forced him to start from last position. Watson was 10th in the Overall of the day, and climbed to the 13th position in the Championship Classification.
A lack of feeling for such soft ground did not help Alessandro Lupino (Beta 450RX), who finished 23rd in the time trials and 28th in the qualifying race, unfortunately slowed down by a few crashes. The short training in the sand due to the long stop for the back injury and some crashes did not allow Alessandro to collect points in the two qualifying heats.
Ben Watson
“The 10th place I achieved here at Arnhem is definitely a positive result. On Saturday the feeling was good and I had good speed in qualifying. Unfortunately a crash made me lose a few positions. On Sunday I felt that I could do well despite starting from a rather low position at the starting gate. In the first heat I started in the middle of the group and had a good pace and ended up 11th. With another lap to spare I could have done even better. In the second race I had a bad start and on the first lap I also went off the track after a contact with an opponent. When I came back I was practically last, but my speed was very good and I was also feeling good in terms of physical condition. I came back and finished 11th, still very close to the riders ahead of me.”
Alessandro Lupino
“It’s very difficult to draw conclusions after such a negative weekend for me. I knew it would have been a difficult race because after the back injury I hardly had the chance to train on the sand. This lack really affected me: in the race I suffered a lot and struggled a lot. Some crashes slowed me down even more. Thankfully I will now be able to take advantage of the two weeks that remain before the race in Turkey to prepare myself in the best possible way and return to positions that I have proven to be within my reach on several occasions.”
After the Dutch round, the MRT Racing Team Beta Factory will be back in competition in a couple of weeks at the Afyonkarahisar track with the Grand Prix of Turkey, the seventeenth round of the FIM 2023 Motocross World Championship.
