The beautiful “Ciclamino” track of Pietramurata, which will host the fourth round of the MXGP Motocross World Championship over the weekend of April 16th, was scene of the 2023 edition of the Internazionali d’Italia Motocross with the second and final round on the calendar, after Ponte a Egola.
Unfortunately, bad luck struck Alessandro Lupino who, after spending the night with a high fever, tried to take to the track during the morning practice, but was forced to forfeit the day’s races.
An excellent fifth place in his timed practice group for Ben Watson. The English rider ran off the track in the first round but then managed to recover to eighth place. Ben, in the second race, which was prematurely interrupted due to the red flag being shown by the race director on lap seven, made the most of a great start and managed to take a splendid third place. Fourth in the day’s rankings, four points off the podium, in the championship Watson is in seventh position, while Lupino is thirteenth, despite a forfeit in the last two races.
After archiving the Internazionali d’Italia, the MRT Racing Team-Beta will now complete the preparation for the opening round of the FIM Motocross World Championship 2023, the Grand Prix of Patagonia-Argentina, which will be hosted by the beautiful track of Villa La Angostura next March 12th.
Ben Watson: “It was a very positive day. In qualifying I immediately got the fifth fastest time, and at the start of Race 1 I was seventh in the first corner. I then tried to push to make up some positions but unfortunately I made a mistake, finishing off the track. However, I felt very good on the bike and as soon as I restarted I pushed hard, finishing eighth. In the second manche I started well from the gate, taking second position. In the first fifteen minutes I was riding well but unfortunately the race was stopped by Gajser’s bad crash when I was third. The final result of these two races satisfied me and in the coming weeks we will continue to work with the team to arrive in Argentina in the best condition.”
