The Arroyomolinos track, located just outside Madrid, hosted the Grand Prix of Spain, the sixth round of the FIM Motocross World Championship 2023. The spectacular circuit and the warm summer weather attracted a large crowd that flocked to the grandstands during the race weekend.
The weekend was marked by bad luck for Ben Watson (Beta RX450), who suffered a thumb injury in free practice. The English rider hit his hand again during qualifying and was forced to stop due to pain. On Sunday morning he tried a few laps in the warm-up but, not being in a condition to ride safely, he preferred to stop. Further clinical checks have ruled out fractures and at the moment it is confirmed that he will be back for the next GP.
Alessandro Lupino (Beta RX450) set an encouraging tenth time in time practice and in the subsequent qualifying race he finished in twelfth position. Placement that allowed the rider to start among the first, eighth, at the start of the first race. Alessandro maintained his position for most of the race and crossed the finish line tenth. Lupino was also the author of an excellent performance in the final fraction, which closed again in tenth position, allowing him to score a fantastic ninth place in the Overall of the day.
Filed the double round in the Iberian Peninsula, in a couple of weeks the MRT Racing Team Beta will be on track at Villars sous Ecot, in the Grand Prix of France, the seventh round of the 2023 season.
Ben Watson: “The Spanish GP was really tough for me. In the free practice session, I couldn’t find a fast lap time even though I had a good feeling with the bike and the track. In the time practice I hit a stone and crashed in a corner at low speed but hit my thumb on the ground in a strange way. During qualifying I was calmed down, because I was able to ride without any major problems, but the hit I got in practice, however, did not allow me to have my usual grip on the handlebars and towards the middle of the race I arrived slightly short on a jump. My hand slipped off the handlebar and although I didn’t fall, I had to stop immediately because of the pain. On Sunday morning I tried to do a few laps in the warm-up, but it was physically impossible to ride an MXGP bike with the necessary confidence. I did some checks and there is nothing broken, so I will use next week to recover and come to France fully recovered.”
Alessandro Lupino: “Finally a good race. Last Wednesday I finished the cycle of treatment I had to undergo to fight off the virus that had created problems in recent weeks and had not allowed me to train on the bike. In Portugal I had suffered so much and I never expected to do such a race seven days later. I am very happy because these results are the result of the great work we have done with Beta and the whole team.”
