Ben Watson is approaching the top three!
Ben Watson finished fourth in the British Grand Prix. The Kemea Yamaha rider pulled off two tough overtaking races (6+4) on the spectacular circuit in Matterley Basin. Much to the delight of his British fans. Watson may have missed the podium by a hair, but did a fantastic job in the World Championship, in which he is now within nine points of number three Olsen. Anthony Rodriguez took his first top 10 place (9+11) for KEMEA Racing-Yamaha, Jago Geerts finished eleventh (15+7).
Ben Watson, however, did not make it easy for his home crowd. The Briton missed his start completely in the first heat and had to work his way to the front last. Cheered on by thousands of fans, Watson started an impressive catch-up race on his YZ250F. A recovery that brought him to an impressive sixth place. Teammate Rodriguez had a much better start (eighth), but made a mistake on the sixth lap and dropped to thirteenth place. However, the Venezuelan quickly recovered and fought back to ninth place. Geerts managed – after a fall in the first round – to take fifteenth place and therefore five World Championship points.
Watson also failed to immediately start with the top riders in the second series. He entered the first corner in thirteenth position and then started overtaking again. One that would take him even further than in the first series. He took down the competitors one by one, only the top three remained out of harm's way. Good for fourth place in the GP. The fourth time this season. But just as important: he made up 33 points in one fell swoop over Olsen, number three in the World Cup standings. Watson's deficit to the Dane is only nine points.
Geerts felt a lot better about himself in the second series. Although after a good start (ninth) he made a few mistakes in the opening lap, which caused him to fall back a few spots. But once the teenager got the right rhythm, Geerts also started to move forward. Up to seventh place.
Rodriguez had a difficult second series. The Venezuelan suffered severe stomach cramps, but still held on in eleventh place.
#919 Ben Watson
“Fourth for the fourth time. On the one hand, it's a bit frustrating that I'm missing the podium again. On the other hand, I absolutely cannot complain about my speed, about the driving itself. I was the third fastest rider today. And I am now hot on Olsen's heels, who is third in the World Cup. There's really only one thing I can complain about: my starts. We urgently need to work on that. But overall my home GP was a good GP. It was great to ride in front of our own people. Did that cause extra stress? Maybe a little before the start of the first series, but after that it was more of an extra motivation.”
#127 Anthony Rodriguez
“Top 10. Not bad. Although it could have been a little better. I started well in the first heat, but made a small mistake and crashed. That cost me about five places, after which I had to fight back. Halfway through the second series I got severe stomach cramps. That hurt so much that I was unable to push to gain a few places. That was a disappointment. I now have to keep working on my speed. My goal is to improve every GP, to get into the top six.”
#193 Jago Geerts
“I really didn't feel good on Saturday on this fast track. Fortunately, the course was a little more difficult on Sunday. That made me feel better. Unfortunately I crashed on the first lap of the first heat. I had to restart almost last, but still managed to finish 15th. The second heat was my best session of the weekend as the track became more difficult. I like difficult jobs. Next week Saint-Jean d'Angely, also fast, but more technical. I'm especially looking forward to Ottobiano, a tough sand track.”
Marnicq Bervoets
“Watson was without a doubt the third fastest rider in MX2, but he missed the podium because his starts were disappointing. Those were weak, but the rest was impressive. Fast, clean, aggressive. And also positive: he is now very close to Olsen, who is third in the World Cup. I am also very pleased with Rodriguez's performance. Anthony, who is only riding his second GP for Kemea Yamaha, shows that he is already worthy of a top 10. He learns quickly. We can also say the same about Geerts. He still goes to school and therefore cannot train enough on hard courts. But you see that he gets better every session over a weekend.”
Posted: Steven van Kempen/KEMCO
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