Ben Watson slow off the mark at Matterley Basin - Jed Beaton shows speed on MXGP debut
By Team TMX on 26th Feb 22
MXGP Ben Watson Jed Beaton Mikkel Haarup Kevin Horgmo
Ben Watson made a sluggish GP debut for Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP at the FIM Motocross World Championship season opener in Matterley Basin.
Related: Ben Watson crashes hard going flat-out at Matterley Basin
Watson's Qualifying race was slightly compromised by his gate pick after failing to post a strong lap in Time Practice finishing 19th. The British rider was squeezed wide at the first turn of the Qualifying race and will go to the gate 19th in each of tomorrows points-paying motos.
Making a debut for a factory team is demanding enough, add to that a home Grand Prix and the pressure mounts. I think considering that and the disruptive events of the last week, it's reasonable to say this is not representative of what we will see from Watson in 2022.
Kawasaki can look to F&H's Jed Beaton to see what their KX450 is capable of as the Aussie made a solid start to his career in MXGP by racing to ninth place in the Qualifying race.
Riders faced a strenuous weekend as the MXGP race format returned to the two-day schedule for the first time in two years with two practice sessions and a 20-minutes-plus-two-laps race to decide grid positions on Saturday.
The sweeping grassland track in southern England was in remarkably good condition after the gale-force winds of Storm Eunice had caused postponement from the previous weekend but the heavy rainfalls of recent weeks inevitably saw long deep ruts develop quickly in this, the first of 20 rounds of the world series.
Team F&Hs Australian displayed immaculate speed throughout the day as he posted seventh-fastest time during practice on his MXGP debut and confirmed this pace with a strong ride from 14th to ninth during the first eight minutes of the Qualifying race. The low intense sunshine of a February late afternoon under brilliant blue skies urged a degree of caution and he wisely consolidated the position to the chequered flag.
"A 450 is pretty different to the 250s I have raced previously in my career but I have some good people around me which has helped the transition," said Beaton.
"I already feel pretty good and we are trying to build every week.
"The sun was pretty low by the end of the day so it was difficult to see the lines but I have a good gate pick for tomorrow."
In the MX2 class, Beatons F&H Kawasaki teammate Kevin Horgmo also showed good pace in practice with eighth-fastest time and posted lap tines only fractionally off those of the leaders during the Qualifying race to advance from 11th to ninth the young Norwegian was one of few riders to make passes in a high-speed train. Big Van World MTX Kawasakis Mikkel Haarup was right out of luck in the Qualifying race 11th-fastest in practice he made a lightning getaway to hit turn one in the top three but was cannoned to the ground by a rival.
"I had a great transition during the winter everyone in the team is excited and I made a great start but then someone hit me from behind," Haarup confirmed. "But Im still confident for tomorrow this is a beautiful circuit, very technical with nice jumps."
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