Ben Watson was left to fly the flag for Beta at the Internazionali d’Italia Motocross at Arco in Italy when 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. 

Watson took an excellent fifth place in his timed practice group. The English rider ran off the track in the first race 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 for Tim Gajser’s crash, 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.

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 race 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.”