The track of Saint Jean d’Angely hosted the French Grand Prix, the 7th round of the FIM Motocross World Championship 2024. Throughout the weekend there were moments of good weather and heavy thunderstorms that made the track particularly challenging.
16th in the time trials, Ben Watson (Beta RX450) showed a great speed and was able to stay within the top riders, finishing 9th in qualifying. Unfortunately, the first heat was not as good and Watson recovered to 16th position after a good comeback. In the second heat, run in critical weather conditions, he still managed to finish in the points zone, 20th.
Ivo Monticelli (Beta RX450) started the weekend by setting the 21st fastest time in timed practice. In qualifying, the rider finished in 18th position after a discrete comeback. Placement that he also confirmed in the first heat, again in a comeback. In the second heat, Monticelli made the most of a good start to finish 16th, despite a trivial crash that slowed him down in the second part of the race.
BEN WATSON:
The weekend started well. I rarely manage to set good times in the time trials but on this occasion I got close to the leaders without too much effort. In the qualifying, which took place under torrential rain with mud and deep canals, I felt really good and finished in 9th position. Also on Sunday morning the feeling with the bike and the track was very good. Unfortunately in the first heat I did not get a good start and in the race I was not able to recover as I would have liked. Race two started under a heavy downpour and was a real disaster but at least I managed to make up a few positions. On a positive note, from a physical point of view I felt much better than in recent weeks. I hope to keep improving physically and finally find myself running a race in the dry!
IVO MONTICELLI:
In France we experienced a peculiar weekend because at each entry we found the track in completely different conditions. In the first heat I started badly but recovered and finished 18th. With a few more laps I could have done even better because the riders ahead of me were not far behind. In the second heat the start was better and I maintained 15th position for a long time. Unfortunately I crashed at the end but recovered and finished 16th. During the week, together with the team we decided to go back to a setting of my bike that I had used before and throughout the weekend I felt much better in the seat. Over the next few days we will move to Belgium to train on tracks more similar to those we find in world championship races. The aim is to be ready for the next race in Germany.
After the three consecutive GPs held in the last three weeks, MRT Racing Team Beta Factory will be back on track on the weekend of June 2nd at Teutschenthal for the German Grand Prix, the eighth round of the FIM 2024 Motocross World Championship.
