Ben Watson: Second Chance

We all know from watching, that the MXGP class isn’t easy, in fact, it looks tougher than ever and rookie riders are being thrown into the deep end and having to swim or sink.

When Ben Watson moved to the 450 class this year, after having some success in the MX2 class in 2020, everyone felt the young British rider could either be a positive surprise or could just as easily struggle.

It turned out a little of both as Watson started the 2021 season battling Jeffrey Herlings in a pre-season race, before having mixed results throughout the year. With just a one-year deal on his Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing contract and 2021 MX2 World Champion Maxime Renaux wanting to move up to the MXGP class in 2022, it seemed the door was shut on the factory career of Watson.

“Honestly,” Watson said. “My first MXGP season has been tough. We have had many ups, but a lot of downs. The thing is, I need to learn a lot and if I could redo the season, I would change a lot of my decisions. I have mixed feelings about how the racing went, not the results I wanted, but I felt better on the bike in the last race and that is a positive to take away.”

Fortunately, though, when the Kawasaki Factory effort started looking at riders to join Romain Febvre under the green awning, the name Watson was on the short list.

“I’m really looking forward to this fresh start,” Watson said. “I’ve had some ups-and-downs during my MXGP rookie season this year, but I think I proved on numerous occasions like at the Monster Energy Motocross of Nations and several other GPs that I have what it takes to race up front. I was just missing a few things but I’m joining a group of guys and a bike I really believe will help me. I’m really excited to put my leg over the KX450-SR. The plan is to get used to the bike before Christmas; to get a feeling for the handling, the power delivery and sort out a few small things like seat height, position of the bars and so on. I’m looking forward to working with Romain and all the team and I think this is exactly what I need as a package to make the next step. It’s going to be a tough couple of months leading up to the opening GP at Matterley in February but wow, what a start to my Kawasaki career at the home GP with all the British fans cheering me on!”

So now, with a months before the season rolls into life in late January with some pre-season races, you know that Ben Watson is pushing even harder to show that his 450 skills are good enough to make him a long-term factory rider in the toughest, deepest and most exciting motocross series in the world.

Photo Copyright: Kawasaki Racing