Kemea Yamaha rider Ben Watson is very much one of the favourites going into this year’s MX2 World championship. Having finished fourth in the World in 2018, the British rider knows that improvement is possible, and the team is also looking for an even better result.

Watson struggled a little with bike set-ups in the opening pre-season races, but came out swinging in Lacapelle last weekend, going 1-1 in the MX2 motos and finishing a strong fourth in the Superfinal. We caught up with him and asked about his preparation for this year.

MXlarge: So how was Lacapelle for you?

Watson: First in qualifying, two rounds in the MX2 and fifth - as best MX2 rider - in the Superfinal, plus another three good starts, this was a good day for you and it really feels good to feel how smoothly everything went Certainly after a few difficult weeks, when things did not really work out the way I wanted to, but the whole team worked hard, and today I finally showed my real skills, which is a mental boost. Argentina, to the World Championships start. My goal is simple trying to do better than last year when I finished fourth.

MXlarge: You had struggled in those first three pre-season races. A lot of those sand races like Hawkstone Park or the Italian races, they often don’t really show what a rider is capable of for some reason. Often riders struggle in those early pre-season races. Do those races really matter?

Watson: I mean I feel really good on the bike, my feeling on the bike is really good. These pre-season races are so strange how they run. They are no on the grids, like at the GPs and in Ottobiano the grid was wider than the gate, and nothing is really professional in these races like at the Grand Prix’s. You got to a GP and everything is the same. At Hawkstone Park they have a concrete start and basically, the top five or so guys can put sand on their start spot, and everyone else can’t. Basically if you are in the top five, there is enough sand from the roost from the last race and obviously not enough for everyone, so just for first guys get to use the sand. It is really strange. And then you race against the 450s. I just do these races to get the race rhythm and not really think about the result.

MXlarge: Tell me about the Italian races?

Watson: I didn’t go how I wanted. A few things were out of my hands. The first one, we tried to make some changes, we change the handlebars before the race and I had incredible arm-pump during qualifying. So I pretty much just rode around like that, because I didn’t want to go and change the bars and then go to the race. After the day ended we changed the bars back. I struggled with the bike all day due to some changes we made and they might not have worked in a race situation. So after Ottobiano I changed the bike back to how it was and we decided to move forward from there. So I went into Ottobiano on a completely new bike, and it was a strange feeling.

MXlarge: How was Hawkstone Park for you?

Watson: We came to Hawkstone and felt much better really, but things just didn’t go my way. We started qualifying and made a mistake. I thought it was 10 minutes free practice and then 15 timed, like normal, but it was 25 minutes times and I had waited 10 minutes before trying a fast lap and the track was destroyed. You could see the top guys did their quickest laps on the second lap. In the first race I got an okay start, but a stone got jammed in my rear sprocket, which derailed the chain and smashed the gear box. In the second race, I had a problem with the hydraulics in the clutch. I was on the second bike, because they guys didn’t have a chance to change the engine. So I rode around with no clutch for the whole race. When I came in they couldn’t see the problem, and again we didn’t have time and they changed some things, but couldn’t change the whole system. They told me it would probably play up again, an after two laps I had problems again, so I pretty much rode the last two races with no clutch.

MXlarge: There is something very exciting about the Kemea Yamaha team in 2019. How is it feeling for you guys?

Watson: Yes, of course last year as really good for me, something I didn’t expect. Jago also did really well, and we have the potential between us. It is down to us to find the small piece of the puzzle to do it every week. I feel honestly, really good. I don’t care about these pre-season races, as long as I am just down on my riding, we just had some things we tried wrong and we tested a lot of stuff, which is why we do the races, just preparation for Argentina. We are working hard and I am happy with my riding and it will be find in Argentina.