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What's the link between Renaux MX2 World Title, and Watson's career ?
We all race for the Joy of racing (or just riding) and at the higher levels one races as a Profession. Only the cream rises to the top and to restrict the rider to rules that CONTROL one’s ability to make a living is Wrong!
I AM 74 years young and the 125 is so much fun! Yes, I AM not a Professional – however I AM only 63 kilos – A Pro at the same weight would ride a smaller bike much easier.
The younger riders need to work harder or accept what they can create.
I change my mind about age limits constantly, but MXGP is stronger class as a result and MX2 is weaker.
With the split 250 class in the US where the top 250 guys race half the guys in half the SX races, it creates a different dynamic.
Compared to MXGP, the 450 class is very weak .
And the old guys that won on 125's, were legends of the small bike class, it was how it was back then, and i rode Suzuki's off the back of Rahier winning on them.. Back then Suzuki were the powerhouse .
Askew staying with Dirt Store Triumph for next year same deal
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Great post. Jamie Dobb was also pushing 30 when he won his title in 2001...
Hopefully he'll set himself up anywhere but the UK to stand a chance of running near the front on a consistent basis.
They might have stuck numbers on the bikes to make them 'feel at home' during what might be a test. I doubt they'd have them both on the team, riding in public, before an official announcement.
Agree can’t see Gerts or Elzinga being better than Watson. Will they beat him some weeks, probably.
The main issue with the Beta is clearly the start. In the MXGP class if you don’t get out the gate well it’s going to be a struggle unless your a JH in his prime.
Watson can remind me of Searle at times when he was on 450 CLS Kawasaki. Didn’t get great starts but the last few laps would be doing same lap times as top 5.
Ben Watson is a good rider. But he is also 28, been at factory teams in mxgp and mx2 and has had plenty of opportunist to show who he is. Basically he wont magically be much better.
Geerts on the other hand has shown a substantial different, much higher level in mx2 for years. He has shown only some flashes on the 450 and he is a risk for a factory team, but imo there is the potential for big upside.
Imo its a great get for Beta. If he sucks its the same 450 Geerts and not much bad press for bèta. If he is a succes it helps beta a lot.
Picking Elzinga over Geerts has to be a financial decision though. Maybe Elzinga has personal sponsors. So many guys including Watson i'd pick over him
Sounds like Geerts and Elzinga will both be at Beta next year. Watson is expected to leave.
This is how I see it too. Watson is really good, but Geerts has far more upside... If he can get it back together and be what he used to be, of course without the, dare I say, Chase like mistakes?
Renaux confirmed for Hawkstone International race (february 2026) with Monster Yamaha.
I think we know the answer, now.
When Watson went up to MXGP , he was on a 2 year deal, first year was 250, second was 450,and that was all good, but there was a crash between RvdM and Vialle, due to some stupidity with how the start straight was laid out, and Vialle broke his hand as a result... he didnt win the series, and Renaux had a clause in his that if he won the 250 title, he would get a 450 ride.
So Ben got the flick , and ended up in the wilderness at Kawasaki, on his own, as Febvre was spannered from a crash at Paris SX..
Anyone can just go faster till they crash, just like Sexton, Forkner , McAdoo, and numerous others, doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result , is as daft as it gets.
I would take Ben over Geerts, he doesnt crash anywhere near as much, and he has only been on one good bike in 450 , and he led races on it.
Geerts is gonna Geerts, and i dont see him being better on a slower bike that he will need to ride harder than what he is used to . The Beta is decent, but lacks power, so no starts, and coming through is what he will have to do.
Wish them all well, Elzinga too, they are great riders, and deserve decent kit to get the job done, but i dont see them being better on it than Watson was.
He already injured himself.
Watson's results certainly wouldn't have been better in MXGP category with a factory Yamaha instead of a factory Kawasaki.
It's down to the rider at this level, not to the brand of the bike...
They were.. the Kawasaki that he had was nothing like Febvre's bike, and he wasnt allowed to change stuff that he wanted to, and when they found something they did like, through their own work, they were not allowed to run it . That second Kawasaki has been a dud since Ice One took over.
That story about Watson is getting a little old.
He did convincingly beat teammates Bryliakov, Lupino, Monticelli, Koch at Yamaha and Beta.
However he was clearly beaten by teammates Geerts, Coldenhoff, Seewer & Febrvre at Kemea (in MX2) and Yamaha & Kawa in MXGP.
Thats what 4 or 5 years in a row,you can't blame that everytime on externel excuses like the bike was awfull.
Its a clear pattern:
Good rider, clearly MXGP material, but not the level of his teammates at the factory seats.
Pit Row
You might want to listen to Lewis his interview with Jonass at MXON. He says the Kawi is by far the most exotic factory bike he’s ever been on and he’s been on a few.
Watson out at Beta and Elzinga signed and a more experienced rider to be signed. Forato maybe?
Elzinga injured?
Apparently he crashed heavily at Lommel yesterday.
Exotic does not mean neccessarily better.
Exotic means ' we spent all this money on the special parts, so you are going to use them, and not the stock ones that you prefer, that are 1.5secs faster'.
Teams lose their way because they assume 'exotic' is better, when in a lot of cases , the opposite is true. If you are lucky enough to be able to gel with what they give you , then great, but if you want a certain feel or power delivery that is outside of what they want to give you, you are shit out of luck.
Pauls Jonass best result this year has been a 5th overall , in round 3, he missed 7 rounds through injury, i dont know what the cause of those was but most of them were his own crashes, so read into that what you will.
The interviews i have read , always seem to intimate that ' there is work to still be done' on things that normally are sorted within a couple of tests.
Which is what we see from Kawasaki on both sides of the Atlantic.
Good riders haver all gone there and gone backwards.
Yeah they sure have gone backwards, i agree...
I think Renaux had a clausule that he would have an option to go MXGP if he won the world title. That did mean that Watson his spot was taken over by him.
Bummed thar Harrup isn't going to run another season in the US. He was fun to watch.
This confirmed? Haarup had a contract with Triumph to race the 450 in MXGP but as it wasnt ready he went to US on the 250s. Now, I havent heard or found any confirmation that the MXGP 450 effort is ready for 2026 either so its certainly not impossible that he´ll race 2026 outdoors for Triumph in the US on either 250 or 450. Or do you have some other info?
Haarup on Triumph 450 outdoor MX with Jordon Smith. As per PulpMX last show
He never raced Coldenhoff or Febvre or Seewer, in MX2.
Geerts was faster in MX2, but also didnt win when he was clearly faster . I would say that his first year on the 450 Yamaha was better than either of the 2 seasons of Geerts.
Kawasaki was a shit show, the same as it was for Seewer, for all the same reasons.
He finished 10 points behind Geerts this year on the Beta, on a bike that is 10hp down .
Watson was MX1 nations class winner on the Yamaha in Mantova.
If he could have stayed, he would still be there now IMO .
That's what I thought. But, somehow I ended up on like page 78 of this thread and I saw an Instagram post that Haarup was headed back to Europe. Maybe Im imagining things. I got like 3 hrs of sleep last night. I'm not going to hit 'Previous Page' 30 something times to find it.
Flatisboring is saying he is in for US outdoor on a 450 so I'll just run with that.
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