Dirt Store Triumph Racing’s Ben Watson captured the brand’s first-ever win on the TF 450-X on British soil, as the former Grand Prix winner put together a solid 2–1 scorecard at the opening round of the British Championship.

Ben Watson: “I feel like it’s been a while since I’ve taken the chequered flag and led a race,” he told Cult Moto. “It felt strange, but I really enjoyed it. It’s one of the reasons I come back here.

The heavens opened (in race one) and I struggled a bit with goggles, so yeah, I went over the line with Oliver for the win but just short. But it was good. That’s the first time you see the pace, you know. Overall it was positive. Second race, we made a couple of little changes and I took a big holeshot, which was the goal and makes life so much easier. I had a good few laps in the beginning and Oliver was close on my wheel. I don’t know if he made a mistake or if I just put some good laps in, but I managed to break him and pull a gap. I actually had a really small crash midway through the race, just a little washout. I don’t know, probably lost six or seven seconds so it wasn’t the end of the world, and then it took me a couple of laps to get back in my groove again.

I lowered the pace too much to get in my comfort zone and the track was grabbing me a bit, so I tried to get back into it as quick as possible and keep the pace high and the focus. Otherwise the track would have grabbed you today. P1, so yeah, positive start.”