Born in 1994, the British rider initially started his career in Motocross and then switched to Enduro in 2016 , where he currently competes in the Enduro E2 Class and in the EnduroGP Absolute. In the 2023 Championship, Watson finished 6th in the EnduroGP Overall and 4th in the E2 Category. The 2022 racing season saw him finish 4th in the Overall EnduroGP standings and 3rd in the E2 Class, while also winning the Six Days race with the British team.

And of course his brother Ben rides for Beta in the MXGP series.

On the second lap he was fastest in every test to take a sizeable lead, then won two of the three tests on lap three to clinch the victory by 15 seconds.

World No.2 Seewer took the overall, but veteran Kevin Strijbos had his first race in over a year and took second overall. Maxime Renaux beat Jago Geerts in the MX2 class. Check out our gallery from Dylan Botte/ SevenOne pictures. CLICK TO ENLARGE EACH PHOTO

For several weeks, Nathan has been riding with a painful wrist.  This week the pain became too much and an examination today shows that tendonitis in the wrist that gradually turned into a stress fracture. 

So the Enduropale du Touquet will see Nathan Watson on the Honda for the first time. His SR Motoblouz team will be present on Sunday with Lars Van Berkel.

A few weeks after introducing his line up for the Beach Races will be Nathan Watson, Lars Van Berkel and Richard Fura, with Matheo Miot as support rider), team boss Josse Sallefranque confirmed the SR team will also enter in 2021 the French and World Motocross Championships.

Watson, third at the 2019 MX of Nations with Team Great Britain, had a taste of MXGP during the last Belgian round of the series, where he scores an eleventh position in one moto. Winner of the 2016 MX of Nations with Team France, Paturel scores several top eight results this season despite missing several rounds due to an injury mid season. Both riders will be trained by Christophe Meyer, and will enter the French Elite (first round on March 14th in Castelnau de Levis) and the MXGP Championship (first round on April 3rd in Oman).

Nathan Watson: “I’m really excited to get back into MXGP! I’ve been wanting to get back motocross racing for the last few years and now I have the opportunity, I want to make the most of it!”

Benoit Paturel: “I’m delighted to have this opportunity, and want to thanks Josse who trust me and offers me a good ride; I’m happy to continue riding a Honda as I have such a great feeling with this bike. It will be nice to work again with a French team, to be back in the French series and I can’t wait to start working with Christophe Meyer.”

Josse Sallefranque: “I’m very happy to have a new and young team, after two years alongside Jeremy who brings us his experience. We will defend our French MX1 title, and in the MXGP we expect to be again the best private team with top twelve results. With our trainer Christophe Meyer, we will offer all our experience and knowledge to Nathan and Benoit; we know their potential, now it’s up to the team to help them to get the results we all expect.”

And today, Nathan’s SR France Honda team revealed he will race MXGPs in 2021, despite initially being signed up to contest the French sand championship.

Nathan, who had a one-off ride at the Lommel GP for the team, will replace Jeremy Van Horebeek who split with the squad this week.

Team boss Josse Sallefranque said: ′′We had two wonderful seasons with Jeremy, with eighth place last year and a top ten this season in MXGP, not forgetting the title in (French) Elite and the podium at Touquet, as well as the podium in Argentina last year.

“We made a big leap when signing a former factory rider and we had to work like crazy to meet his expectations. Financially speaking Jeremy has a pretty high cost, for us it was really not easy given the situation to leave with him for a third season.

“In 2021 we’re going to invest even more in the sand with Nathan Watson, Lars Van Berkel and Richard Fura, while continuing our involvement in MXGP with Nathan and a second rider whose identity will be revealed in a few weeks.”

Nathan is a former Husqvarna MXGP rider who went to the enduro world championship on a factory KTM. He recently left the team to join the French Honda squad. And we caught up with him when he tested the 2021 Honda CRF450R recently.

Both Nathan and Ben have represented Britain in the MX of Nations but have never faced each other in the MXGP class.

The SR Honda team fields Jeremy Van Horebeek and Valentin Guillod in the MXGP series. Van Horebeek has raced some beach races for the squad which now needs to build up a separate team to focus on the beach race side as it kicks off in October – before the MXGPs end.

Watson will be joined by Lars van Berkel and Richard Fura at the Championnat de France des Sables which begins on October 24th in Loon and ends at Le Touquet on January 24. The opening round on October 11 in Berck has been axed due to Covid concernerns.

Could it pave a way for Watson to get back into MXGPs?

With the infamous Enduropale du Touquet marking the seventh and final round of the CFS: Championnat de France des Sables, all eyes were on defending champion Nathan Watson to see if he could repeat his 2019 winning result.

As the 1,200 competitors lined up for the beginning of the grueling three-hour event, Watson knew the importance of making a fast start and then pushing hard during the early stages of race. A little too keen to get his race started, the Brit was later deemed to have jumped the start, picking up a 60-second stop-and-go penalty.

Unaware of what was to come, Nathan exited the first corner just outside the top 10 and set about making ground on the leaders. Battling his way up to fifth during the first five laps, an efficient fuel stop after the first hour of racing moved him into third. Favoring the rougher conditions in the latter stages of race, Watson reached as high as second with just over one hour remaining.

With organizers then handing him the penalty, Nathan’s charge was ended and he ultimately lost his chance of victory. Dropping back down the leaderboard to fourth, he eventually battled his way back into a podium position and finished third at the checkered flag.

Nathan Watson:“It’s been a hard season, but to come away with back-to-back French Beach Race titles is amazing. It’s a credit to the team, they worked so hard to get this result. It’s me out on the track but it really is a team effort, for sure. Naturally, I wanted to win the championship with victory here today, but the cards didn’t fall my way. Between the nature of the track and then the stop-and-go penalty, things were against me. I felt like the track was maybe too fast for me and I needed more corners to slow the early pace down. I hold my hands up about the start, I simply got my timing a little wrong with the bungy being released. I went a little too early. One minute was a tough penalty, especially as I never gained anything and exited the first corner in 12th. But it is what it is. Overall, I’m pleased with the season as a whole. I think that myself and Camille showed we’re two of the strongest guys out there and our bikes never missed a beat. Thanks to KTM and the team, we’ll celebrate this title for sure!”

Results – CFS: Championnat de France des Sables 2019/20 – Round 7: Enduropale du Touquet

1. Milko Potisek (FRA), Yamaha, 15 laps, 3:06:44.033
2. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL), Honda, 3:10:10.404 +3:26
3. Nathan Watson (GBR), KTM, 3:12:26.582 +5:42
4. Camille Chapeliere (FRA), KTM, 3:12:49.154 +6:05
5. Todd Kellett (GBR), Yamaha, 3:14:39.632 +7:55

Championship Standings – CFS: Championnat de France des Sables 2019/20 (Round 7)

1. Nathan Watson (GBR) KTM, 845 points
2. Todd Kellett (GBR), Yamaha, 755 pts
3. Camille Chapeliere (FRA), KTM, 671 pts
4. Richard Fura (FRA), Yamaha, 558 pts
5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL), Honda, 552 pts

The penultimate stop of the CFS: Championnat de France des Sables saw competitors travel to the south west of France, near Bordeaux, for round five. A mixture of a high-speed sandy beach and rough dunes ensured a thorough and demanding test for all at Grayan-et-L’Hopital. High tides resulted in the original three-hour race distance being cut short to just over two hours.

Disappointed with missing out on victory last time out at Hossegor, Watson was determined to return to his winning ways at Grayan-et-L’Hopital. A course he favours, the young British rider wasted no time in positioning himself at the head of the field. Claiming a top-five start, he powered his KTM 450 SX-F into the lead on the opening lap.

Comfortable out front he set the pace, pulling one minute and 20 seconds clear of his rivals as the race entered its latter stages. However, unaware that organisers had cut the race distance from three hours to just over two because of a turning tide, Watson still completed his three scheduled fuel stops. Without risk of losing position, he went on to win by almost 50 seconds.

Nathan Watson:“Overall, I had a really great race today. As beach races go, this one went pretty much perfectly. I’m not sure what it is about this place but I enjoy coming here and love the mixture of open high-speed beach and rough sections in the surrounding forest. We made some changes to the bike to allow for more power and speed and that helped me get a good start. I was about top five, but made some quick overtakes and hit the front on the opening lap. I was able to lead every lap and felt comfortable controlling the pace. Towards the end the organisers cut the race short. I could have avoided an extra fuel stop to save time, but I had already done my three stops at that point, so although I lost time there thankfully it all worked out ok. It’s the final push now towards Enduropale du Touquet. I feel in a good place and go there confident and focused on defending my crown.”

The CFS: Championnat de France des Sables concludes with round seven at Enduropale du Touquet on 2 February.

Results – CFS: Championnat de France des Sables 2019/20 – Round 6: Grayan-et-L’Hopital

1. Nathan Watson (GBR), KTM, 11 laps, 2:17.750
2. Todd Kellett (GBR), Yamaha, 2:18.11.260 +49.510
3. Milko Potisek (FRA), Yamaha, 2:19:08.530 +1:46.780
4. Camille Chapeliere (FRA) KTM, 2:20:09.170 +2:47.420
5. Richard Fura (FRA), Yamaha, 2:24.39.880 +7:18.130

Championship Standings – CFS: Championnat de France des Sables 2019/20 (Round 6)

1. Nathan Watson (GBR) KTM, 720pts
2. Todd Kellett (GBR), Yamaha, 645pts
3. Camille Chapeliere (FRA), KTM, 556pts
4. Jeremy Hauquier (FRA), KTM, 478pts
5. Damien Prevot (FRA), Kawasaki, 455pts