A crash in the first turn of moto one at round seven of the ProMX at MX Farm in Gympie has proven costly for Jed Beaton and his MX1 championship aspirations but where there is hope, there is life and Beaton will come out all guns blazing at the final round.
Beaton and the CDR Yamaha Monster Energy Team are now 14 points in arears of championship leader with the final round to come this weekend at Queensland Moto Park.Beaton entered the weekend at MX Farm just seven points from the lead and desperate to make up the points on his championship rival, Kyle Webster. The day started strong with another win in Superpole for posting the fastest lap of the MX1 field and continuing his streak in 2024.
But that was soon undone as the field charged into the first turn, Beaton tangle with several riders before going down and was some time before he gathered himself, remounted his bike and got back into the race. He was a clear and distant last on the opening lap while Webster was at the front of the pack.
Beaton hit nothing to lose mode and began his quest to claw back some points and keep himself in the championship fight. By midway, he was back into the points and inside the top twenty, with five minutes to go, he was inside the top ten, and when the race was done, Beaton finished in an astonishing sixth place after slicing his way through thirty riders.
It wasn’t long before moto two was back on the grid and Beaton was still trying to shake off the effects of his moto one crash. But this time he wasn’t to be denied. He started inside the four, relentless priced up the riders in front and with ten minutes to go, had taken control of the race and set off for the finish line.
His 6-1 results earned him a second-place finish for the round and was arguably his best riding for the championship. He repeatedly racked up the fastest laps of both races and left nothing only the table.
“I have nothing left to lose now,” Beaton said at days’ end. “Fourteen points will be a hard gap to chase down in one round, but all I can do is win the final two races and hope for a couple of things to go my way behind me.
“My riding is good, and the team have the bike running awesome, so its just all out for race wins at QMP and see where the cards fall.
“There was a bit going on in that first turn in race one and I know it felt like the rider in front of me just hit the brakes and all but stopped and left me no place to go. I must have copped a hit on the elbow as it felt pretty weird for a few laps, but I manged to shake it off and get back as many points as I could.
“I’m disappointed with what happened today because I felt that should have been a 1-1 day for me, but I will move on and get set for next weekend,” Beaton ends.