Jed Beaton: Payback

Two years ago, a 16-year-old Tasmanian kid called Jed Beaton was leading the MX Nats MXD (Under 19s) class convincingly. But with just two rounds to go in the series, the GYTR Yamaha rider broke his fibula and, agonisingly, could only watch his title hopes evaporate from the sidelines. A year later, having been signed by the Serco Yamaha team to race the Pro MX2 class, Beaton earned the red plate again. But this time, a busted collarbone saw it slip through his fingers, and he ran a disappointing fourth in the title hunt. Then, after a late-season concussion in the Australian Supercross Championship, he was informed that Serco didn’t have a seat for him for season 2016. Disappointed but not deterred, Beaton signed an eleventh-hour deal with the Victorian-based DPH Motorsports Yamaha team. And after a season-long, super-intense rivalry with Husqvarna’s Nathan Crawford – himself a victim of an injury-marred title tilt – Jed Beaton finally bagged that elusive Australian title.

A few days after Beaton’s emotional championship win at Coolum, we sat down with the likeable 18-year-old and asked him to reflect on the MX2 title chase, what it felt like to be shunned by the Serco team, and the prospect of racing the 2016 MXoN at Italy’s iconic Maggiora track.

POSTSCRIPT

Shortly after we spoke with Jed for this interview, he jetted off to Belgium to put in some time on European tracks before heading to Italy for the MXoN. Sadly, as confirmed by the PR from Motorcycling Australia, Beaton broke his collarbone in a practice-track crash and has been forced to withdraw from the Motocross of Nations.

TM: In the past two seasons, you’ve earned the red plate, but untimely injuries always seemed to bring you unstuck. What changed this year? What gave you the title-winning consistency?
JB: I just had a really good program at home with my brother, Ross, and a great pre-season. I went to race the New Zealand Motocross Championship at the start of the year and learned a lot from Josh Coppins about putting structure around my training and riding. It wasn’t a huge change from what I’d been doing in previous seasons; it was just about fine-tuning things and making sure I was progressively faster at each and every track we rode. Nothing got stale, so there were no plateaus throughout the year. I just kept improving, and that in itself helped motivate me. It was all those little things that paid dividends.

Ross is a pretty handy racer himself. How good is it to have you bro in your corner?
It’s great. I work with a guy called Jarah Breese for my nutrition and off-bike training program. He also looks after Todd Waters. And then Ross looks after my on-bike program and lap times; my coach, I guess. He knows me and my riding strengths and weaknesses, so it works out really well. In previous years, I used to just go out there and smash out heaps of laps. These days, Ross pretty much records every lap I do and makes sure there’s always intent and progress.

^ Jed speaks with his brother, Ross, at Nowra’s 2016 MX Nationals round…

Wow, Ross sounds like he’s been taking tips from Ricky Carmichael’s mum, Jeannie!
Yeah, pretty much [laughs]. But to succeed in the sport these days, you have to have that structure behind what you’re doing. Otherwise, you’ve got no idea about what is and isn’t working for you.

Hey, what actually happened at the start of this season; when the news came that you’d been dropped by the Serco Yamaha team?
It was pretty simple. Serco initially had Luke Clout and Wilson Todd on the team, and I was dropped. But then when Clouty ended up getting a ride overseas, Serco called to see if I’d be interested in coming back. While I was considering their offer, they hired Wade Hunter, who’d been with the DPH Yamaha team. So basically, that left me without a ride, and DPH Yamaha without a rider, so it made sense that I join the DPH team. I was planning to race out of the back of my van, so the DPH deal made life a whole lot easier for me.

Were you surprised Serco didn’t have a seat for you this season?
In a way, yes. But I also saw it coming because my supercross results weren’t all that good. It was my first supercross season, and I just wanted to use it as a learning year and get through it without getting hurt. Just when I was getting comfortable racing supercross, I got a concussion and didn’t end up racing the final two rounds. So when I got the Serco call after the season to say they didn’t have anything for me for 2016, I was disappointed. But when I think about the circumstances, it wasn’t a huge surprise. I didn’t mind which team I was on too much, so long as I could stay with Yamaha.

Did that back-story make it more gratifying to claim the title with the DPH team this year; to prove a point to the Serco guys?
Losing the ride with Serco definitely made me even more determined this year. As much as I didn’t want to be distracted by those thoughts – and there were no hard feelings towards the guys from the Serco team – I can’t deny that I really wanted to beat the Serco guys on the track. Proving to the Serco team that they’d regret sacking me definitely fuelled the fire. But I don’t want to take anything away from the DPH Yamaha guys either. It’s a great team with really good, capable people and equipment. And it was nice to win the DPH guys their first Pro title. Plus, it actually worked out a lot better for me because the Serco team is based in Queensland, whereas the DPH guys are based in Victoria, where I now live. That made it a lot easier for me when it came to things like getting my bikes prepped or testing with the team.

Take us through the final MX Nats round at Coolum; the title decider.
Well, Nathan Crawford was 11 points ahead of me, but his injuries meant he wouldn’t be racing at Coolum, so the title pretty much came down to me versus Caleb Ward, and I went into that final round with 8 points on Caleb. Everyone seemed to be saying that Caleb is the better sand rider, but I was really confident. I wanted to win the title by winning the day. And that’s what I did. I just tried to stay calm and treat it as if it was Round 1; to just do the best I could and not have the championship on my mind. That was easier said than done, though, and I did feel pretty nervous throughout the day. I really wanted to beat Caleb in the first moto to give myself more of a points buffer going into the final moto. It was cool to go 1-2 on the day, which got me the Outright win and the title.

You were pretty emotional after the win. What sort of stuff goes through your mind at a time like that?
Because I’d pushed so hard in both races, I was actually pretty stuffed at the end of the second moto. So initially, I didn’t feel much emotion. But when I got my breath back and met up with my family … that’s when I got really emotional. It’s really difficult to explain how good it feels. I think it was the idea that I’d made so many people proud of me; that’s what I got most emotional about.

The success didn’t come easy for you, either.
No, as a family, we didn’t have a lot of money and we did it tough. And everyone in my family has sacrificed so much to help me get to this point. Coming from Tasmania, we were pretty isolated from the rest of the racing scene for a lot of years. We just had a track and a bike that we used for practice and to race on. Looking back at all those struggles made the title win that much more rewarding – for me, my family and for all the people who’ve helped me. It’s just as much a win for all those people as it is a win for me. At least, that’s the way I see it.

Were you disappointed not to race Nathan Crawford at that final round?
Yeah, of course. I would have loved to battle it out with him right to the end at Coolum. And when I heard the news of his injury, I was shattered for him because I’d had a similar thing happen to me in 2014. I know exactly what he felt like, so I felt really sorry for him. We developed a real rivalry this year, but I still have respect for the guy. So it was a shame we couldn’t race at Coolum. I did send Nathan a message after the injury, but I didn’t hear back from him.

Now you’ve got the Motocross of Nations to look forward to.
Yeah, I can’t wait. I think it’s a huge thing for any rider to represent their country, and this will be the first time for me at the MXoN. That’s why I really feel sorry for Kirk Gibbs. He worked so hard to earn a spot on the Australian team, and then busted his leg only a couple of weeks before we were due to fly to Italy. I believe Todd Waters will take Gibbsy’s place and join me and Dean Ferris.

It won’t be your first time racing in Europe, though. You raced that Swiss round of the World Championship only a month or two back, right?
Yeah, I raced in Switzerland. I actually raced the EMX250 class, which was a support class at that round of the MXGP. I don’t have any expectations for myself at the MXoN. I just want to make sure that I ride the best I can ride because I don’t have much of idea where my speed is at on the world stage. My lap times were pretty close to what the EMX250 class guys were doing in Switzerland, but unless you’re in the same race, it’s hard to properly compare. I’m definitely glad I went and raced over there though, mainly as it gave me more of a feel for what to expect. If nothing else, that experience will make me more comfortable at the MXoN.

Have you thought about the 2017 season yet? As a big guy, you’d have to be eyeballing a 450 ride, wouldn’t you?
I’m not 100 percent sure yet. I just wanted to focus on wrapping the MX2 national title up, enjoying it, and then doing well at the MXoN. But I definitely wouldn’t mind stepping up to a 450 next year. I think the option to ride a YZ450F would be there with the DPH Yamaha team, but we haven’t discussed it in detail yet.