JYE DICKSON Q&A – PART 1

Beta Australia undoubtedly intensified their racing efforts in 2024, showcasing a variety of racers across a range of disciplines aboard Beta’s impressive motorcycles. The final day of the 2024 Australian Off-Road Championship (now known as the Australian Enduro Championship) not only saw the entire Beta Motorcycles Australia Race team step up on the podium, it also noted Jye Dickson’s supremacy in the off-road world as the Newcastle-based rider claimed the 2024 AORC E3 title and a seventh Outright position in the highly-contested championship. Dickson’s E3 victory also marked Beta’s first ever AORC title!

Pretty impressive stuff for a bloke who raced the first two rounds of the season with a broken hand. And while his track record in enduro racing may state otherwise, Dickson hasn’t always been an enduro rider. Coming from MX roots, Dickson spent four years racing in the ProMX Championship, but a mix of some injuries and that ol’ COVID-19 situation, Dickson burnt out and needed a change – hence the switch to off-road racing.

We spoke to Jye about his racing background, teaming up with Beta, and his goals for the 2025 season…

With your MX background, was the transition over to enduro racing because you weren’t enjoying MX? Or was it more of a case of getting an opportunity and being lured into off-road racing?
In the middle of the whole Covid thing when it all kind of finished up for a year, I just thought I’d try something. And when it [racing] all started back up again, I was working a full-time job so it was a bit easier to go the enduro route. Then I ended up enjoying it a fair bit and it came fairly natural, and that’s how I ended up here. 

Did you have anyone that planted that seed? That it might be something you’d do well at, and enjoy?
Not really. I did my first AORC at Mendooran, which was a sand track, and I mainly went there because I knew it was going to be a really cool round and I ended up doing pretty well. So I thought I would just have a go at a few others, and found that I really liked it.

You did some Transmoto events a few years back. Do you think that they played a role in discovering the enduro stuff?
Yeah, definitely. I’ve always really enjoyed the Transmoto events – just how relaxed they are. And I’ve always ridden in the bush as well around my house, just with mates on the weekend. So I’ve always done a lot of enduro, just never really raced it until three or four years ago. 

Do you think there’s a difference in the racing culture in MX versus Enduro?
There’s definitely a massive difference in culture. Everyone’s a lot more relaxed and friendly in Enduro. And you’re not really racing against other people [in enduro]; most of the time you’re racing against yourself and against the clock. As a result, there’s a lot less bar-to-bar action, so no one really gets too hot-headed. 

What was the process of adapting your riding style and strategy to off-road, compared to MX? 
That definitely took a little bit of time, adapting to so many different tracks and not really knowing exactly the lines to take. I try to memorise a lot of it from doing one site lap in the morning, so you definitely have to be a bit more focused and aware of your surroundings rather than just, you know, sticking to the main line like a motocross track. You have to make sure you’re aware of everything that’s going on.

Back when you started in the AORC, do you have any specific memories that stand out for you in 2022/2023? Or did you race in any of the AORC rounds prior to that?
2022 was my first one, and I only did a few rounds at the end of the year when I filled in on the KTM bike for Stefan Granquist. It was a pretty cool way to start my enduro career off on, I guess you could say, a factory bike. It was a cool way to start off, and even cooler that for my first ever enduro round I landed on the E2 podium, and ended up with a third Outright in the following round on Sunday. Then in 2023, that was my first full season in the AORC on a GASGAS support deal, and I ended up taking third in the E2 class and fourth Outright.

Check out Part 2…