For the first time in several years, Horsham in Victoria hosted a round of the national motocross championship with the track at its challenging best. The soil makes for a rutted and technical track, and it takes more than a courageous rider to log fast laps consistently around the circuit. Jed Beaton proved he is fast taking the round win and the MX1 ProMX Championship lead.
Beaton started the day off in good fashion with the fastest lap in the top 10 Superpole challenge which allows him the first pick of gate when the 40-rider field line up for their two, thirty-minute races later that afternoon. With a right hand first turn, giving riders limited use of the rear brake, a good starting position and a good start is always important at Horsham.
Beaton was inside the top five and surrounded by all the heavy hitters in the MX1 class. The pace was on early with mistakes were being made in the chaos. Beaton kept a cool head and maintained his position inside the top five but moved forward when riders fell around him.
He found himself in second place and right on the rear tyre of race leader, Nathan Crawford. The pair separated themselves from the pack and a battle of wills began. Beaton would inch closer, Crawford would steady. Beaton would mount another challenge, Crawford would respond and, in the end, try as he might, Beaton couldn’t find a way passed and was forced to settle for second place.
In race two, the goal was to get to the lead early and that’s what he did. Capitalising on a mistake from teammate, Dean Ferris, Beaton snatched the lead on lap four and never let it go. He slowly but surely built a comfortable buffer between him and his rivals to take an eight second victory and with it both the round overall win and the MX1 championship lead.
“Today went pretty well it was good to get a round win and rebound strongly from the opening round at Wonthaggi,” Beaton begins. “The first race, I was just a little too cautious and didn’t make things happen when I had the chance, but hats of to Nathan as he raced well. But in race two, I wanted to get to the front and use my pace to get away much early and not after to battle in the last few laps, so it was good to be able to get that done as well.
“I was in a similar situation at Wonthaggi in race two and then fell, but I wasn’t going to let that happen this time and I stayed focus and strong right until the end.
“The team were pumped when I come off the track and it was awesome to see everyone smiling and happy. The bike was great all day and I had a lot of friends and family here to cheer me on,” Beaton ends.
It was a tough day for reigning champion, Dean Ferris, who had crashes in both races that marred his day. Ferris struggled in the morning qualifying sessions, but improved for Superpole and was confident once the race start, his instincts would kick in and would be right in the heat of the battle.
That certainly proved to be cases in both races as Ferris was at or near the front when he fell. Race one saw him inside the top five and in a fast-moving rider freight train in the opening ten minutes. He then miscued a rut and dropped from fifth to just outside the top ten before making a few passes and getting back to a disappointing ninth.
The second race and he was out to redeem himself. He quickly moved into the race lead and held string until lap four when he again made a small mistake and went down. This time he was able to scramble back to the bike and resume the race in sixth place.
In the latter stages, he was able to make a couple of passes and move his way to fourth by the finish. His 9-4 results gave him sixth for the round and now fourth in the championship.
“No podium, so I’m walking back to Queensland,” Ferris said with a frustrated and half serous tone in his voice. “To be honest it was a bit of a struggle today, but I kept at it and put myself in good positions each race only to crash and make it hard for myself.
“The team worked hard to give me what I needed, I just wasn’t about to execute on the day and need to get back on track right away so its back to work and get things in place for the next round at Gilman in a months’ time,” Ferris signs off.
Round three of the ProMX Championships heads across to South Australia, where the Gilman circuit, just twenty minutes from the city, sees the motocross hotshots line up and do it all again.
