Australian newcomer Jed Beaton is looking to build upon his first day at Team HRC MX2 after finishing 18th in qualifying at Loket.

The EMX250 regular is beginning a three-race deal with HRC in the MX2 World Championship, taking it one step at a time on Saturday in the Czech Republic.

It’s a rare opportunity to be drafted into the factory Honda team this early into his European career for the current national MX2 champion, hopeful he can capitalise on it with a consistent approach to his world championship debut.

“Qualifying wasn’t too bad for me today,” Beaton recalled. “Timed practice was pretty good for me – I was sitting in 10th until the last five minutes, so I was happy with that. I was a bit off the game on the start of the qualifying race and wasn’t expecting the gate to drop that early, so I missed it.

“I managed to come back to 18th, so it wasn’t so bad. I know what I have to work on for tomorrow, so hopefully I can improve. I feel really comfortable on the bike, so it is easier to go a lot faster. Tomorrow my focus is to get a good start, get some clean laps and keep it consistent.”

The MX2 heat was won by Pauls Jonass (Red Bull KTM), as Hunter Lawrence (Team Suzuki World MX2) rode to 14th position. In MXGP it was world championship leader Antonio Cairoli (Red Bull KTM) who rode to victory on Saturday.