News 18 Aug 2023

'I'm going to focus on my own race at Coolum' – Beaton

Honda Racing rider searching for improvements ahead of final round.

Image: Foremost Media.

It will be a case of focusing on his own race for Jed Beaton as he readies for a final push to close the 15-point deficit to MX1 leader Dean Ferris at the eighth round of the 2023 Penrite ProMX Championship in Coolum.

Beaton has been a model of consistency throughout the 2023 season, scoring another overall podium last time out at Queensland Moto Park with 2-3 scores.

That said, the Boost Mobile Honda Racing rider will likely need to land on the top step this weekend if he hopes to claim the MX1 title, and the experienced former international has outlined he will focus on what he can control at the final round.

“I’m going to focus on my own race at Coolum, and if I can go out there and win both races and whatever happens behind me, happens, that’d be the perfect scenario,” Beaton said to MotoOnline.

“That’s obviously depending on the starts and depending on how I feel on the track, everything like that. It’s definitely the plan, but we’ll see what happens. We are racing motocross, anything can happen, but yeah, definetely looking forward to it.”

Beaton has scored one overall victory this season at Wodonga, and despite being a regular on the podium he has admittedly still been searching for comfort onboard the CRF450R, returning to race in Australia this after a multi-year stint in the world championship competing in MX2 and then the premier class.

Prior to the final two rounds of 2023 ProMX, Beaton ventured to the US to train during the extended break in Australian Motocross, which eventuated into a surprise late addition to the Washougal 450MX field.

“It was definetely to go over there and get the suspension a bit better,” Beaton added. “It’s difficult because when you go over there, the tracks are obviously a lot different than back here.

“It’s a tough one, I was a little bit scared to go too hard, because the tracks over there are a lot more fast-paced, so you need to go a bit harder and I’m glad I left there kind of on the half soft side because when I came back here and did some riding it was feeling a little bit hard.

“It’s good just to be a little bit off and not a long way. I’m sure we can make some good improvements in between now and Coolum. Obviously, it’s only one week, but a few little things you can change to make a comfortable feeling quite fast.”

It is well-known that Beaton is a strong sand rider, so the nature of the Coolum track should play into his favour as action commences at the final round of 2023 Penrite ProMX Championship tomorrow.

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