CDR Yamaha Monster Energy’s Jed Beaton became the new MX1 points leader after being credited with the overall win at Horsham’s second round of the 2024 Penrite ProMX Championship, while Honda Racing’s Brodie Connolly stamped his authority in the MX2 category with a dominant 1-1 performance. MotoOnline.com.au caught up with both riders after the races for this Debrief interview.

MX1

Jed, it was a fantastic day for you – that’s what you want, right?

Yeah, that’s what we work hard for. It was very close to a perfect day, unfortunately in that first moto I was just short of the win, but all in all, it was a really positive weekend. It’s always nice when you get an overall win – it’s been a long time and it felt like I needed that one for a bit of a confidence boost, to get the ball rolling again and start winning races.

You’re the championship leader now, when was the last time you had the red plate?

I did have it halfway through last year, but I wasn’t very confident with it – I had it, but it was on there for display really [laughs]. It’s a whole different ball game now, I’m very happy with the bike and my riding at the moment, so I’m planning on keeping it on there.

It’s been a few weeks since Wonthaggi, you went back to New Zealand for some racing. Are you just enjoying riding at the moment?

I’m just really enjoying it. It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed riding a motorbike – my last year in Europe I struggled a lot and had the shoulder injury, I came back here and did get it fixed all of last year – I just got it fixed before Christmas and some time off. I did some riding on the Yamaha beforehand and then got back on it, started putting in some hard work and I gelled with the bike really fast. All through juniors I rode a Yamaha, so it felt like coming home – it needed to happen. I’m kind of getting back to the level of when I was riding in Europe, and that’s just the plan – getting back to riding like I know how.

Obviously, the plan is to get race wins and win a championship in Australia, is there a prospect of going back to Europe?

If the right opportunity was there, for sure, but I’m happy where I am. The bike is unreal – it’s probably the best 450 I’ve ever ridden – and the equipment these guys can get and the knowledge that they have, I’d class it as a world-class team. I would like to go and race a GP on this bike and see where I stack up on that.

MX2

1-1 for you, what a day! Take me through it…

Yeah, it was an awesome day for me, I was a little off in qualifying at the start – I qualified fourth – and then in the first race I had an average start around fifth or sixth at the first turn. I made my way into the lead on the first lap after a couple of the boys made some mistakes. In the last race I got the hole-shot and led every lap – it was close there at the end there with Noah [Ferguson]. I struggled to push in that one – I was in a good flow ticking off the laps and trying to do the same lap-time every lap. Overall, it was a really good day – my first 1-1, so I’m stoked.

Take me through that last lap and a half in moto two where your teammate Noah Ferguson made a charge on you – did you know how close he was at the time?

I think it was Ryder [Kingsford] behind me for most of the race and it was three and a half to four seconds the gap, so I was just managing that. On the second-to-last lap, I saw the pit board say three and a half seconds, and on the last lap, the boys were going nuts, so I knew someone was close but I didn’t actually realise it was Noah. I think it was 0.2s across the line there.

Two rounds in, you’re really starting to stamp your authority on this class. From afar, it looks like there’s so much comfort with the team and comfort with the bike – is everything clicking at the moment?

There are always things that can improve, and the team is awesome – I definitely am very comfy. I’ve been putting in a lot of work during the week, and I know I can only get a lot better too. I know the areas where I am going to get better, but those things will take time. I’ll keep chipping away and keep getting better.

A couple of weeks before the next round, you mentioned there are some things you’re going to work on – what’s on the agenda?

I’ll just keep ticking off my motos – it’s just going the full moto length – I need to be better in that last 10 minutes. I’ve been working hard on that – it’s easy chasing Jed [Beaton] and Kyle [Webster] around at the practice track, and they’re real good at that, so I’m learning a lot from those boys during the week.