The complexion of the 2025 Penrite ProMX Championship MX1 title-chase experienced a drastic turn during moto two at Wonthaggi’s season-opener, with defending champion Kyle Webster crashing out of second place, and conceding 25 points to series rival Jed Beaton. Upon entering the series’ second half this weekend in Warwick, what will it now take for Webster to defend in MX1?

The simple answer is to win, and win as much as you can. The nuanced answer is to win the motos – both motos – because although round wins on a tie breaker is nice in terms of walking away with the number one trophy for the weekend, it’s not going to cut it in closing the championship gap to Monster Energy CDR Yamaha’s Jed Beaton.

Beaton holds a 13-point advantage over Boost Mobile Honda’s Webster, which the latter has done a solid job in shrinking the gap from what was 22 points leaving Wonthaggi. These two riders, however, are the class of the MX1 category, as shown in Traralgon’s one-minute-plus deficit to third place in the second moto, which suggests that at this stage, positions one and two are rather comfortable for them currently.

Image: Foremost Media.

What’s in question is who fills first and second place in any given moto? Although each rider has their own respective strength and weaknesses, the similarities are striking, so much so that they finished equal on points last season. Does either rider have a clear pace advantage? Is either rider more consistent than the other? It’s a coin flip in most categories, honestly.

With three points separating first and second position in each moto, a 1-1 earns 50 points, while a 2-2 earns 44. As we saw at Traralgon, a 1-2 split across the races results in 47 points apiece, and this is exactly what Webster needs to avoid if he wants this championship. It’s a tall ask, but the current number one essentially needs to win four unanswered motos to draw within one point of Beaton.

Leaving the maths alone for now, what has been the qualitative game plan for the Yarrive Konsky-led Honda organization since Wonthaggi? Win.

“When you’re in a title fight against a rider of Jed Beaton’s calibre, it’s difficult to drop 25 points,” admitted Konsky when contacted by MotoOnline. “We sat down after round one that night, and Kyle’s mindset shifted to, ‘I need to win every single race.’ Since then, he’s won five of a possible seven.

“So we’re executing what we can, although it’s tough because they’re so close to each other, and certainly until now, they have had a decent gap over the rest of the field, which is the primary challenge – no one is getting in the way of either of them. Ultimately, all we can do is win every race, and that’s our strategy.”

Image: Foremost Media.

Adding to the difficulty, both Beaton and Webster are part of the Beaton Pro Formula training program based in Southern Victoria and led by Jed’s older brother, Ross. For Webster, this means that if he wanted to do more during the week or at the practice track, everything is on display for the number 14, who has visibility on all that Webster does.

There are no secrets, with the unique setup allowing for each rider to have an acute awareness of strengths, weaknesses, and everything in between.

“Both riders know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, especially considering they’ve been riding together for three years now, it’s just something that they can’t hide,” continued Konsky. “So at the end of the day, it’s the rider who minimizes their mistakes who will win this MX1 championship, and Jed is a very structured rider who rarely does anything to allow himself into a vulnerable situation.

“For us, again, all we can do is win. There’s no broader strategy to it and no magic wand. After being in the US for both Colorado and High Point [Pro Motocross], I’d say both Kyle and Jed could run inside the top eight…even knocking on the door of the top six, that’s the level they’re at right now, so it’s just about who executes better from here on out.”

Image: Foremost Media.

And thats really all there is to it – it’s a ‘win at all costs’ mindset for Webster, who has gained nine points on his rival during the first half, and will be in search of a further 13 over the next four rounds. The director of the Honda organisation did offer a critical piece of information to end the conversation, however, and that is that Webster isn’t at 100 percent.

“Kyle’s riding a little injured at the moment,” Konsky mentioned. “He’s going to be gritting his teeth going into round five, and won’t be at 100 percent.”

It’s interesting times in the MX1 division, with Webster looking for race wins as he looks to reel in Beaton during ProMX’s second half starting at Warwick this weekend.