Australian Jed Beaton of the F&H Kawasaki team, is really putting on some strong performances in 2018. While he holds down fifth place in the MX2 championship points, don’t be surprised to see him improve on that in the coming months, as the Aussie grows in confidence and speed.
While names like Pauls Jonass, Jorge Prado, Thomas Kjer Olsen and Ben Watson, the riders who are ahead of him in the championship, have years of experience in the MX2 class, it should be pointed out that Beaton is something of a rookie in the class, having not done a full season in MX2, and is still in a steep learning curve.
Having travelled from Australia to a very different culture is often something riders struggle with, but the young rider is enjoying the challenge and change in life-style.
Last weekend at the Grand Prix of Portugal, the Kawasaki rider went 3-4 for third overall, and picked up his second career podium finish. To say he was happy would be an understatement.
“I am pretty stoked,” Beaton said. “It's always good to be on the podium; that's what we all aim for! The track was tough but I started with a good qualification on Saturday; the ground was really soft after all the rain they have had here and there were many ruts but I like the technical tracks and had a lot of fun riding here. Everything gelled together and I really enjoyed this weekend. My season is building with the help of the team and Kawasaki and I feel like I'm getting better on all sorts of track. It was a nice surprise to make the podium already here at the fifth round of the series and for sure we will continue to progress further.”
While round five was a high point in the season so far, round four in Italy was a low-point. Just 19 points and his worst race finish this year saw him leave Trentino with his head down, but his mind clearly set on improvement.
“The weekend in Spain wasn't really good, in the first race I collided with another rider and had no front brake in the race but came back from twenty eighth to fifteenth. My start in the second race was much better and I came in the top ten within a few laps; I was seventh with sixth in front of me for most of the race but lost one position later. My second race was much better and I ended the weekend on a pretty good note.”
Now with a two week break before the Grand Prix in Russia, Jed Beaton will work on some areas with his trainer, Marc De Reuver, and hope to continue his climb up the world championship points table. Just 12 points behind Ben Watson, you can be sure his goal in Russia will be to score as many points as possible, and who knows, maybe another podium finish.
Copyright: Photo: Kawasaki
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