Former Grand Prix rider Jed Beaton has won the famous Australian race, the Manjimup 1500. The historical and high-profile event that draws riders from the US and Europe as well as the best domestic riders in Australia saw Beaton take the win, in his first attempt, and take home a wallet full of prizemoney.

“What an awesome event and thanks to all the people that lined the track to make the racing atmosphere so good,” Beaton said. “I had heard great things about racing here, so it was nice to finally do it, and have it lived up to expectations. I wasn’t getting great starts in the morning and was coming from deep in the pack in the first two motos. Because the track was so smooth and fast as well as the short sprint races, I couldn’t get to the front by race end. But I gated much better in the final two races and was able to get the moto wins when I really needed them. The final moto felt good as the track was super rough and I was able to pull out a good lead and coming over the finish line, it was good to see the team on the track waiting for me. Thank you to Willie and the event organisers, the track crew who did a great job to give us a raceable track and the CDR Yamaha Monster Energy Team for all the hard work in getting me over here.”

Entered into the All-Stars feature event that sees the Pro riders tackle the torturous sand and red road base track across four motos throughout the day, it was Beaton who prevailed with 3-2-1-1 results to take a popular victory ahead Kayden Minear and Kyle Webster. West Australian Minear took the win in the opening moto ahead of fellow Sand Groper Webster while Webster took the win in the second moto. Both Minear and Webster finished on equal points for second with Minear declared second for the day.

The event saw thousands of spectators line the fences and deal with ever-changing conditions throughout the day. Over 50mm of rain fell overnight and then there were brief showers throughout the day to keep conditions challenging for riders and teams. After a slow start in the morning motos, Beaton found his mojo in the afternoon and dominated the final two motos to snatch victory and have his name etched on the Manjimup Honor Board.

The form Beaton is in this year you would think he might be a good pick for the Australian team for this years Monster Energy Motocross of Nations, set for the Matterley Basin circuit in England. He would of course have to drop back down to the MX2 class, but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem for the former MX2 Husqvarna factory rider.

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