Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider Jed Beaton decided to stay in Europe during the lockdown and now as the tracks in Belgium opened, the Aussie gets his chance to work on some basic things and improve his performances. There is no doubt Beaton will be challenging for GP wins in 2020, and this time off might help him get up to scratch when the season does get going again.

We called him yesterday and did this interview.

MXLarge: How much better does it feel to be riding again?

Beaton: Its way better is not it (laughing).

MXlarge: I was thinking about you the other day and obviously you spent a lot of last year on the couch because you were injured. How different does it feel to be on the couch because of this virus?

Beaton: Its way different. It is like, when you are injured you feel like you are missing out and with the virus, nobody is riding and not a lot of is happening, so I don’t miss out on anything, so completely different feeling.

MXLarge: I have spoken to many people and everyone also enjoys this period, the quiet and for the riders less stress and time to enjoy training and stuff. How have you found it?

Beaton: It is different, relaxed now and I am still doing my training and stuff, but nothing like if we were in the season and it is nice to just calm it down a little bit. We would all love to go racing, but we just deal with it and there is nothing we can do about it, or anyone else do anything about it. It is nice to spend time with my girlfriend, because when the GPs are on, its flat out.

MXLarge: Mitchell (Evans) went home, did you think at all about going home?

Beaton: To be honest, I did not think about going home, because I did not think it would last this long, you know what I mean. I thought about staying here and I am close to the team and my girlfriend moved over and that makes it easier. I did not feel the need to go home and I felt it was a bit risky, so I decided to stay. I also thought if I went home, I do not know what the go is for getting back into Belgium and the factors like that, I did not want to have to deal with that stress. Now we can ride again. It is not like we have pressure to ride, and in a GP team it is not often you get to go to the track and just have fun with your team-mates. Normally you are always trying to improve and hammer down, but now it is nice to have some fun at the track and just ride around.

MXLarge: You are still rather young, so you are still learning and a long way from your peak, are there things you can work on now to improve that, with this easier period?

Beaton: For sure, you are exactly right. Right now, we are trying to improve on the basic things, something we know we are not good at. During the season you are just trying to get faster and do laps and not busy with the basic things. It is fun and enjoyable, and we have time to do that. I think it is good we can do this. When I go home in Australia, it is not like they have tracks like here and I have more time there, but its nice to be able to do those things I do at home on tracks here.

MXLarge: Gautier Paulin mentioned to me he has changed his training a bit, because now he can push himself harder without having to worry that he is wearing himself out for the next Grand Prix. Can you do more physical training and maybe try different things now, with no racing for months?

Beaton: Yes, for sure. You are kind of not scared to wear yourself out. You can do a hard training and then rest and the next day might not be as intense. We are playing around with things, things we could not during the season, and it is nice to do those things to switch it up a bit. Just going back to the base building is really nice and the weather is good, so cannot complain.

MXlarge: Most times in the good weather you guys are flat out racing and training, so it must be really a nice change to get this weather when you guys can relax a little more and enjoy it. You cannot sit on a terrace and drink a beer, but you can enjoy the sunshine, I guess?

Beaton: 100%, it is. Like I was saying before it is more enjoyable, even training. When I normally come back to Europe it is freezing cold, so doing long cycles or riding at Lommel, is a lot more fun than in winter, when you are dreading you got a two-hour cycle in the rain. Its also nice to have a barbecue and chill out.

MXlarge: MA in Australia have already mentioned they won’t send an Australian team to the Nations this year, and this years event might be a bit strange anyway, but would you still like to represent Australia if the event goes ahead?

Beaton: Well, I have no idea what is going on. I heard the story the other day that they want to incorporation the championship into the Nations and I do not know how that will work. Its hard to select a team because we have more than three Aussies racing over here, so the none selected riders, they can’t sit out the event because it’s a point scoring race, so I don’t know what will happen there. I saw that Motorcycling Australia will not send a team because of the virus. I always want to represent my country and in the middle of the season I think most teams wouldn’t allow you to race it and depending on the situation, like if you are challenging for a championship they won’t let you race it.

MXlarge: Everyone has an opinion when we might come back, do you have any type of opinion?

Beaton: Not really, I am just waiting for them to come up with something that is realistic, because everyone is guessing and making up stories, so it will be easier if we have a final schedule. They had to do what they need to do, so double GPs might be needed, as long as we get to go out and do our jobs and keep the sport alive and get the ball rolling again. It will be nice to see how the supercross goes and how much television viewing that gets and that might make things interesting. I just go with the flow whatever everyone else is doing.

Bavo Swijgers image