The CDR Yamaha Monster Energy Team had a disappointing weekend at the opening rounds of the Australian Supercross Championship with both riders making costly mistakes at pertinent times. Words: Yamaha
Jed Beaton and Matt Moss came into the weekend confident that the work put in had them well placed for the start of the supercross series. Despite the challenges they faced, there were some positives to take from the weekend and the riders will be determined to bounce back when they next line up behind the gates at round three.
Jed Beaton rolled onto a supercross race track for the first time in seven years when the gates dropped on the weekend for rounds one and two of the Australian Supercross Championship and despite a few moments, he was able to piece together a solid weekend that will have him confident for the upcoming rounds.
Beaton finished the weekend with a seventh on night one, which included a couple of nasty falls, but improved on Sunday to take a well-earned fourth place and be far more competitive. His race results over the weekend went 10-6-5-4, so every visit to the start gate was an improvement but not just in result but also in terms of race craft and the distance to the leader.
“I didn’t grow up on supercross and having been in Europe for a long period of time, I haven’t raced it in a while. But I put in plenty of work after the end of the ProMX championship and it’s starting to come a little easier for me,” Beaton said.
“I still have a long way to go and racing on the weekend highlighted some things that need work. But, overall, I’m pretty happy with how things went and think that I have a lot of improvement in me. The whoops on the first night got the better of me and just keeping my head in the game as a mistake on a supercross track can show you on the ground quickly. But Sunday was better and I felt far more controlled on the bike and things weren’t happening as fast. Wollongong is next and with the first weekend done, I have a bit more experience I can draw on and pick up where I left off here in Redcliffe.”
For Matt Moss, it was a challenging weekend filled with crashes that left him frustrated and determined to bounce back in a few weeks’ time. Moss was often inside the top five in each race, only to make a mistake and go down and lose a heap of points and positions with it. He finished night one in 12th place with 4-DNF results and then night two was 4-11 finishes for eighth on the night.
Moss sits ninth in the championship, but will come out swinging at Wollongong as he lives in the region and will be sure to have plenty of friends and family in support.
“That was unacceptable and not me,” Moss stated. “I have no excuses, I just raced poorly and made far too many mistakes to get a decent result on each night. The team did everything they could, and the bike was good, so the responsibility is on me to get things back on track and quickly for round three.”
Image: AUSX
